Figure 37. Braid commencement of rim of kete ngahengahe. a, three strips of leaflet (1–3) commence three-ply braid; back ply (1) on left crossed over into middle position. b, two wefts (4, 4′) added together to middle ply (1) which came in from left; cut-off butt ends rest on turn of ply and long length of wefts joins long length of ply; care taken in adding wefts to keep shiny surface of wefts uppermost; though leaflet midribs with thicker parts on either side split off, edge of weft toward midrib still shows different consistency to edge away from it; to obtain neat plaiting, midrib edges of each series of wefts must all face same direction; of two wefts added to braid, under one will subsequently function as dextral and upper as sinistral in all pairs added to braid; in adding pairs to braid, craftswoman selects wefts with midrib edge to right for lower element (4) and wefts with midrib edge to left for upper element (4′); detail indicates care taken to enhance effect, c, two wefts (4, 4′) being in position, back ply (3) on the right crossed over them to middle position; back ply on left (2) crossed over 3 to take middle position. d, all additional pairs of wefts added to ply which comes in from left as in b; two wefts (5, 5′) therefore added to middle ply from left (2). e, two plies being now on right, back ply (1) with its two added wefts (4, 4′) brought over to middle with half-twist to round braid; position of wefts now reversed, weft 4 being above 4′ and ply 1 above 4. f, back ply (3) brought over from left to middle position and two wefts (6, 6′) added to it. g, back ply (2) on right brought over to middle position bringing two wefts (5, 5′) with it; back ply (1) on left brought over to middle position, but two wefts (4, 4′) associated with it, now sufficiently fixed by their course in braid, left out as shown; fixation technique established; two more wefts will be added to middle from left (1), and back ply on right (3) will be brought over to middle position with its accompanying wefts (6, 6′); back ply (2) will then be brought over to middle position from left, leaving two wefts (5′, 5) fixed on left; two new wefts will be added to middle ply (2) to take place of those left out; technique continued until required length reached; thus each ply contains original ply element with two added wefts; in every movement from left, two fixed wefts left out, original ply element brought over to middle position, and two new wefts added to it. h, section of braid with paired weft added.