Tablet Weaving and Ply-Splitting Books, Tools & Kits
Ply-split braid with wire and seed beads
This braid is a non-traditional SCOT design by Peter Collingwood. For this design, there are two groups of cords. Cords in one group are always splitters (they are "active") and cords in the other group are always splittees (they are "passive"). Since the splitters are never split, they don't have to be cords -- and they don't need to be splittable! This opens up a lot of interesting possibilities.
For the braid in this photo, I made the splittees with 5/2 perle cotton. I added a little metallic yarn to the plies of one of these cords. These three cords are the only cords in the braid that will be split.
For the splitters (which will never be split), I used three pieces of 22 gauge brass wire. I used a gripfid to split the plies of the three cotton cords (the splittees), and poked the end of the wire through the opening. Once I pulled the wire through, I threaded size 8 seed beads onto the wire (either 1, 3, or 5 beads, as determined by the design). I repeated this process to make the braid.
I would enjoy doing further experiments with someone who is more knowledgeable about beads. Contact me if you're interested.
Ply-Splitting Gallery
Shop
Home
This page created in 2001 and updated on November 25, 2013.