A New Micro Macrame Cuff

My latest experiment in micro macrame knotting involved a whole lot of cords.  I wanted to shake things up a little, so I thought I'd try turning everything on its side - literally.  I worked this bracelet across instead of up and down, which meant I had to start with 112 cords across.  

I did some beaded loops on one edge of the cuff to add some texture.

And a leafy design bordered by lines of knots and beads.

The cuff style bracelet is about 1.5" wide and fastens with a tube bar clasp.

I'm excited all over again about micro macrame all over again!!

Christmas Traditions

I'll warn you right up front, this post has nothing to do with micro macrame.  It is the time of year when my thoughts turn toward family and friends and I would like to share something special with you.  My grandfather, Papa Arnie to me, was a first generation American, both of his parents having immigrated as children.  Our heritage is Czech and it is most apparent when we fix holiday meals.  Christmas dinner just wouldn't be complete without potato dumplings and sauerkraut.  Papa tried to teach several of us how to make dumplings over the years but none are as good as his.  A few years ago I took step by step photos and documented every thing he told me.  Papa has since passed away, but this is his recipe:

We usually serve our dumplings with roast turkey (although most of my grandparents liked goose) and we always have to put some of the "drippings" from the bird on the table to be spooned over the dumplings.  You also have to have sauerkraut with them (that's a rule).

If you manage to make enough that there are leftovers, they're really good cut into smaller pieces and fried for the next meal.

I get a little sentimental this time of year and the absence of most of my grandparents seems more apparent during the holidays.  I try to remember fondly all of the celebrations over the years rather than dwell on the loss.  And if I get a little maudlin, it only takes a glance at this sweet face to remind me just how good life is.

I hope your holidays are beautiful and filled with love.

Online Micro Macrame Classes on Sale: Enabler Alert

Enabler alert!!  This is just a quicky post to let you know about an awesome sale on my micro macrame classes at CraftArtEdu.com.  ALL of them are on sale through Sunday (December 21, 2014) - up to 33% off!  (Details here.)

You can find the whole list of my classes here, and don't forget the free tutorial in my last post!   Happy knotting!

My Holiday Gift to You: A Free Micro Macrame Tutorial

I'm in the mood for spreading some holiday cheer, so I'm giving you a little gift:  a micro macrame tutorial that will teach you how to make this twisted bracelet. This one is pretty easy; in fact, I think if you can tie your shoes, you can probably make this.  Really!  Are you ready?  Here's what you'll need:

To recap:  scissors, glue, pliers, cord caps (4-5mm inner diameter), a clasp (I used a lobster clasp & ring, but you could use a toggle instead) and a jump ring for attaching, 3 colors of .5mm nylon bead cord (like C-lon or Superlon) and 1 color of 1mm Tex 400 cord.  Hint:  if you're confused about cord sizes, check out this post.  Cut cord:  for a 6" piece of macrame, I used 60" lengths of the .5mm cords (1 piece of each color) and a 22" length of the Tex 400.  Straighten the cords (covered in this post if you need instructions).  You can adjust the lengths of cord for the length of the piece you want, but you'll have to do the math.

Let's get a little closer in on the knots so you can see better.

Easy, right?  You will notice the knots starting to spiral as you go along and that's exactly what you want.  Once you have the length of knotting that you want, tie off the end with an overhand knot and glue on the caps.

And that's a wrap!  Happy holidays & have fun knotting!

P.S. (because I always think of something more to say when I'm supposed to be finished) I added a little bead dangle to dress mine up a bit (polymer bead by Shane Smith).  

P.P.S.  For some reason the videos aren't showing up in the emailed version of this post.  If you can't see the videos, you probably won't think this is a very good tutorial.   Please go to the actual blog post and give me a chance to change your mind.

EDITED to add this helpful hint from Donna.  Donna was having problems with her piece coming out more flat with ridges rather than a round cord like shown.  The secret to avoiding this issue is to hold your work upright when you knot (so it looks like a squid like in the 3rd video).  Don't think of this has being a flat half knot.  Don't pin the length of your work down flat and don't hold the filler cord down.  Use just one pin to hold it down while you work or even use a safety pin and pin it to the leg of your jeans as you knot - that will force you to hold it up off of the surface while knotting.  Thank you, Donna, for your help!!

The Evolution of Woodland Plaid

It seems the holiday season is upon us whether or not we agree that a year could possibly have passed since the last holiday season.  Red bows look pretty against bright green trees, but in jewelry I am not a big fan of those traditional colors, so I started playing around withmore muted versions.

 

I chose cool blue greens of spruce and softer berry tones.  

 

I added some woodsy browns to ground the colors and ended up with these:

It's always fascinating to me how  the same beads can look so different when tied in another color of cord.  I also like to take the same combination of beads and cord and use it in different patterns.  For this one I used all three colors of cord together.

And I came up with a pattern that reminds me of a woodland plaid.  And that, of course, led me to add a woodland creature (from Dreams and Elements).

Now if the woodland elves would come get these things listed in my shop, I could get on with my holiday baking!

Shop Update

I really have to stop doing this to myself.  I would rather be making jewelry than listing it, so I end up with a big pile of pieces sitting here beside me staring me in the face.  If I had an assistant (or a genie), I would make them do all the photography and listing.  And probably shipping, too, because that's just how I'd be if I had an assistant (or a genie).  Meanwhile if you're looking for me, I'll be here all afternoon listing pieces in my Etsy shop like all these sparkly bracelets in teal, blue and green and matching earrings.

And these blue earrings:

And some sage green earrings:

And a brown, turquoise and blue bracelet:

There's more, too, so if you've been waiting for some new things to hit my shop, here's your chance!

Learning

I have such news!  I have taken my first lessons in macrame this week, and I'm positively twitterpated!  I have long admired the style of macrame I think of as South American.  I really am not sure where it originated, but I see quite a bit of this style from people from Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay, etc.  The pieces I'm talking about are usually done with waxed cord and natural stones as opposed to the nylon bead cord I use and the glass seed beads.  The emphasis is on the knotting.  The style is less "fussy" than mine, maybe.  More natural, more organic.

I don't mean to imply that folks in other areas of the world don't do that style, because some certainly do.  In fact, my teacher is from Estonia.  If you follow the world of macrame, you may have come across some of the work of Percy Palomino Tomayquispe.  I don't want to filch any of his photos to put them here to show you, so I'll just give you this link to his Facebook page.  Prepare to be amazed.

Anyway, back to my story... we don't have a local bead store in my town (the nearest is about 150 miles from here) so classes for me would require travel.  And I'm a homebody (okay, some would make an argument that the correct term would be recluse).  Either way, I've never taken any macrame classes or any jewelry making classes either, so when Percy announced that he would be doing online classes, I jumped at the chance.  

Turns out I'm not the world's best student.  I asked Percy to teach me bezeling because I've never quite been able to get it down as well as I'd like.  Those two pieces in the photo above are my first two failures even after Percy's lesson!

Third time is a charm though, and I finally nailed it.  After a second lesson, I also got the back done to hold the cabochon in place.

It may not look like much, but I am learning and enjoying every second of it.  And even if I'm not the best student, I am a determined one!  I'm also thrilled to have such an opportunity.  I grew up in the TBI (time before Internet), so it is still a big deal to me that we can interact with folks from the other side of the globe with such ease.  What a learning opportunity.