Take twenty strands, seventy hairs in a strand, and place on table like pattern. Commence take No. 1 at A in right hand and No. 1 at B in left hand, swing to the right and change places with them; then take Nos. 3 at A and lay inside of Nos. 2 at B, and bring Nos. 3 from B and lay inside of Nos. 2 at A; then go to C and take No. 1 in right hand and No. 1 at D in left hand, swing to the right and change places with them; then take Nos. 3 at C and lay inside of Nos. 2 at D, and bring back Nos. 3 from D and lay inside of Nos. 2 at C. Then commence at A as at first, and repeat until the braid is finished.
Braid this over a small wire, with a hole in one end like the eye of a needle, so as to draw a small cord in the place of the wire. When you have it braided, take off your weights, tie the ends fast on the wire and push the braid together on the wire; then boil in water about ten minutes; then take it out and put in an oven as hot as it will bear without burning, until it is quite dry, then take it out and slip it off of the wire on to the cord, and sew the ends of the braid so it will not slip on the cord, and put a little shellac on the end to keep it fast. If you want it elastic, use elastic cord. To vary the size of the braid, vary the number of hairs in a strand.
Take twenty-four strands, sixty hairs in a strand, and place on table like pattern. Commence at A and B: take Nos. 1 at A, and lift them across the table, and lay the one in left hand between Nos. 1 at B, and the one in right hand on the outside of Nos. 1 at B, and bring back the Nos. 1 from B to A. Then pass round the table to the right, and change (in the same manner) successively, the Nos. 3, 5, 6, 2, 4, 6, 2, 4, 5, 1, 3 and 5; then commence at A with Nos. 1, as at first, and repeat until the braid is finished.