How to Braid a Cord on the Lucet Tool You Need

How to Braid a Cord on the Lucet Tool

All you need to braid a cord on the lucet tool is some yarn or wool, a lucet tool and a pair of scissors. Like knitting or crocheting, braiding on a lucet can be done anywhere because it is easy to bring along. Choose the type of yarn depending on the project you are working on. To start it is easier to use wool for a knitting needle size 7-9. To make sturdy cording for shoelaces stays or corsets, cotton crochet thread for 3.5mm crochet hooks makes excellent cording. It is more difficult to braid with thinner cotton thread than with thicker wool yarn.

You need: - Wool or cotton yarn - A pair of Scissors - A Lucet tool

How to do the basic braid: It might be easier to learn how to braid on the lucet tool by watching a video. Therefore, please watch some videos on YouTube in addition to studying the instructions below. Like knitting and crocheting, it takes a couple of tries to get the hang of it and to produce even braids. The instructions below only cover the basic braid. Additional yarn or beads are sometimes braided into the cord to make for interesting patterns. The pictures below show the tool laying on a surface. This was done only for picture taking purposes. When braiding you are actually holding the tool. If you are right handed, hold the tool with your left hand and braid with your right hand.

1. Thread the yarn through the hole from the back of the lucet tool.

2. Bring the yarn to the front of the right side.

3. Wrap it around the right side and from the back of the right side over to the front of the left side.

4. Wrap it around the left side and from the back of the left side over to the front of the right side above the string from step 3.

5. Hold it in place and take the lower string on the right side with your thumb and pointing finger. Bring the string over the upper string and over the right side.

6. Turn the tool to the left to the other side.

7. Pull a bit on the string to make the loop that is now on the left side a little bit smaller, but not too small (this is the tricky part!)

8. Lay the string above the previous string on the right side. Like in step 5, hold the string in place and take the lower string on the right side with your thumb and pointing finger. Before bringing it over the upper string and to the other side, pull on the string to tighten the left side loop that you didn’t pull tight in step 7. Now is the time to pull it tight and then bring the string that is now the new loop over to the back of the right side.

9. Repeat step 6, 7 and 8. It takes some time to figure out the correct tightness. You always turn the tool over to the left and you always take with your fingers over the tool on the right side. The beginning of the cord is harder but when the cord gets longer, it will wrap itself around the handle of the tool.

How to finish the cord: 1. To elegantly finish the cord, cut the yarn with a 4” tail and take the cord carefully off the lucet while keeping the loops in their actual size. It looks like this:

2. Thread the end of the yarn through the loop where the yarn didn’t come from. In the picture below, the loop where the yarn came from is the left loop and the loop where you thread the yarn through is the right loop.

3. Dont pull on the string, but instead use your thumb and pointer finger and pull on the loop from where the string came from (left loop in the picture). This will tighten the loop through which you thread the yarn in step 2 (right loop in the picture).

4. When the right loop is tight, don’t pull on the yarn yet but thread the yarn through the remaining loop.

5. Lastly, pull the yarn tight. Now the cord is finished nicely.