sankakudai – Nothing In It

Rainbow Sankakudai Braids

Posted on 2024.09.122024.08.22 by Elliott Evans

When the call went out before Pennsic for largesse items to be gifted to the East Kingdom, one of the suggestions was “rainbow” color schemes. I did all my braids in purple and gold to match East colors, but the rainbow idea stuck in the back of my mind. I later realized that as possibly the only person in North America to own a traditional Japanese sankaku-dai, I was maybe the only person in the SCA who could create braids in the classic 7-color “Roy G. Biv” (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet) rainbow pattern. Seven-strand braids are possible on other braiding stands, but they are fast and smooth on the sankakudai.

Sankaku-dai set up for 7-strand rainbow braid

To work a 7-set braid on the sankakudai, you lift the top strand on left, and move it over the other left-hand threads to become the bottom strand on the right. Then you do the same from right to left. When the point of braiding gets too close to the tip, use the roller to pull it back towards the torii. When the tama get too close to the mirror of the dai, extend them as you would on a marudai. You can add twist to the strands or not, as you please. I have found very little difference in the resulting braid, but that may be because of the material I am using.

Here are the 3 rainbow braids I made in one evening on my sankakudai:

braid-20240821-1 — Sankakudai 7-set rainbow braid,
8 ends of crochet cotton per strand
(twist applied)

braid-20240821-2 — Sankakudai 7-set rainbow braid,
8 ends of crochet cotton per strand
(no twist)

braid-20240821-3 — Sankakudai 7-set rainbow braid,
10 ends of crochet cotton per strand
(no twist)

Adding more ends per strand make a braid that is only a little wider, but much softer. I am really glad I tried this braid, and happy to add it to my repertoire. These braids are cheerful and friendly, and I know that people will enjoy receiving them.

Unpopular Braiding Equipment

Posted on 2024.09.112024.08.14 by Elliott Evans

I will be teaching a class at the sixth international braiding conference next year in Cleveland, so I have been doing a lot of experimentation and research on a braid called “shige-uchi”.

As you know, most braiding in Japan is performed on braiding stands, called “dai”. A braiding researcher in Japan clued me in to the fact that this braid was made traditionally on three different braiding stands, but only one of those pieces of equipment is used today. The two other dai are rarely seen even in Japan these days, and most braiders outside of Japan have never heard of them.

If I lived in Japan, I could probably make an appointment to travel to one of the few braiding studios that still possess them. In the USA, if I wanted to experiment with these stands I was going to have to DIY them based on some of the few photos that exist on the Internet.

The first is a stand that appears to be specialized just for the shigeuchi braid, since it is called the “shigeuchi-dai”. The unbraided strands hang down over the sides of the dai, and are wound around weighted bobbins called “tama”. The strands are passed between other strands and moved from side to side and to create the braid at the center. The completed braid passes over the “torii” at the top of the dai and is wound around the roller at the back. For scale, this stand is about 2 feet tall.

The second stand is used for several different braids, but usually with an odd number of strands. It is called a “sankaku-dai” because of its triangular (san=3, kaku=angle) top. The strands are (again) passed from side to side, but over the top instead of across a gap. This stand is smaller, at about 16 inches tall.

Both stands are made from pine to keep them affordable, and assembled with screws to keep assembly (and disassembly) simple. Learning to braid on these dai has been fun and informative. My researcher friend in Japan tells me they are most likely the only dai of their kind in North America!

Here is a sampling of sankakudai braids in various materials and colors:

9-element shigeuchi in poly-yarn, 5-set poly-yarn, 5-set poly-yarn, 7-set poly-yarn, 5-set cotton, 7-set cotton, 10-element trapezoid poly-yarn

Largesse Braids for the East

Posted on 2024.08.042024.07.30 by Elliott Evans

Every year at Pennsic, the Kingdoms in the SCA trade gift baskets. This year, my Kingdom is gifting the Crown of the East Kingdom with a basket of goodies that they can use during their reign or give out as largesse themselves. I decided to chip in with some of my stock of illustrated scroll blanks and some fresh medallion cord braids in East Kingdom colors.

These were all in violet and gold silk lace-weight yarn, with multiple ends of yarn per strand. These braids enabled me to practice some new techniques and on some new equipment, so it was totally worth it.