Basic Macramé Knot
Gather
scissors
50 inches hemp cord (found at craft stores)
Go
1. Cut a 14-inch piece and a 35-inch piece of cord.
2. Fold each piece of cord in half and match the loops at the top. Tie the loops into one knot.
3. Arrange the strands so the two short pieces—the centers—are in the middle, and the two long pieces—the arms—are on the outside.
4. Fold the right arm on top and across the centers.
5. Put the right arm end under the left arm.
6. Put the left arm end under the centers and up through the loop made by the right arm.
7. Pull the arms to make half the knot.
8. To complete the knot, reverse the order: Fold the right arm under the centers. Place the right arm on top of the left arm. And put the left arm end over the centers and down through the loop made by the right arm. Pull the arms tight.
Variation: For a twisting macramé knot, always put the right arm on top of the centers.
Practice making at least 20 knots before you begin a project.
Cool Cross
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Gather
scissors
50 inches hemp cord
metal key ring
8 large pony beads
2 small pony beads
Go
1. Cut a 14-inch piece and a 35-inch piece of cord.
2. Tie the midpoints of the cord around a key ring.
3. Make five macramé knots.
4. Place one large bead on the two center strands and push up.
5. Make one macramé knot below the bead.
6. Repeat steps 4 and 5.
7. To create the horizontal piece of the cross, make a fold in one arm about 1.5 inches long. String one large and one small pony bead on the loop. Tie the remaining loop into a knot.
8. Repeat step 7 with the other arm.
9. Make one macramé knot.
10. Add four more beads, following steps 4 and 5.
11. Make five macramé knots, and tie the end into a knot.
Variation: For added decoration, leave an inch of each of the four strands, add a small bead to each, and tie off ends.
Friendship Necklace
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Gather
measuring tape
scissors
hemp cord
42 small pony beads
2 wooden beads
pencil
Go
1. Calculate how much cord you’ll need.
Center cord: Measure how long you want your jewelry to be, double that length and add 4 inches.
Arms: Measure how long you want your jewelry to be and multiply that length by 5.
For example, a 12-inch necklace would have a 28-inch center strand (12 + 12 + 4) and a 60-inch arm strand (12 x 5).
2. Tie a looped knot and make 14 macramé knots (about 2 inches).
3. Create a flower by adding two beads to each arm and three beads to the centers. Make all the beads the same color, except for the middle bead on the center strands.
4. Make seven macramé knots (about 1 inch).
5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 until you have finished three flowers.
6. Make seven more macramé knots.
7. Add wooden bead to the centers.
8. Make seven macramé knots.
9. Create a hole by twisting the right arm with the right center strand two times and twisting the left arm with the left center strand two times. Wrap twisted strands around a pencil to keep the round shape.
10. Make seven macramé knots.
11. Repeat steps 7 and 8.
12. Repeat steps 3, 4 and 5.
13. To finish necklace, make another 14 macramé knots and tie off the end.
