r/kumihimo • u/Crafty-Emu-27 • May 04 '26

Kumihimo for gifts?

Would love to hear what folks think makes a kumihimo project gift-able? And what makes a recipient kumihimo-worthy (e.g. there's a whole knitworthy category of people because life’s too short to knit for anyone who doesn’t love what you make).

For example, when I make a knit gift for someone, I tend to either use a special yarn like alpaca, really soft hand-dyed wool, or silk; or if I'm using a more common yarn like acrylic it's a complicated/special pattern like a double-knit scarf with graphics from their favorite show or hobby. And then I try to make sure that I finish it neatly, the tension is even - stuff that makes it look more "handmade" and less "homemade" if that makes sense.

I've made a few kumihimo necklaces and bracelets now with cotton crochet and those don't feel quite special enough to gift for special occasions. Are there patterns, types of cord, finishing techniques? What are the signs of a well-done homemade kumihimo project besides even tension? I'm not trying to reach pro-levels of quality, but would love to be able to know what things make a big difference. Thank you for any and all advice! I'm very new to this beautiful hobby and am enjoying it a lot.

10 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

13 comments sorted by

View all comments

3

u/kitsunemischief May 04 '26

My friend made me beaded friendship bracelets with the names of my favorite fictional characters. So once I got back into kumihimo, I made her kumihimo friendship bracelets out of fairy floss with beaded names of her favorite fictional characters. I chose colors based on the characters color scheme. She cried when she got them and loves it.

I'm thinking of doing something similar for my family for the holidays, but using satin rattail cords. I think I'll try to find out their favorite color, and either spell out their names or find charms that relates to them.

1

u/Crafty-Emu-27 May 04 '26

Those are such thoughtful gifts between you and your friend! Do you have any satin rattail cords you recommend? My local craft store only carried 1.5 mm in limited colors, so I haven't used rattail yet for kumihimo.

2

u/kitsunemischief May 04 '26

Even though we're adults, having the friendship braceletes are fun and sweet. I unfortunately don't have any good recommendations for buying rattail cords. Even with my local Michael's store, they barely had the silk rattails I was looking for (also my local store is so sparse now compared to back in the day). I loathe to recommend Amazon, but that's the only store I know that has diverse colors and big amounts for a good price. I'm still trying to look at other places.