Vikti Report post Posted May 10, 2009 Last night I made myself a new lanyard for holding my id badges around my neck and I was wondering if it's suppose to seem somewhat twisted upon itself. It's not bad but is this due to me not holding consistent tension, too much or too little tension? Is this something that will eventually work itself out in time? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jim314 Report post Posted May 11, 2009 Hi Vikti, If I'm visualizing correctly what your describing then it sounds as though your pulling one side tighter than the other. A picture would help if possible, plus I'd just like to see your lanyard Jim Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
HorsehairBraider Report post Posted May 11, 2009 I agree, a picture would be terrific, but yes - most braiding problems like this are simply a matter of practice. I don't know what material you made this of, but if it's made of cotton, nylon, etc (some sort of rope or twine, NOT leather or rawhide) here's a trick to make it behave, while you practice more so this does not happen: turn on your teakettle and when it is going well and lots of steam is coming out of the spout, hold your lanyard tightly over the steam. Stretch it between your two hands so it is straight while it is in the steam. Be careful not to burn yourself! It really is better to just braid straight, but this might save it so you can use it. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Vikti Report post Posted May 11, 2009 I couldn't find my camera so I scanned it, I hope it looks good enough to see some of the details. I've been tugging on it and rolling it and I got a lot of the twisting out but it's just a simple 4 ply braid using 1/8" leather lacing with a box braid closing it off. I also made a key fob the same way but I tried closing the box braid off with a crown knot and I'm just not happy with the knot at all, so I might undo that and finish it off the same way as I did the lanyard. Damon Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
HorsehairBraider Report post Posted May 11, 2009 I would say this is just a matter of practice. You are doing the braid correctly, so that's a good thing! From your scans, I can see the braid tension is a little uneven. Look at the length of the little "diamond" shapes in the braid... some are longer than others, and I can particularly see this in the bottom photo, in the lower one of the braids right below the cards. Of course the goal is to have them all the same size, but this is a matter of doing it enough that your hands get trained to use the same tension. My friend & neighbor used to do that show in TX - I guess she always did really well! From her description it's a really fun show. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
