Macramé Advanced Knots

Macramé Advanced Knots

 

After showing you the basic knots used in macramé, it was a good idea to create this tutorial for advanced knots in order to give you a bit more flexibility in creativity and design of wall art.

 

If you haven’t had the chance to check out our post on basic macramé knots, you can do so here.

 

For this knot introduction, I used Stenli’s 100% recycled 9mm cotton cord. Whilst creating the knots, I was subconsciously picturing what else I can use this thick and sturdy cord for, and came to the conclusion that it’ll be perfect to use on projects, such as big scale wall hangings, largely knotted macramé hand bags and why not even a living room rug or bathmat.

 

Below you’ll find a tutorial on more advanced knots that are perfect to be used in combination with the basic ones, allowing you to create timeless pieces of art.

 

The triangle knot

1. You make this knot by tying two lark’s head knots on the dowel.
   
   

1.1 You take the two parts of your left lark’s head knot with your right hand behind the two cords of the right lark’s head knot making the number ‘four’ with all of the cords.

1.2 You create an elongated demi-circle with the two cords from the left lark’s head knot that are behind the cords of the right lark’s head knot. You gently pull the loop of this circle with your right hand and hold the remainder of the same cords in your left hand, as shown in the photo.

1.3 You take the ends of the cords from the right lark’s head knot in your right hand, trying not to drop the shape made in the previous step (it’s easiest if you hold the shape and the remainder of the cords with your left hand ).

1.4 You bring the ends of the cords from the right lark’s head knot under the snake shaped formation, and put them through the whole in between both of the lark’s head knots, nearest to the dowel.

1.5 Once this is done, you pull the ends through the created loop in the previous steps.

1.6 You take both ends in both hands and pull outward.

1.7 It is perfectly ok if you don’t see the shape created straight away. It may take some pulling in various positions and places to see the end result.

1.8 And voila! You just created your first triangle knot. Well done!

 

2. The Sailor’s knot

2. You start the sailor’s knot by making one lark’s head knot on the dowel.
   
   

2.1 You create a d-shaped loop by taking a part of cords and placing them over (not under) the same ones.

2.2 You create another loop with the two parts of the same cord by placing them up, around and behind the now tightened area of the rope, in an inverted S.

2.3Upon doing so, you thread the ends of the cord inside the hole created previously.

2.4 Your knot is now finished. If it doesn’t look the same as the photo provided, make sure to pull it here and there until it resembles as much as possible to our knot.

 

3. Josephine’s knot

3.0 For this knot, you’ll start by making two lark’s head knots on your dowel.

3.1 With the cords from your right lark’s head knot you’ll make a loop over itself, as shown in the photo. It’s easier if you hold the part where the loop meets with your right hand.

3.2 You first make the loop a bit bigger as it’ll be easier to perform the next steps. After you’ve done this, you take the cords from the left side (from the left lark’s head knot ) under the loop and over the two right cords that are aimed down. The cords from the left side will be called ‘working cords’ for the next step.

3.3 You then take the ends of the working cords, place and then pull them in between both lark’s head knots.

3.4 After doing so, you continue to thread them over the closest side of the loop you previously created, as pictured in the photo.

3.5 After threading them over the loop, you will thread them under the cords from the left lark’s head knot that’s in the same loop.

3.6 You will then need to thread the cords from the previous step one more time above the shape that’s forming.

3.7 Once you reach this step, your knot is nearly ready. As with the ones above, you might need to tighten or loosen some areas in order to get a balanced knot.

 

4. Pipa’s Knot

 

For the purpose of this tutorial, I’ll use only one of the cords of the lark’s head knot however, if you feel up to it, you’re more than welcome to use both 

4.1 You begin by creating a loop as in the picture. To make the next steps a bit easier, it’s best to pinch where the end of the loop merges with the cord, with your right hand fingertips.

4.2 You then continue wrapping the cord above and behind the remainder of it.

4.3 You continue onto creating a second loop tight around the cord, with the remainder of it pointing down towards the ground.

4.4 You take the same cord and create a loop within the loop.

4.5 Repeat the previous steps by wrapping the working cord above and behind the already tightened part of the same cord.

 

4.6-4.9 Repeat this process until your cord runs out or you’ve reached the desired size of the knot.

4.10 When this happens, instead of continuing the steps from above, you insert the end of the cord through the small circle.

4.11 If you want the knot to have a more put together look, you can tighten it in some places otherwise leave a little bit of space in between the wrapped cords for more dimension.

 

 

5. Cross knot

 

The cross knot is a version of the triangle knot, with an added step or two.

5. You start by making two lark’s head knots on your dowel.

5.1 You then create the number ‘4’ by grabbing your left cords, making a 90 degree angle with them and placing them behind the right cords. Let the remainder of the left cords hang to make a ‘4’ shape with them.

5.2 With the left cords that remained hanging from the previous step, you take them in your right hand and start to create a spiral with them, by placing them above the vertical cords of the right lark’s head knot.

5.3 You continue making the spiral by making another swivel with the cords for the left hand lark’s knots ( the cords from which we just created the first part of the spiral in the previous step ). It’s best to try and hold the shape created with your right hand.

5.4 You then take the end of the cords of the right lark’s head knot in your left hand.

5.5 You proceed to insert them in between the two lark’s head knots, going from front to back.

5.6 You have now created a sort of a bow with all your cords.

5.7. In order to get the cross knot, you thread the ends of the cords you just inserted in between the two lark’s head knots, through the left loop from back to front.

5.8 Make sure to evenly pull both the two left and two right cords, so the cross forms evenly. You have just made a cross knot!