Photo: leona44/DepositPhotos
Are you familiar with macramé? This versatile textile art was a popular craft in the 1970s and now there’s a resurgence in its popularity. It uses simple materials like cotton twine or yarn and a variety of different knots to create comfy home decor, jewelry, accessories, and even clothing.
While these fiber projects may look hard to make at first glance, most of them are pretty approachable if you know the basic techniques. Fortunately, macramé is an easy craft to pick up. With just a bit of string and a dowel rod, you can start practicing the five basic knots that will give you a solid foundation to start making crafts. This includes the lark’s head knot, the gathering knot, the square knot, the spiral knot, and the alternating square knot. If you are able to master these, then you will be well on your way to creating fabulous textile art.
Scroll down to learn how to make these 5 essential macramé knots, and watch a video tutorial to see how you can use these to make a macramé planter.
Learn How to Make 5 Essential Macramé Knots
Lark’s Head Knot
Illustration: Margherita Cole / My Modern Met
Step 1: Take your string or group of strings and place it over the dowel rod or ring.
Step 2: Create a loop with your string that falls over one side of the dowel rod or ring.
Step 3: Pull the remaining string through the loop you created.
Step 4: Tighten the knot.
Gathering Knot
Illustration: Margherita Cole / My Modern Met
Step 1: Take a separate individual string and wrap it around your group of strings. Make a soft loop on one end of the separate string.
Step 2: Next, begin wrapping the separate string around the loop you made and the group of strings underneath.
Step 3: After wrapping, tuck the remaining end of the string through the loop.
Step 4: Pull tight.
Square Knot
Illustration: Margherita Cole / My Modern Met
Step 1: Separate your strings into four sections.
Step 2: Create an L-shape with the far-left string (green).
Step 3: Place the far-right string (yellow) over the L-shaped string (green).
Step 4: Wrap the yellow string under the two middle strings.
Step 5: Pull the yellow string through the L-shaped loop.
Step 6: Pull tight.
Step 7: Create another loop with the green string, this time from the other side. Then, place the yellow string over it.
Step 8: Pull the yellow string behind the middle strings and through the green loop.
Step 9: Pull tight.
Spiral Knot
Illustration: Margherita Cole / My Modern Met
Step 1: After separating your strings into four sections pull the far-right string (yellow) over the other sections.
Step 2: Tuck the yellow string behind the far-left string (green).
Step 3: Fold the green string behind the middle sections and pull it through the yellow loop. Pull tight.
Step 4: Then, create another loop with the yellow string and place the green string over it.
Step 5: Fold the green string through the yellow loop.
Step 6: Pull tight and continue as necessary.
Alternating Square Knot
Illustration: Margherita Cole / My Modern Met
Step 1: Create two square knots.
Step 2: Use the strings from each knot to create another square knot in the center.
Step 3: Repeat as necessary.
Watch My Modern Met Maker’s video to learn how to make a macramé planter using these five knots:
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