I was gifted some angora at the fair last weekend, single ply. The only main problem is I don't trust my brading and don't want to sacrifice good wool(even though it was free and the guy will give me a price break). I was wondering if some one could give me a better discription on "round brading".  Also I was thinking of adding some soften jute,or some such, as a filler and to add abit more color to the project.
I'd also thought about making a sling out of embrodrey floss but I'm not sure how well the stuff would hold up even corded and braded. Any ideas?

Anyway their web site is   www.jeanette@laffing-horse.com

Thanks

I don't know much about fibers, but round braiding around a core is fairly easy (if time consuming).  There are some good links on the links page of this site with drawings.  Basically, start with an even number of strands, half in each hand, one hand on either side of your core.  Take the strand on the far right back, around and behind the core to the opposite side, then weave it under/over/under/over 'til you get it back to it's own side/hand, this time on the inside instead of the outside.  Then take the strand on the far left back, around, and behind the core and do the same thing.  Back to the right, back to the left, etc.  I've seen pictures of softer woolen strands woven around courser, presumably stronger materials, but I've never tried it.

Yes Jeff, please do!

Chris

Quote:


I guess it´s just about a question fo practice. I can make a fourbraid almost as fast as a tree-one.

/Ulrica

I guess I just need to practise.  I don't think it could be as fast as three strand braiding, because the movement is more complex, but wih practise, it could be nearly so, I suppose.  Anyway, I will get some string today and get practising.  I think you can make cut price rope if you use a four strand braid using string.  It costs about £1.50 for a six inch diameter ball.  I have tried making rope with a three strand braid, but it is flat (and can only be), and this is bad because the rope would kink all the time, so I will try with a four strand.

Round  braiding is not difficult, just time consuming.  I highly recommend using the Japanese Maru Dai (check out braidershand.com) for braiding.  The 250 braides book is fantastic.  But there are lots of web sites that outline how to do a round braid.  I would recommend getting some cheap yarn or cheap wool and braiding a foot or two using the pattern you like most.  That way you get a feel for how it works, braiding tension, etc.  You'll be happier with your results on your actual sling.  It's harder to unbraid mistakes than it is to braid. 

Embroidery floss  !!Fantastic For Slings!!  My first slings were embroidery floss and it is still my favorite stuff - I like wool only because it's authentic.  Individual floss strands are nearly impossible to break (whereas wool strands can be broken, but once braided they are more than strong enough), they are not slippery like nylon and so braid easily, they come in a thousand colors, they don't rot with moisture, and they look like a natural fibre so the slings appear more authentic (as opposed to nylon).  Go with DMC size 5.  There is less color selection, but the larger strands make for a sling that is about the diameter of a number 2 pencil which is ideal in my opinion (this is for a 16 strand braid or an 8 strand with an 8 core).

anyway, my two cents.

Embroidery floss for slings.  I always wondered about that.  Thanks Barak.  Maybe I'll give it a try someday myself.  I wonder if you could double up the smaller strands to give more color variation?  I bought some loppy wool yarn that looked good online, but broke so easily I couldn't braid it when it got here.  Stay away from loppy wool yarn!  It's quite hard to find good wool to braid slings.  Jeff H. says that the stuff the Peruvian slings are made of is really nice (he's been altering his slings a bit) and we're looking into whether we could purchase that stuff.  If anyone knows about good natural color, natural fiber, wool yarn, let me know.  I haven't found any anywhere.

                                              Ben

hmmm.
I like the picture of men sitting and spinning.  
So far I just have seen pictures of women doing that.  

I never tried it so far as I can remember..
Isn´t hard and difficult to learn and to do it well?

If I only knew how to braid a nice sling with split pouch I would really conciderate learning spinning too.

Ulrica