I see that you’re looking into braiding techniques; I know nothing about wire (or even hair, really) but I do like to look at braided rawhide (for reins and whatnot) and I wonder if some of those techniques might be adaptable for you? They’re much more rigid in form, but that’s just for what they’re making, and they do deal with braiding four (and many more) strands at a time of a much stiffer material than hair. I haven’t got any books myself, but one of the acknowledged masters of that field is Luis Ortega, if you want to look him up.