Last weekend I got inspired to play with braids when I came across this post from Franco's Fiber Adventure on Peruvian Cross Rep Braid. If you've never visited Franco's blog, I highly recommend it, it's full of unusual fiber techniques.
I really liked the look of the braid so I have it a go with some spare cotton twine, loved the resulted and spent the rest of the week trying out different fibers and braid variations.
This braid is so simple and basic and yet allows for many different variations. The basic structure is four sets of working elements, in two or more colors. The primary working set crosses over the secondary set and changes sheds and then crosses over itself to form diamonds. The secondary set of threads just passes through the primary sets weaving and then makes a single cross with itself in the middle.
I did not photograph step by step instructions, because the photos and instructions on Franco's blog are very clear and easy to follow, so if you want to give this braid a go, head over to his blog (link above). If you want to explore the different fiber and braid variations I played with, read on!
Different Variations I Tried
I first tried the braid in a rough rug wool I had already wound onto bobbins for weaving. As a piece of braiding, this turned out beautiful, but I had an idea of turning these braids into bracelets, and the wool was much too coarse for that.
The two braids on the right are the wool braids. The furthest right was done in just two colors and then second to right was done in three colors, rearranging the sequence of the colors so the edges were purple and the middle crossing was the gold.
These came out as really chunky, solid braids. I might use them as a strap for a bag or decoration on a basket. Or possibly as part of a horse halter or bridle as decoration.
Of course, as they are braid with the elements working on a diagonal, the finished pieces have a lot of stretch to them.
So the next variation I played with was changing the way the secondary elements cross in the middle.
The first braid that I changed up the middle crossing was the left braid in the picture to the right. I made this braid from some inexpensive crafting cord I purchased off Amazon. I think it's either acrylic or nylon.
The stiffness of this cord made it very easy to work this braid and looks really nice as well.
For the middle crossing, I simply braided the secondary elements in sets of two. Because this cord is a little stiffer then some of the threads I was using, the braiding stays in place and shows up really well. More slippery threads did not show up as well.
In a similar fashion, though made much later, the other two braids in this photo also play with changing up how the secondary elements cross each other and also separate the secondary threads into two sets for their passing through the primary threads.
In the braid on the right, I changed the secondary element crossing into a braid in sets of two, just as the braid on the left, except you'll note that going into and coming out of that middle crossing, the secondary elements are separated into sets of two threads and each set passed through a different shed of the primary elements. So instead of all four secondary threads being captured by the primary threads, I first pass two secondary threads, interlace the primary threads to create a new shed, then pass the remaining two secondary threads. I did this every other middle crossing of the secondary threads. The other crossings I did normally.
The thread I used on this braid is a cotton that is one of my favorites to work with, but for this braid it was a little too slippery and not stiff enough.
The middle braid was the final extend of my variations on braiding the secondary threads. I did this one in a linen mix that behaved really well for the braiding, though does not look as nice in single elements. I may try this technique again but with at least two threads working as one. Much the same as the last braid, I passed the secondary threads through the primary threads in sets of two, rather then four. I braided the middle crossing of the secondary threads as single elements, and I also braided them on the outer edge.
I really liked how this braid came out, but I need to work it with thicker threads or more threads working as a single element. This braid came out rather thin and weak, with a lot of gaps in the braid.
The variation I played with the most was using thicker threads or more threads for the secondary elements and thinner threads for the primary elements.
This was fun for exploring my yarn hoard for various threads I thought would look nice together.
Linen has turned out to be my favorite fiber for the primary elements, though in the right most braid I used slippery silk thread that went well with the cotton secondary threads. Though it does not hold it's shape as well as the linen thread, which is the primary elements on the other two braids in the photo to the left.
All of these braids have linen as the primary element. The yellow is pure linen and the lavender is a linen blend that is one of my all time favorite yarns, that is sadly no longer produced.
The braid on the second to right has another unique feature. To get a bulkier thread, I used my lucet and made a cord from one of the threads I was using. So the secondary threads in both the braids on the right are the same thread. In the rightmost braid it is used in it's original state and in the second to right braid I used lucet cords made from the same yarn.
One note on using multiple threads as one for the secondary elements; tie each set of threads at the bottom so that you don't loose track of what threads belong together.
My favorite braid turned out to be this one I did that is a double braid.
I used my favorite linen blend. All the primary elements are a dark purple. The secondary elements on the left are blue and the secondary elements on the right are yellow.
The braid is done exactly as the original braid, except two braids are worked side by side and the secondary elements loop around each other in the middle.
I am eager to explore this variation further, with different ways to connect the braids together and with some of the braiding variations I showed above.
The last two variations I played with are in the photo to the right, along with one of braids that I think looks the sharpest, but was awful to make.
The leftmost braid was the final variation I played with, where I added more primary threads. Rather then working with four threads in each set, I increased it to eight threads in each set. I think this is a lovely braid, though a little thick.
I also used multiple threads as a single element in the secondary threads as well.
The second from left is a braid I did with all the same threads in both primary and secondary elements. The photo does not do this braid justice, it actually came out really nice, though I do think I made some mistakes because it was difficult to keep track of what were the primary elements and what were the secondary. However, I will definitely try this variation again.
One last comment on the braids in the photo above. The rightmost braid is one of my favorites in terms of how well it keeps its shape, the shininess of the fibers and just how it feels. I used some stiff knotting thread for the primary element. I cannot remember anything about this thread or even where I got it. The secondary thread is a chained viscose I purchased from my favorite source for unique, beautiful threads; Oliver Twist Fibers. Although the blue chained threads look amazing, they were horrible to braid with. I think this braid took me three to four times as long as the other braids. I don't think I have any more of that particular fiber, so I cannot experiment with how to braid it more efficiently.
Exploring This Technique
After playing with this braid for a few days, I wanted to learn more about the technique and variations. I had already purchased the book that Franco mentions in his blog post Finger Weaving: Indian Braiding by Alta R. Turner, a tiny little book that gets you started in finger weaving and also includes instructions for a rep braid and this cross rep braid. Although Alta does have some photographs of variations of these braids, she does not go into much detail on how to achieve them.
I have two other books in my library to reference for braiding and Peruvian textile techniques.
Textiles of Ancient Peru and Their Techniques by Raoul D'Harcourt: An interesting book, especially if you are as obsessed with South American fiber techniques, braiding and sprang, like I am. However, it is more of a reference book then an instruction book. The first half of the book describes the different techniques along with diagrams and the second half is all photographs of the different textiles that the author examined in the course of learning these techniques.
Under the Plaiting and Braiding section of the book there is a description of how to make plaiting with only one element visible (essentially rep weaving or braiding) in three different ways. Then at the end there is a description of a braid in the photographs that the author explains uses two of the three techniques. The photograph is questions looks to be this cross rep braid. I lightly perused the descriptions of the different rep braid techniques, but without more diagrams or just testing out the techniques myself, I had a hard time following.
Fortunately, I have another book that is almost too full of diagrams and explanations!
The Manual of Braiding by Noemi* Speiser: I have a love/hate relationship with this book. It is absolutely full to the brim with information on braiding. IF you can follow along. The author seems to have wrote is as if she was preparing to teach a class on the subject, where you have to start at the beginning and work your way through without skipping any sections. She gives you all the foundation information you need without guiding you down the path of variations. However, this does come from my mind that always wants to recreate a specific technique I found or have in mind and I don't want to have to complete all the previous steps to get to it. If I took the time to work through her book and make samples from her instructions, I would probably have a greater appreciation of the book and the author.
That all said, I still love this book and the wealth of information it has.
*the e in her name should have an accent above it, but I could not figure out how to get my blog post to do that. A google search even failed me.
And look! I found this exact braid under Balanced Ribbing; Enlarged Units!
I had never noticed this braid before, which is crazy because I am also most drawn to narrow braids and weavings.
This just illustrates how much information is packed into this book that I never noticed this little braid diagram before.
I also found some photographs of Peruvian rep braids in the back of the book, including some that are also in D'Harcourt's book. But no photographs of the cross rep braid.
Well, that is my adventure so far in the Peruvian Cross Rep Braid! I hope you enjoyed and are inspired by what I shared here.
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