February 17, 2014

A New Micro Macrame Tutorial

Curves Micro macrame bracelet pattern by Sherri Stokey of Knot Just Macrame

It's been a long time coming, folks, but I finally finished a tutorial for a version of the Curves micro macrame bracelet!  This one is knotted in Tex 400 cord for a nice beefy bracelet.  

Curves Micro macrame bracelet pattern by Sherri Stokey

The whole bracelet uses only ONE macrame knot.  Yes, really - only double half hitch knots (which you can learn how to make here).  You make them backwards and forwards and every-other-wards, but it's still only ONE knot.  

Curves Micro macrame bracelet pattern by Knot Just Macrame

I finished off this design with some clamp ribbon ends for a nice, neat look and added a simple toggle clasp.  A lobster clasp also works nicely.  

Example of photo from tutorial

This is an example of one of the photographs from the tutorial.  I took a million photos... okay, that might be a bit of an exaggeration, but I did include about 70 photographs in 24 pages of step by step instructions.  I'd probably rate this pattern as sort of middle-of-the-road as far as difficulty.  It's not hard (only ONE knot, remember?) but you do have to keep track of the cords that are trying to go off in one direction or another.  If you are comfortable with the double half hitch knot, you're probably ready for this one.

Tutorial available at www.knotjustmacrame.etsy.com

You'll find this new micro macrame bracelet tutorial in my Etsy shop here.  Happy knotting!!

February 9, 2014

A Micro Macrame Fairy Tale


Once upon a time in the farthest reaches of a a faraway land, there lived a dragon.  She was a beautiful, wild creature who hunted in the craggy mountains and made her home in a rocky cave.  Her graceful body was covered coppery scales which perfectly camouflaged her sinuous curves and sweeping wings.  But she was far from dull, this coppery dragon, for when the sunlight caught her body just right, she shone with golden hues and glints of pink and blue and green.


This dragon thought hers was the perfect life.  The perfect setting, the perfect coloring - everything a dragon should be.  One day this dragon decided to venture further into the kingdom and what she found amazed her.


Everywhere she looked, she found dragons in magnificent colors, with brightly colored scales and feathered wings.


And each of these new dragons thought it was the perfect dragon.  Perfect in every way.  The first dragon was so dazzled by the beauty of the others that she began to doubt herself.  She forgot what a fierce and powerful hunter she was, how cunning and smart and perfectly suited for her life.  She compared herself and felt inferior.  

And the moral of this dragon's tale?  We must never forget that each and every one of us is perfect - just exactly the way we are.  Perceived flaws and all.  We are all different and we are all perfect.


If you look for the flaws, you will find them.  And if you search for the strength and beauty, you will find that instead.

February 4, 2014

Red!?! Oh, Horror of Horrors!

Mexican red snowflake jasper beads

When I was asked to work up a couple of micro macrame demo pieces using natural stone beads, I said sure!  And when asked what stone, I said, "Anything as long as it isn't red or orange."  As you can probably guess from the post title and the photo above, the beads I received were Mexican Red Snowflake jasper.  RED is even in the name of the stone, for crying out loud.  And if that's not bad enough, it's paired with brown.  *sigh*  Well, I'm not one to back down from a challenge or break my word, so I figured I'd better find some inspiration.  And believe me, I hunted.  I even ended up in the fabric department looking for interesting color combinations and finally found a paisley that added some unexpected coral tones in with the red and brown.  Okay, I'm thinking, I can work with that.  So I dug through my stash and came up with this:

Bead and cord palette based on mexican red snowflake jasper

Now we're talking.  My next challenge was to fit my cord through the beads.  One cord would pass easily through all of them, but for the design I had in mind, I needed to get two cords through the hole.  Uh, huh.  I resorted to dipping my cord ends in Fray Check, which I don't usually have to do any more, and I had to use the bead reamer on a couple of the beads, but I did get them to work.

Micro macrame bracelet by Sherri Stokey of Knot Just Macrame

Well, now.  That's kind of interesting, if I do say so myself!  The central stones are 8mm and the ones around that are 4mm.  I used dark red, brown and a peachy shade of cord and accented with glass seed beads in dark red, peach and coral-lined crystal.  Then I had a thought (shush - it happens!).

Turquoise colored glass seed beads and cord

What if I brought a little turquoise color to the party?  

Mexican red snowflake jasper beads knotted in micro macrame with turquoise colored accents

I heard a choir of angels singing in the background, I swear I did.  Now that's my style - even with the natural stones and the warm colors.  I won.  I worked through it and conquered my fear.  I am triumphant!  Okay, so maybe it's not as good as curing cancer or making it to the top of Everest, but I'm feeling pretty good and I take that wherever I can get it.

Two micro macrame bracelets knotted by Sherri Stokey

Two micro macrame bracelets featuring Mexican red snowflake jasper, knotted by Sherri Stokey

And now, I think I'll reward myself by snuggling up in a blanket on the couch in front of the fireplace and watching a cheesy movie.  Hopefully I can find something with dinosaurs.  Or ancient Egyptians.  Or ghosts...  

February 2, 2014

pantone color of the year 2014 radiant orchid

Pantone's color of the year for 2014 is a vivid Radiant Orchid and I've been playing a bit with the color.  My first piece was a simple four part braid just to see how the the different shades work together.

Four part braid in micro macrame in shades of orchid

I felt like my warm up piece read a bit too pink, so for my next piece, I concentrated more on the purple side of things.  I knotted a spiral using three shades of orchid and a bit of olive for some contrast.

Knotted micro macrame spiral in shades of orchid, purple and olive

I tied on a pendant with a polymer clay bead by Barbara Bechtel and a pendant by Humblebeads.

Bead by Barbara Bechtel and pendant by Humblebeads

The bead caps I found mimic the flower petal/leaf theme.


The floral motif is topped off with the sterling silver clasp.

Floral sterling silver clasp

And the finished necklace looks like this:

Knotted spiral micro macrame necklace by Sherri Stokey of Knot Just Macrame

Knotted spiral micro macrame necklace by Sherri Stokey of Knot Just Macrame


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