Beginners guide to Braiding the craft of Kumihimo.

£7.95

If you were alone on a mountain top wanting to learn about Kumihimo (or Japanese Braiding) this is the book you would want to have. Jacqui Carey's third book is enhanced by photographs of hands in action, making those sometimes hard to visualise knots and loops understandable. It is also beautiful, which sets the scene for the beginning braider. In the introduction the author states that the goal of the book is to demonstrate that Kumihimo does not have to complicated to be beautiful. The six braid structures shown; Square, Round, Flat, Honeycomb, Hollow and Rounded Flat are all for 8 Bobbins. If you think that this might be limiting, think again, because after the clear instructions for each braid, there are two pages of photographs and full warp details for several variations. These include using different start positions, different thread thicknesses and adding texture. The photographs of the point of braiding at each sequence of the pattern moves, is particularly useful to the aspiring braider alone on the mountain top.

Jacqui Carey's text is kept simple and each step of warping is clear and illustrated. She gives suggestions for using improvised equipment and states that all types of yarn can be used, but the majority of the photographs show braids made in Biron or Silk.
Quibbles? Just two. There is no bibliography and there are complimentary books available now, that the beginner should be aware of, including Jacqui Carey's own first book. On the technical side, the warping method shown first and referred to subsequently in the text involves transferring eight wound and weighted bobbins from the warping posts across to the Marudai where a loop is attached to the S-Hook and counterweight bag. This is an operation fraught with potential disaster for beginners (tangling, dropped bobbins, over balancing Marudai's) and indeed, in the instructions for the second braid she shows an alternative method.
Those of us not living on a mountain top might well wish to do so because this one small book will provide a sound base and inspiration for a life time braiding.

Shirley Berlin
Journal for Weavers Spinners and Dyers.
September 1998

Creative Kumihimo

£14.95

The ultimate test of the Hands-on book must be the one given by the Hands-off reader. I am such a reader and I found Jacqui Carey's book an enlightening experience. So convinced was she, of the need for such a book that she set about producing her own publication. But this is no amateur effort, it is a very professional publication packed full of glorious colour photography and cleverly devised diagrams.. The illustrations very clearly show how adaptable the Kumihimo technique is and for those who just like to create without knowing what to do with the end product, the author provides a number of ideas. The point of this publication is to highlight a particular type of Japanese braidmaking. This aspect of braiding is exceptionally versatile and can be employed with satisfaction by both beginners and the more experienced. Built on sequences of moves, which are fully detailed in all their versatility, the braider can move on by adapting sequences for specific results.

As with many textile techniques the basics are simple, but the potential is enormous when all the subtle variations are employed. This calming effect extends to spectators and practitioner alike and is a productive antidote to the frazzle of modern life. It does seem that this method of braiding offers a great deal. The appeal extends from the rhythm of making to the beautiful finished product, but that is not all, an added aesthetic interest comes from the Marudai, the piece of basic equipment that is simple and elegant in its own right. I can see why Jacqui Carey was enthusiastic enough to invest in a publication, the result is stimulating, informative and very well thought out. At one and the same time she highlights the intricacies and technicalities, yet manages to make me feel that I could do it because the diagrams are intelligently presented so that all levels are accounted for.
This is an achievement.

Brenda King.
The Textile Magazine, Volume 22 Winter 1994.

£18.95

Beads & Braids, by one of our foremost braidmakers, is intended to be a follow-on from her Beginners Guide to Braiding. The author, a skilled designer, is well known for her work in combining beads and Kumihimo and this book is the result of many years of experiments and developments.
Anyone who has already done some braiding on the Marudai can go straight into one of the braid patterns at the beginning of the book which are made in the normal way and beaded afterwards. The next section covers beading before braiding, when the beads are threaded onto the yarn and added during the braiding. The third section covers methods of looping the beads into the braids at intervals. Throughout the book a gallery of finished pieces shows the finished results of the given patterns and the final section covers ends and joins.

This is one of the most gorgeous books I have seen this year. Jacqui Carey did the text and photography and her husband Paul did everything else in the book, the diagrams, layout, all except printing.
The diagrams are extremely clear and the photographs are large enough for you to see every bead and thread and to understand the process used. The author hopes that the reader will use the book as a springboard for developing other ideas and the wonderful illustrations give the most enormous impetus- it is barely possible to wait until the stool, yarns and beads have been gathered together to, make a start.

Buy it.

Valerie Campbell-Harding
The Beadworkers Guild, Journal No 3, December 1999.

Samurai Undressed

£7.95

This book is a result of research by Jacqui Carey into the hidden depths of Samurai armour and its unique relationship with Kumihimo, the art of Japanese braid making. The research was beautifully displayed at the Knitting and Stitching show at Alexander Palace in October 1995. There were many examples of parts of armour, often showing the back- something not usually seen. These are illustrated in the book, together with
explanatory diagrams by the author showing how the armour was composed of many small parts, laced together and tied onto the body using braids often worked on very simple equipment. She includes descriptions of the underclothes, footwear and the fabrics that were used, as well as detailed explanations of how each piece was put on.The text is written in note form which sometimes makes for jerky reading. However, the information is fascinating and leads to far greater understanding of the complexities of a suit of Samurai armour and clearly shows the wealth of detail in the visually stunning lamellar construction.
Jacqui shows a depth of understanding of her subject, the result of months, if not years of work. The exhibition was one of the high spots of the show and it is wonderful to have the book to study at leisure, reminding the reader of what we saw there. There is a useful bibliography at the end should anyone wish to explore the subject further.

Valerie Campbell-Harding
The World of Embroidery,
March 1996

£7.95

This attractive book was produced to go with the Braids & Beyond exhibition, which was reviewed in the March 2004 issue of The Journal (210, p.36). I caught up with this travelling exhibition at the Bowes Museum in Barnard Castle, and found it to be splendidly displayed in that fine museum. It was a revelation to see such a wide range of uses for braids, and of techniques for making them. This book is not intended as a catalogue of the exhibition (though it does include beautiful photographs of many of the exhibits), but gives a useful introduction to braid- making techniques. A feature of the exhibition was a table set up for visitors to try out some of these techniques for themselves: that is followed up in this book, which has How to make, examples or in action views, at the end of each section; illustrated by excellently clear photographs or diagrams. At the exhibition table I made a complete mess of loop manipulation, but had no problems producing a satisfactory braid after a few minutes sitting quietly with the diagrams in the book, and have since been inspired to try out most of the other techniques that are so well described. It was a fine exhibition, and this is a good, useful memento of it. It is worth getting by anyone who wants an overview of braiding techniques, and a hands-on trial of many of them.

Pat Denne,

Gwynedd Guild of Weavers Spinners & Dyers. Issue 211, September 2004