Does anyone know how to braid an endless loop?

I initially got in to braiding via an interest in all-things-string-y. That interest grew out of my love of cat’s cradle and string figures. Usually, I play with a loop of string that is about four meters long.

I first learned loop braiding, but it seems particularly unsuitable for long strings. However, Ingrid Crickmore has a post about long loop braids: https://loopbraider.com/2011/07/23/longer-loop-braids-starting-with-no-ends/ So, it’s definitely possible.

The real challenge seems to be finishing the braid to form an endless loop. Any ideas? Any techniques which might be more suitable?

If you start with a continuous cord coiled into two loops and a free end, you can simply braid those 3 elements as normal.

Once you pull the free end out of the “counterbraid”, the two complete loops detangle.

You wind up with a continuous braid with no discontinuity in the middle, just two loose ends sticking out.

• braid
• string