On the left is what the braid looked like before I threw it in the washing machine with a couple of towels and detergent and hot water. I put it through 2 long wash cycles (without letting it empty) and then the cold rinse cycle. And then I took the braid on the right out of the machine.


It's now thicker and shorter than it was and very fuzzy. The fulling process fairly successfully hid the mistakes in braiding and the sloppy tension and it's just long enough for a shoulder strap. It's not too stretchy and once I got the braid into my head, it was actually much quicker to make than knitting I-cord. I think I should have attached it to the bag before fulling it but the bag doesn't exist yet! And I had to see what happened to the braid in the washer — and get my swap samples in the mail asap.
For those who care about such things, this is Braid 40, Usu Hira Se, from Makiko Tada's Comprehensive Treatise of Braids 1: Maru-dai Braids. It takes 12 - 70g bobbins with a 15 oz counterweight. I used a 2-yard warp of 4 strands of wool for each bobbin (6 of each colour), either Condon's 2ply fine (discontinued) or Quebecoise 2. I'm not sure now which is which but the green was hand-dyed by me and I think both are leftover from a handwoven blanket that I still sleep under every night. I could only do one 2-yard warp at a time because the bobbins got too full. Now to warp up the actual samples and do this all over again. And write it all up.
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