I moved on to braids in Rosemary Shepherd's book. There are five and they not only show different styles of braids but how to do footsides. The braid on the left is number 1 and uses twists in the worker pair to make the spaces. There weren't any given numbers and you're expected to figure it out by looking at the diagram. At first, I was disappointed and felt confused but I'm glad I used strongly contrasting colors. The random stripes are fine. I would be a little more precise if I were doing this for a pattern but I sort of made it up as I went and as I moved along, it got easier and rather fun. This one is supposed to have a footside but I didn't really understand the directions which actually sent you to another page about something else. That was last night. I read it again awhile ago and it made more sense. The edges done on my bookmarks were a little different and I was trying to understand it through that pattern. Wrong, mostly. I think I get it now and the next three braids also have footsides so I'll get some practice in.

The second braid was a structured pattern using twists. The 1st and 3rd rows were the same but the 2nd and 4th were each different. As I moved on, my tension got better and I was getting into the rhythm of the design. Again, I'm glad I used strongly contrasting colors. The even rows with the changes took me awhile to get the hang of. I used a post-it until I was almost at the end and by then, I had it memorized!

The 3rd braid will be very similar to the 2nd except it will have one footside and the design is slightly different.

I'll probably tat the rest of this evening. I have a commitment tomorrow evening but we meet for Bobbin lace on Tuesday so I'll get at least one more braid done soon. I've seen a few more patterns/instructions that I want to pursue after this and then I'll try some REAL patterns! The ones that only tell you how many pairs to use. This is another reason this art is not widespread. It's so hard to find good clear instructions that don't assume you know more than you do.

I realize now that the Thunder and Dye book covered a LOT of techniques in the lessons and that's good because I've had some exposure now. Even in that book though, they kept referencing an earlier lesson instead of re-explaining it in the moment. It's really hard to keep shuffling pages back and forth and keep your place. What I really need is a story board, where it's all laid out in front of me. I actually know of a series of painting lessons that are done that way. It's great! I wish I could afford it!