Simple five-strand braid
Try this elegantly interlocking braid – it’s simpler than it looks!
Once you can work a simple three-strand plait, you’ll be able to make any braid. It’s best to start off by adding one or two more strands and trying easy patterns that use a simple system of explanation. We’ve got the perfect five-strand braid pattern below for you to try next. Step 1 For this braid, you need five strands. For our example, we used five rows of double crochet worked in DK yarn, sewn together at one end. We made one strand in a different colour and positioned this at the centre of the five strands. Label the strands as outer left, inner left, centre, inner right, outer right.
Step 2 To start the braiding pattern, lift the centre strand out of the way.
Step 3 Now swap the outer left and outer right strands, keeping the outer right strand on top.
Step 4 Then you can place the centre strand back down.
Step 5 Next, swap the inner left and inner right strands, keeping the inner left strand on top. Now you can tighten up the strands of the braid, if desired. Step 6 Reset the labels on your strands and repeat the braiding pattern from Steps 2 to 5. Keep repeating the pattern, tightening up as you go, to create a stylish interlocking braid. When finished, sew the ends together to secure them in place.
Step 7 If you’d like, you can make this braid using three colours instead of two – we used this for our belt pattern on page 83. The finished braid is also reversible. For this result, match pairs of colours as ‘inner’ and ‘outer’ pairs; that is, have a pair of one colour as the ‘inner’ and the other pair as ‘outer’.