| Monthly Newsletter - Issue 66 June 2016 |
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Hello Braiders,
Greetings! It's been another fun and fast month.
Kumihimo has gone crazy. It is everywhere. It is on fire! I know you have lots of choices and I appreciate that you keep coming back to What a Braid. I sprinkle a little bit of Kumihimo happy fairy dust on each package that goes out.
The June Kit of the Month #1 is
my "Kumihimo Edge Bead Eyeglass K
ee
per
". My eyes remind me everyday that I am not getting any younger. Suffice to say, reading glasses are my new best friend. That being said, I made an eyeglass keeper! Fast, easy, fun and purposeful. I use this all the time! Details below.
The June Kit of the Month #2 is the "Enameled Metal Pendant with Porcelain Beads". Oh, so pretty and lots of great colors. Details below!
Kumihimo & Knitting Trip - OAXACA 2017
The Oaxaca Trip - 2017 was filled with 40 people in less than a week (actually days). For those of you that are still interested, alot that can happen in a year and every now and again there is a cancellation and somebody on the waiting list makes it on the trip. If you are interested, get on the waiting list! Send an email to [email protected]
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Happy Braiding,
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CNCH 2017 - Conference of Northern California Handweavers
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Mark your calendars! It's a year away but you know how time flies. I am excited that I am one of the Instructors at the CNCH Conference in Asilomar May 4 -7, 2017. I will be teaching a 2 1/2 day Kumihimo Workshop and I am thrilled. While my Kumihimo Workshop is geared for beginners, there will be plenty of information for braiders with a little more experience as well. We will braid with both fiber and beads and I plan to bring a few Marudai for those that are curious. Check out the
CNCH Facebook page for more information and a
list of instructors. I look forward to seeing
you there! CNCH Conferences are fantastic! Oh what fun!
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June Kit of the Month #1 - "Kumihimo Edge Bead Eyeglass Keeper with Adjustable Closure"
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 How many of you use reading glasses?
My Edge Bead Eyeglass Keeper was created from necessity. I have reading glasses all over my house but always out of arms reach. Now, I can put the readers around my neck and they are always there when I need them. The Picasso seed beads and Patina finished hardware are a great combination. The adjustable closure allows you to wear the eyeglass keeper as long or as short as you want it. The beaded sections are about 10 1/2" on each side and the braided tails on either end are 6". The Eyeglass Keeper can be almost 32" long or longer if you add more length to the braided tails on either end. You will need: Kumihimo Disk (Thick Mini is BEST), 8 Bobbins, Scissors, Tape Measure, Fray Block (Optional). You should know: Kumihimo Round Braid (also known as Kongoh Gumi), and how to "drop" beads. If you need a reminder check out Kumihimo Tip #14.
Kit includes:
- 1 Spool C-Lon Bead Cord
- 8/0 Picasso Seed Beads in 6 colors.
-Patina Finished Ring
-Patina Finished Barrel Bead for Adjustable Closure
-Wide Eye Needle
-Instructions with Photos
Cost: $22
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June Kit of the Month 2 - "Kumihimo Necklace Kits with Enameled Metal Pendants, Porcelain Beads & Kumihimo Rayon Ribbon"
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 Need an easy project? This one is alot of fun.
One of my very dear customers, Dona Alpert, helped me out on this one. She wrote to me one day suggesting a color swap in a kit and then she got me to re-think all of the colors. And then she added the porcelain beads and ta-da, a fun kit emerged. This is a great project for a beginner or if you want a project to take along in the car does that does not take much concentration or stringing beads. I have combined Kumihimo Rayon Ribbon with Shimmer Tubular Yarn to get a very pretty and delicate Kumihimo braid. Then I strung the porcelain beads and focal and then attached the end caps. Easy, peasy. You will need: Kumihimo Disk (regular or Mini), 8 Bobbins, Scissors, Tape Measure, Glue (I use WeldBond). You should know: Kumihimo Round Braid (also known as Kongoh Gumi).
Kit includes:
- 1 Skein Kumihimo Rayon Ribbon
- 3 yards Shimmer Tubular Yarn
-Enameled Metal Pendant & Bail
-6 Porcelain Beads
-Rustic Super Sleek Magnetic Clasp
-Instructions with Photos
Cost: $32
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Get Your 4th of July in Kits Today!
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Many of you started early making your 4th of July accessories. If you haven't started. Don't wait. Buy your kits today!
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(includes everything)
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4th of July Edge Bead Necklace Kit
This is another fun and easy necklace kit. Petite Satin Cord combined with three alternating colors of edge beads. Just think of the fun you could have with this later using different colors!
You will need: Kumihimo Disk, 8 bobbins, scissors, tape measure, Fray Block and Glue (I use WeldBond).
You should know: Kumihimo Round Braid (also known as Kongoh Gumi) and how to "drop" beads.
Kit includes: Royal and Red Petite Satin Cord; Red, White & Blue 6/0 Seed Beads, 6mm All-in-One Magnetic End Caps, Instructions with Photos.
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Kumihimo Day with my Girlfriends
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 From start to finish, 10 of us had a delightful day doing "one" o
f our favorite things,
Kumihimo. I feel so
fortunate to have a group of such wonderful, creative and talented ladies to get together with. We started in the morning, finished in the late afternoon and filled the middle with show-n-tell, braiding, conversation and amazing food. What a perfect day. We had gorgeous weather and sat out on the patio for lunch. (Mind you, 2 days later it snowed 6" on that same patio)!
I encourage all of you to find like-minded friends to braid with and start your own Kumihimo groups. It is inspiring is to see what others are doing and we can all learn so much from each other. Thank you Tina, Donna, Jen, Elizabeth, Nancy, Suzanne, Sharon, Paula and my wonderful mom.
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Kumihimo Artis
t of the Month
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Nancy Beckert - Truckee, CA 
Nancy is one of my braiding friends in Truckee. She is multi-talented and spends much of her time weaving and braiding (and probably alot of other stuff too). She is an accomplished artisan and sells her creations in many different markets. Nancy was one of the participants in the San Miguel de Allende Kumihimo & Knitting Trip. One of our projects was the Zip it Up Double Braided Bracelet Kit and she has gone on to make many beautiful variations. Check out the beautiful bracelet in the center where Nancy has started with the Zip it Up Double Braided Bracelet pattern and then made her own design to alter the bead dropping pattern and insertion of two-holed tile beads. Absolutely beautiful Nancy.
I encourage all of you that purchase kits "to take the next step" and come up with your own variations after your first run with the kit. I sell kits, instead of just patterns, so that the first time through you are using all of the components that the instructions are written for. After that, I love to hear about new things that you think up and try. I like to think that the kits provide you with all sorts of tools. These tools are meant to go into your toolbag so you can pull them out and use them in any way that you desire.
 Another of Nancy's beautiful creations is her woven bag. This bag is a beautiful blend of earthy colors. Of special note to all braiders, is Nancy's use of Kumihimo for her bag straps. Very nice.
Thank you Nancy!
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Tile Beads - Two Holed
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Here are a couple of colors of two-holed tile beads if you want to give them a try. They come 25 tiles to a string.
The sample is my "version" using Picasso 8/0 Turquoise & Brown seed beads for the outer edges, Dk Brown & Metallic Copper Super Duos, Picasso Yellow Tiles and Celadon and Sable C-Lon Bead Cord.
Click here for Tile Beads.
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Perfect for Cuff Bracelets....
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Decorative Flat Magnetic Clasps
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NEW!
Oh, I love this one. It's spacious opening makes it a great fit with Zip it Up Double Braided Bracelet $9.95
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Kumihimo Artis
t of the Month
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Dona Alpert - Langdon, New Hampshire
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Dona's "Embellished"
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Dona has been a long time customer of What a Knit and What a Braid. As I mentioned above, Dona had a great idea for this necklace kit. My version was the much simpler braid with a pendant. Dona explored my website and discovered that it would be fun to add the porcelain beads to make the necklace more exciting. Hence, the kits changed from the "simpler" version to the exciting "embellished" version! The kit comes with six porcelain beads (3 on each side of the pendant) but feel free to
get additional porcelain beads if you want more beads like Dona's example!
Click her for
Enamel Metal Pendant Necklace with KRR and Shimmering Tubular Yarn.
Thank you Dona!
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"Actual Kit"
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| "Simpler" |
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Porcelain Beads
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These Porcelain Beads are real beauties.
They come in two sizes:
5mm Pony Beads (9 colors)
5mm Cheerio Beads (7 colors)
Pony Beads: $.85/ each
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Enamel Metal Pendants with Matching Bails
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You may also purchase the Enamel Metal Pendants & Bails
a la carte. Maybe you have your own idea of how you might want to use these pendants. They could be beautiful on an all beaded Kumihimo rope. They could be beautiful on an 8-strand Petite Satin Cord. The choices are endless.
The inside diameter of the bail is about 5mm-ish and the 8-strand fiber combinations I have suggested work beautiful.
Have fun. Come up with your own original ideas!
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What a Knit/What a Braid Monthly Newsletters
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Reminder....
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Copyrighted patterns are not to be copied, shared electronically, given to friends or members of the guild
or used for teaching purposes
without express consent of the author. What a Knit or What a Braid patterns are for your personal use. Feel free to sell your creations but remember to give proper credit to the D
esigner.
If you decide you want to write a tutorial,
it is not appropriate to "borrow" parts of a copyrighted pattern.
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