Macrame & Knots

From Cub Scouts to Boy Scouts, making your own neckerchief slide provides a fun way to make your uniform your own while providing a great project for your den or troop to work on. These slides...

Lanyard plastic strands are also known as Rexlace, gimp, or boondoggle. It is a product used to make jewelry, key chains, and other crafts. The lanyard is weaved, knotted, or braided to create the...

Macrame is the art of tying knots into patterns. Used to make jewelry, it's a simple craft that anyone can learn. It's very easy to make bracelets and anklets adjustable; you don't even need to...

If you're learning how to make shapes with string or with Chinese jump rope, crows feet is one of the easiest shapes you can try. Although the instructions may seem daunting at first, there are...

If you've mastered the basic box stitch in lanyard-making, it's time to tackle the barrel stitch. Also called the circle stitch, the barrel stitch looks a bit more "twisted" than the box stitch.

Macrame is the art of knotting cotton, twine, hemp or leather for decorative purposes. Most macrame patterns utilize the square knot or hitching to create intricate, detailed designs. The art...

If you want to spruce up an old toy horse you can do so by giving it a simple bridle. This will not only improve the look of the toy it will add a dynamic of play for the user of it. I devised a...

To start a basic macramé project, two strands of string are folded in half and knotted. The top knot is attached to a firm surface so the project can be pulled taut and subsequent knots...

Understanding how to tie a Sheet Bend knot is the key to making two short pieces of rope into a single long piece that is as strong as the rope itself you started with. If one of your two pieces...

By learning how to tie a bowline knot, you learn a knot taught to every Boy Scout and sailor around the world. It is an easy knot to tie, and one of the most useful you can learn. Anytime that...

The Bowline is one of the most important knots a mariner or climber can know that someday may save their life! This knot can hold a lot of strain without ever coming undone! It is also fairly...

Need to tie something on your boat? How about a fender to the rail, or a coiled line that you want readily available? This is a good knot to secure things around your boat, garage, shed, or house!

How to tie a slip clove hitch. This is a common knot used to hold almost anything that may need to be removed quickly. We use them for sail ties and to hold our fenders on our sailboat!

The sailor’s (also known as the anchor knot) is one of the easiest knots to tie. It’s also very stable. It was originally designed to tether up a boat to the dock—so the boat wouldn’t escape out...

Rubber string, also known as lanyard or gimp, is a great material that can be used to make all sorts of crafts. One of the simplest uses for rubber string is making a key chain out of it. Although...

A Chinese Ball Button, often called a Chinese Knot, is a useful knot to know. It is often used as a button itself, or as the stopper for a button with a single large hole in the middle (like a...

Lanyard string is a popular item to make into crafts in camps and scout groups, but you can do it yourself as well. A lanyard--also called boondoggle, gimp, and scoubidous--is a sturdy, tough...

Ribbons make a key chain stand out. Use various colored ones for a bold key chain that will be hard to lose in your bag.

Chinese decorative knots add a bit of flare and beauty to any project, whether it is in jewelry, hanging ornaments or clothing. Trying to learn how to make these knots requires a lot of patience...

Rescue someone with a bowline knot that has a loop on the end of a rope. Learn how to tie bowline knots for rescuing people in this free knot tying video from an Eagle Scout.

Start with a loop for a basic bowline knot. Learn about tying bowline knots in this free video lesson from an Eagle Scout.

Never heard of gimp string? It is also called lanyard, boondoggle and several other names. You can buy it in a craft store, and you can weave it into keychains, bracelets, or other accessories....

To make a slipknot, first make a loop in a piece of string. Hold the higher of the two loose ends with your dominant hand. Then reach up through the loop with your non-dominant hand and grab the...

If you're a scout or have gone to sleepover camp, chances are you're familiar with lanyard--also called gimp, boondoggle or scoubidous. Learn one of the most basic of lanyard stitches--the box...

If you're a scout or have gone to sleepover camp, chances are you're familiar with lanyard--also called gimp, boondoggle or scoubidous. This article discusses one of the most basic of lanyard...

If you've ever been a scout or gone to sleepover camp, chances are you're familiar with lanyard--also called gimp, boondoggle or scoubidous. This article discusses one of the most basic of lanyard...

If you've ever been a scout or gone to sleepover camp, chances are you're familiar with lanyard--also called gimp, boondoggle or scoubidous. This article discusses one of the most basic of lanyard...

There are many different kinds of knots that all have different purposes. Having a general knowledge about basic knots is useful, as you never know when or why you may need to be able to tie a...

The art of macramé is fun for all ages. There are many knot types and craft projects that can be made with macramé, including rugs, place mats, belts, bookmarks, totes and jewelry. This...

There are many different knots and many purposes that these knots are meant to serve. Sometimes, however, it is fun to try your hand at different knots, especially decorative knots, just to see...

Have you ever wondered how to tie a "Slip Knot"? Here's your chance!

An overhand knot is one of the most basic knots to learn how to tie, as well as the basis for a number of other, more complicated knots. Once you've mastered the overhand knot, you can go on to...

A square knot, otherwise known as a reef knot, is fast and fairly secure. It is good for tying a line to itself to secure stationary loads. It is also a useful knot in macrame. It is not all that...

The hangman's knot, or hangman's noose is not only used for its obvious, grim purposes. A variation of it known as the uni knot is very useful for fishing. Although many knots have been used in...

By itself, a half hitch is not very stable. It works fairly well as a stopper knot and is easy to tie. You can use it to stop a rope from coming out of something or to reinforce a more complex...

A honda knot is most commonly used to create the loop in a lasso. The honda’s loop knot allows it to slide freely along the rope on which it is tied, making it a common and handy tool for...

The French bowline is a versatile knot. It can be used like an ordinary bowline, to moor a ship, or for any number of other applications. For example, it can be used during a rescue situation to...

A figure-eight knot is a stable knot used to join two ropes together. It is often used by search-and-rescue teams because of its ease of setup and reliability. It works best when both ropes are of...

The Chinese lanyard knot is an impressive way to secure a lanyard's loop, which is often charged with holding keys, beads or other items you don't want to escape the cord they are threaded onto....

Tatting can create complex and beautiful lace patterns. One drawback is that the more complex and larger the piece is, the more thread it uses. This means that you'll need to join a new piece of...

Tatting can create beautiful and durable lace designs using various combinations of chains and rings of knots and small loops, called picots. As you get better, and designs become more complex,...

There are various thread-based crafts throughout history. Many, however, involve special tools. Tatting is a knotting technique, often used to create durable lace crafts, that doesn't require any...

The Double Pile Hitch is a knot used to secure a line around a post or pile. It is commonly used to moor a boat to a pile on a dock. It is also a useful knot to use while camping, for example: to...

The midshipman's tautline hitch is used for securing lines that need to be periodically pulled taut to take out slack. Examples would be to fasten a tent rope to a stake or guy wires to an...

Looping a home made rug is not difficult, but keeping the rows straight is trying and making your loops long enough is difficult. When you are finished reading this article, you will be ready to...

Knowing how to tie secure knots is a useful skill that everyone should posses and is a must for any theater professional, boater or climber. Learn how to tie one of the most commonly used knots,...

A pile hitch knot is one of the easiest and most useful knots one can use. The method in which it is tied makes it very strong, and therefore ideal for hobbies such as boating.

A simple noose is a useful slipknot which anyone can easily make. It should not be compared with the hangman's noose, which is a different, more complex knot. Read on to learn how to tie a simple...

Continuous ring hitching, also known as single ringbolt hitching, and is identified in Ashley's Book of Knots as knot No. 3602. It is the simplest form of ringbolt hitching and the boating...

Use a double Carrick bend to join two lines. Its use is especially common with thick or stiff cable that cannot be easily formed into the more common bends. The double Carrick bend also goes by...