I don't know about you, but I'm running myself ragged this month trying to keep up with everything. Between work and family, decorating and shopping, I feel like there aren't enough hours in the day. Macrame is my relaxation. My "me" time. I haven't been able to do as much as I'd like with all the other things, but I did manage to make a really pretty bracelet this weekend. It's done in colors pulled from my "raku" color palette:
I've worked mostly with the colors found on the right side of this pile, so just to challenge myself a bit, I set out to work from the left side. The colors there are more of the olive greens and the coppery golds and oranges. I tried. Really I did! I finally had to add a bit of navy to get something to suit me:
You wouldn't think it came from the same pile of beads, would you?
If you missed the other pieces that rose from this mound, you can find those posts here and here and here. And if you're looking for me, I'll be in the kitchen making candy and cookies and cheese balls for our family get-together this weekend!
This, my friends, is a lark's head knot. I don't know why it's called that. I did research it a bit out of idle curiosity and from what I can see the knot itself has been around forever, referred to by names like "cow hitch" and "girth hitch" until some dude named Tom wrote a book in 1866 and dubbed it a lark's head. You call it what you want, but I'm sticking with Tom and calling it a lark's head knot since that's what I've always called it. This is one of those knots that can be made in several different ways, all resulting in a knot that looks like the picture above. Think of it like using different shortcuts on your computer that all get you to the same place.
I did this video first because this is the version of the knot that seems to give folks the most difficulty.
This version is useful for finishing off the end of piecess, but be sure to put whatever you want on the split ring before you start knotting (clasp or extender chain). I find it easiest to hold the piece in my hand since you need to be able to get to the underside of the split ring. I hold the split ring in my left hand to do the knotting from left to right and I try to get the cords I am not working with (the ones on the left side of the piece) out of the way as best I can.
Take the first knotting cord through the split ring from the top and through the loop in your cord and pull it snug for the first half of the knot. This first knot can be tricky since it's sometimes hard to know where your loop is. Just remember that the tail always goes behind - so if you're knotting from left to right, the tail of your cord needs to come out on the left side on that first half knot. It's hard to describe, but if you get stuck, try to remember that the tail goes behind and it will help. Hopefully.
To make the second half of the knot, use the same knotting cord, but this time go through the split ring from the underside. Then through the loop and tighten it up. If you're knotting from right to left, hold the ring in your right hand.
Whew! Now that you've got the hard version out of the way, let's try the easy one. This one is great for mounting new cords and is easy. Really easy.
See? I told you it was easy. But the two loose ends of your cord together and then find the resulting loop in the middle of your cord. Put the cord down through the split ring, then tuck the two loose ends through that loop and tighten. Bam! Done. Works around another cord instead of a ring, too, if you so desire.
And finally, another way to make the same knot. This time around another cord in the middle of a piece. Do it the same as around a split ring. Over the cord and around, though the loop. Tighten. Then under the cord and around, through the loop. Tighten. Ta da.
If you're having all kinds of fun and want to try another knot, check out the Double Half Hitch Tutorial.
The amazing Ms. Donna Kato and her team at CraftArtEdu.com have been working hard and are bringing us the Twelve Days of Creativity. I'm tickled to say my new Spiral Micro Macrame class is being featured on Day 1! And what exactly does that mean for you, you might ask? Well, if you're interested in learning micro macrame, this class, and all of the others I've done for CraftArtEdu are available at a reduced price until Friday.
I don't mean to sound like a commercial here, but there's a reason I chose to offer my classes through CraftArtEdu.com. They are committed to bringing you only the best classes and making sure each and every one of their customers is satisfied. And they back that up with a 100% money back guarantee. Add to that the fact that once you purchase a class, it's yours forever and it's just about perfect, isn't it? View your class whenever you want. As many times as you want. In the comfort of your own home.
My new class will teach you how to make a knotted micro macrame spiral rope that you can use to make a bracelet like this:
Pretty, isn't it! The polymer clay bead that inspired this piece is by Tania Spivey of Moobie Grace. I pulled the colors from the bead, then added some flower bud cord ends to complete the look. I cover how to do this, step by step, in the class. With still photos and videos.
And what else does the Twelve Days of Creativity have to offer? Tips and hints and tricks from some great artisans, that's what! Want to see what I do to get past a creativity slump? You can find out here. I can't wait to see what these folks come up with for the next eleven days, and you can bet I'll be watching! I hope you'll join me.
A little offer to get you started on your holiday gift making: this weekend (through midnight on Sunday, December 1, 2013) all of the micro macrame tutorials listed in my Etsy shop are on sale! You'll get 20% off the regular price - no coupon code necessary. And the best part? You don't have to get dressed and go out to fight the crowds.
If you're so inclined, I have kits made up for most of the tutorials.
You can find them in my Etsy shop. And don't forget, if you need a little help with the knots, I've started a video series to help you out. You can find videos on how to tie a double half hitch knot in this post.
This photo was chosen by our hostess, Esterina Mestoko Jagiella as the inspiration for this month's challenge in one of the Facebook groups to which I belong. This underwater photo was taken by her friend, Dinink Sonia, and I couldn't resist playing along. You know these colors and this ocean theme is right up my alley.
I've been working on micro macrame spirals (see more here if you missed it) and might be a bit obsessed. It's fun for me to take a handful of colors and knot them together just to see what pattern will emerge. For this challenge, I chose cord in brown, coral, teal and two shades of blue. I kept all of the blues together and then ran the two contrasting colors together and came up with this spiral.
I added some antique brass caps on the cord and some beads, then a little length of chain.
I had the perfect porcelain bead on hand in these colors and it even had a seashell motif. I knotted a simple bail for it and left the cords dangling from the bottom of the bead.
And thus my entry for The Sea Garden challenge was born.
I always enjoy doing these challenges, especially to see what pieces everyone else made based on the same photo. The album with all entries is here, although I think you have to be a member of the Facebook group to see it. It's a friendly group, so if you haven't already joined, maybe you should (loads of great handmade beads and jewelry)! And if this necklace is calling to you, you can find it listed in my Etsy shop. Or if you'd rather learn to knot your own micro macrame spiral, you can find the eClass at CraftArtEdu.com.
I've been working hard on a new tutorial for this spiral rope in micro macrame and I'm happy to announce it's finished and available! In plenty of time for you to make a few Christmas gifts, or maybe just something for yourself. This tutorial is an eClass at CraftArtEdu. Their platform works really well for a class like this, because in addition to lots of step-by-step still photos, I can add video. And I added lots of videos.
I made up some festive holiday bracelets to show you some of variations, but don't be fooled. The spiral rope can be used all year long in lots of projects. In the pieces above, I used art beads by Lisa Suver (peppermint bead) and Barbara Handy (white snowflake and red/white/green charm). I wish I could remember who did the pretty lampwork in the last piece, but if anyone knows, help me out. The ones below feature a lampwork dragonfly bead by Nikki Rogalski and a polymer swirl bead by Peg Montieth.
You can even make it a bit longer and use it for a necklace. I added some links with Czech glass, recycled African glass and Greek ceramics, but I left the knotting to be the star of the show.
I hope you'll take a moment to check out the class preview. I will be working this weekend to get some kits for the spiral listed in my Etsy shop. Happy knotting!
I've been playing around a bit with different color schemes for my Micro Macrame Leaves Bracelet Tutorial and my favorite variation so far is a two tone version like these. I love experimenting with different colors of cord in different patterns just to see where they end up and this pattern does a really need thing - the colors each stay on their own side of the bracelet! I had such fun and such positive feedback on them that I thought I'd do a few special kits for the holidays. I made up kits for both the black and white and gray version and the turquoise and teal version shown here, but I also did a very traditional Christmas version with red and green.
I haven't even had time to make one up yet, but I think it will be really festive! Since I was feeling the festive vibe, I also put together a couple of kits for the solid color (not two toned) version but in special holiday colors. The first is such a pretty red. It's called Poinsettia and I paired it with pearly white beads.
And heck, while I was at it, I did a blue version with silver lined crystal beads for loads of sparkle.
These kits are all available in my Etsy shop. Get them while there is still time to get them made for the holiday season!
