First: How long is the keeper? I checked my first whip and the keeper there seems to be so long that a single strand runs six times across the plait. I will go with that.
Second: How should the strands be arranged in the flat braid so that I can move to whipmaker's plait so that the colors are properly arranged? Simply put: I want to have the colors so that same color strands are parallel to each other. I also want that on the bottom of the flat braid the black strands are on the left side and on the top of the flat braid the black strands are on the right side. If the strands are arranged like this I can put the keeper on top of the belly so that the "down" side is on the front and the "up" side is on the back. Then the plaiting starts from the "up" (back) side outer strands and continues towards the middle strands. After "up" side has been plaited, plaiting continues frome the "down" (front) side outer strands that go first around the back and then join the plaiting.
Third: How long strands? I calculated that 50cm string makes about 20cm plaiting. I also add 50cm for the keeper to each strand. Strand lengths: 200cm, 300cm, 375cm, 450cm, 550cm and 550cm.
Fourth: I want two different colors to drop at a same time. Therefore I can't have 2x200cm=400cm string for the first strand pair. Besides, the keeper would mess that logic up anyway. Since the strings run from left to right and right to left in the flat 6-braid, I can pair any two black and two brown strands as long as I pair them same way for both sides. I shall use
First string: 1st and 6th strand = 750cm
Second string: 2nd and 5th strand = 850cm
Third string: 3rd and 4th strand = 825cm
Propably too much again.
Now I must make the flat 6-braid in the right spot so that after that all the strands have the desired length. Propably easy?
