I'm a baby-boomer, meaning I was born somewhere in the very early 1950's (but I'm not saying when). Dad was a truck driver and mom was a waitress. I was fairly geeky in school. Got an art degree in college, part history/part hands on work. Worked in a warehouse for three years and decided I needed to do something a bit more stimulating, so I went back to college and got an electrical engineeering technology degree (yes, sticking your finger in a lightbulb socket is very stimulating, but now I know why). I worked for Eastman Kodak in Rochester, New York, in the late 80's just before things went digital. Then married and moved back to Maine. The next 18 years are a blur, raising a son and daughter, then chasing them when they learned to walk. And then? That's when I picked up that beading magazine and knew I was hooked on jewelry.
 
My mother taught me to knit and crochet, and I taught myself to quilt and sew (for the kids). And, of course, gardening is quite relaxing if I keep the slugs drunk on beer. But I was truly happiest when handling yarn and colored fabric. I really don't knit or crochet well and my quilts will never win prizes. Who cares? Just standing at the yarn shop in front of the yarn wall is enough to send me heavenward.
 
Although I still love any and all bright and shiny beads, fiber calls to me. (Kind of like candy bars at check out lines.) One day, while I was idly Googling Chinese knotting (Suzen Millodot has the most wonderful book "Chinese Knots for Beaded Jewelry") the word "kumihimo" came up.
 
Kumihimo??? More Googling. There was very little information on this most wonderful art. And of course there were no kumihimo teachers here in the wilds of Maine. In fact, no one had ever heard of it. Even now, two years later, people "from away" (anywhere not in Maine) know very little about it. One very nice woman once told me "Yes, she heard of it and loved that style"... Fortunately, I am blessed with more than my fair share of stubbornness. And for the next two and a half years not only taught myself but now I teach others. What could be better than sharing my joy?
 
Kumihimo is the Japanese art of braiding. Braiding is common to all cultures on all continents. Each does it their own way, and almost any fiber can be braided.As for me, I use a maru dai, the Japanese term for the little round braiding stool, and 100% Japanese silk.
 
Braiding requires an eye for color, skilled hand movements, good hand co-ordination, patience, and the will to always learn more. It's almost a meditation in itself. As I lift threads and set them back around the top of the little maru dai I enjoy the softness of the silk and the play of colors. And I am also doing the same movements again and again and again... Little by little the braid is woven, patterns repeating to the end of the threads. Repeating? Again and again? Yes, but worlds away from boredom. I find the same joy in braiding that others find when loose beads come together into one final and whole design.
 
I can't possibly show anyone in a short page or two how to braid, any more than one beader can show another how to go beyond a beading lesson and start creating something with heart and soul. But I can say: this is how I get it together and find some peace in my busy world.
 
To contact me my Email address is: sedaigle@roadrunner.com. You can see my necklaces in my Etsy shop, BeadsOnHand. Feel free to contact me if you have questions about braiding or would like to discuss a custom order.