Kumihimo!

End of year listing! Seafoam Kumihimo Necklace! What do you do when you have a beautiful Venetian Glass pendant and hundreds of Fire Polish beads? I don't know about you but I tend to think about KUMIHIMO!

I love to try new Kumihimo ideas and I'll be the first to admit that they don't always turn out as I hoped... That's when you go back to the design board and rethink your vision. Many a time I've unbraided and started over... Not my favorite thing to do but each braid I've created has added to my knowledge of what works and what doesn't work on the Kumihimo Foam Disk.

Certain fibers look great together and some get buried underneath heavier cord in the braid. Some beads don't lay the way you think they will because of their shape. One word of advice if you're planning a beaded Kumi project is to string only enough beads to do about 3-4 inches of your project and if you like the effect then string the rest. Why waste time stringing hundreds of beads if it won't work for your project?

This Fire Polish project was inspired by a project from Karen DeSousa's first book, "Necklaces Braided on the Kumihimo Disk". The lightweight foam disk became very heavy once all the beads were loaded on the braiding cord. I had to take frequent breaks so that my hands did not get sore. But it was worth it and I'm very pleased with the results. I hope to do another like it very soon.

Kumihimo Braiding is so versatile! Beads, fiber, and cord can combine with so many different results! I tell my students the skies the limits and don't be afraid to try different combinations! You can always unbraid, undo, and restart as long as you haven't made that final end knot!