A braided cord of blue and white yarn in stripes and a cord of orange with white hearts.

Blue 8-Strand kumihimo and orange and white heart braid kumihimo

Braiding has occurred throughout history, probably beginning as functional pieces to tie heavy things with small threads and becoming more intricate as braids became decorations and parts of religious rituals throughout the world.  Kumihimo, which literally means “intersected thread”, is the type of decorative braiding that developed over centuries in Japan.  It’s thought that impressions of braids have been found on pottery there as early as 8000 BC and braids became common around the fourth century AD.

Kumihimo is created on any of four looms that create different types of braid.  For more in-depth information on the art and images of the different looms, check out this website.

The foam Kumiloom below is a starter loom I bought off Amazon and the two braids above are ones I practiced on so I could develop the technique.

A Kumiloomwith two colors, eight strings. The same colors are opposite each other to start. 

The setup for starting the 8-Strand braid