the summer i was fourteen years old,
i spent two weeks immersed at language camp.
this meant only french
spoken, all the time.
the thing is,
most of us campers
knew very little french.
we’d whisper
in english
in our bunks at night
or behind
the counselors’ backs
trying to stave off
the deep feelings of homesickness
that were only intensified by the language gap.
in an effort to connect 
(and to calm us down),
our cabin leader ingrid
would quietly sit
humming
while she brushed
our hair until it shined.
she would then
do different
braids each day.
french braids (of course),
dutch braids, pigtail braids and my favorite, fishtail braids.
four of us had long hair then and became known for our daily locks.
we loved our matching braids and we ate up the attention.
we were so far
from home and from
our own sweet mamas.
even now,
braids
make me feel hugged.
this piece
of my history
is the inspiration
for today’s
new pattern.
‘water under the sky’ feels to me like a warm hug around the neck
and the fishtail braids are like emotional comfort food.
don’t you dare let
the braids scare you.
there are clear
step by step directions.
if you want more,
is easy to find
on youtube,
and tomorrow you can
to enter to win
enough yarn to knit and braid, your own ’emotional comfort’.
see you then…
1st and 3rd pics: julie asselin’s ‘yotta’.
‘water under the sky’ taken from 1:9 in genesis.
2nd and 4th pics: camaj fiber arts ‘boheme sari ribbon yarn’.
OOOOOHHHHHHH how pretty! I love the braids. Now I understand the clue. 🙂
the only think i don’t like about having short hair is no more braids. my grandma had long white hair and used to make tiny braids, curl them up and pin them with little x’s of bobby pins. i think someday i will grow mine long again to experiment with stuff like that.
i read the above comment and saw it was by you talitha!!!
this is exactly how my grandma wore her hair, her pins were of turtoise and she used them over and over, unlike us who lose our metal ones…
and she wore muted colors like grey and brown and mocassins (flat shoes) but that’s a different story.
it is “tomorrow” here as i am in france. i love your homepage statements.
that’s so cool. my grandma had faux tortoise combs she put in sometimes depending on which braids she did. i haven’t that kind of time to spend on my hair right now with 4 kids in the house, but maybe someday…
It’s after midnight and I’m entering to win:) love this scarf. It’s a winner!
you are so definitely entered! and all i really need to say is …. super bulky rocks! right?!?
Tal! Thank you for designing such a wonderful piece from our Boheme sari ribbon yarn. <3
i love how original your sari yarn is! was on your site eyeing the new colors just last night and my head was spinning with more ideas of things it could be. so fun!
Oh my goodness, what a beautiful scarf! And the braids are just what I’m looking for to finish off a chemo cap, too. I wasn’t satisfied with the braids that were in the directions. What a wonderful afternoon for me – a scarf to oogle and the perfect end to the cap. Smiling & Waving, Sharon
thank you, and so great you have such a great project to use the braids on, too. that makes me smile.
Another great one Tabitha you are way too cute. I recently cut 13″ off my hair and it’s still down to the small of my back but now I don’t. worry about sitting on it lol
wow, your hair must have been long. mine was never even quite to my waist. my girls don’t want to sit long enough for me to braid their hair, so i sure did have fun braiding these.