Braiding Design Help Required.

[chainedrose]

I am braiding 12 strands around a wooden dowel: 10 black and 2 white. I had placed the strands in the following order:

Right Hand Side: 2 Black, 1 white, 3 black

Left Hand Side: 3 Black, 1 White, 2 black

such that I had 5 black strands between the white strands. This is the design i get with an under 1 over 1 braiding.

The design seems a bit asymmetric to me, and I'd love to get a better design, showing off the white at regular intervals.

What would be a good placement of colors given the set I have? I dont wish to add more white, but i can replace one white with a black strand if it will look good.

[HorsehairBraider]

It all depends on what you think "looks good". That will be different for different people.

I would suggest to do a mock braid with a lot of different colors, see a place in the braid you admire and trace where those colors are in the braid, and then put the white strands in those locations. You could use colored cord like they have at Walmart in the craft section, parachute cord etc.

As you gain experience you will be able to decide ahead of time what sort of pattern you'd like to achieve, and will understand where to put strands in order to get that pattern. But, it takes practice, practice, practive.

[megabit]

What do you get if you go over 2 under 2 over 2?

[chainedrose]

i didnt try going o2-u2. I changed the placement of the white to 2 black, 2 white, 2 black on the RHS and 6 black on the LHS; resulting in a chequered flag going spirally across the dowel..

[rcsaddles]

I believe if you want a diamond pattern, start with your white strands in the same position in each hand.