Take eighteen strands, eighty hairs in a strand, and place on table like pattern. Commence at A and B, take Nos. 1 and swing around table to the right, and place the No. 1 from A over the Nos. 2 and 3 at B, and the No. 1 from B over the Nos. 2 and 3 at A; then go to C and D, take the Nos. 1 and change the same; then go to E and F and change the same; then go to B and A, and change as at first,—all the time taking the Nos. 1, and swinging to the right, for when you lay them over the Nos. 2 and 3 it makes them Nos. 3, and makes Nos. 2 Nos. 1—and so on, until the chain 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 close together; then boil in water about ten minutes, and take it out and put it in an oven as hot as it will bear without burning, until it is quite dry; then take it out and slip it off the wire on to the cord, sew the ends of the braid so it will not slip, and put a little shellac on the ends 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 sixteen strands, eighty hairs in a strand, and place them on table like pattern. Commence at A and B, take No. 1 at A in right hand and No. 1 at B in left hand and swing them around the table to the right and lay the one in the right hand down at B, over across Nos. 2, 3 and 4, and the one in the left hand at A over across Nos. 2, 3 and 4, then go to C and take No. 1 at C and D and change as before at A and B; then go to B and take No. 1 at B and A and change them by taking No. 1 at B in right hand, and No. 1 at A in left hand and swing them round the table to the right as before, laying them across over Nos. 2, 3 and 4; so on braiding around the table to the right until you have it the required length.
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.