Figure 95.—Laulau food platter, braid finish (first course):

a, In this position the sinistrals (1-4) are now directed towards the plaiter and as only one set is braided on this surface, they are the ones disposed of in order from the top. b, The second weft (2) is raised and the top weft (1) is twisted in under it from the left with the half turn twist which exposes its other surface. The raised weft (2) is then dropped over (1). c, The third weft (3) is raised, (2) is twisted in from the left and (3) dropped. The three plies (1, 2, and 3) are now established with the working pair (1 and 2) on the right. d, The front ply (2) is raised, the next weft (4) is pulled straight, the back ply (1) is twisted in from the right and (2) dropped over it. The weft (1) rests on the weft (4) which joins that ply. The back ply is now (3) on the left. e, The front page 188ply (1 and 4) is raised the back weft (3) twisted in and the front ply dropped over it. The technique is now established. The working pair is on the right. In the next movement, the back ply (2) will be twisted in under (3) and pick up the weft (5). f, By continuing the technique, the weft (3) has just picked up the weft (6) and each ply now contains two weft elements. The back ply of the working pair on the right contains the original weft (1) and the weft (4), which it picked up at the position marked (8). Here it was twisted in from the right (figure e) and lay on the new weft (4). At position (9) the ply was turned in from the left with a half turn, which brought the new weft (4) on top. As the ply has to turn in from the right in the next movement, and it contains two wefts, one of them has to be dropped. The top element (4), therefore, is twisted in to the middle, the under element (1) is left where it is and the next weft (7) picked up. Note that the half turn on the left places the shorter element underneath, which is the appropriate one to discard at the next turn on the right. g, The technique of dropping the shorter element on the right is shown. They drop out in the order in which they entered the braid. The course traveled by each weft in the braid is shown by (4). The technique keeps the braid thin, as no ply contains more than two wefts. The twist on the right drops a weft and picks up a new one, thus maintaining a pair throughout in each ply. h, After the braid is completed the discarded weft ends on the right are cut off short. The cut-off end of (1) is shown a little longer than in actual technique. They are cut off close under the twist and cannot be seen unless the twist part of the upper element is raised.