How to Make a Zigzag Macrame Friendship Bracelet
Giving someone a friendship bracelet means you've spent time creating a symbol of the bond of friendship, with your own hands. The zigzag pattern is a variation of a friendship bracelet pattern that is colorful and stylish. The trick to creating the pattern is alternating the strand colors in the correct order.
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Instructions
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Cut a 24-inch strand of each color of the embroidery floss. Lay the strands together and fold them in half. Knot the strands together 1/2 inch below the loop.
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Pin the piece to a pillow, board, or even your pant leg. You can also tape it to a hard surface. Separate the strands so you have the two strands of each color grouped together.
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Make a forward knot with the leftmost strand. Begin by pulling the strand out slightly to the left, then place your finger on the strand and bring the bottom up so it is horizontal, making what looks like a "4." Bring the end of the strand around the back of the strand next to it on the right, then the end back up through the middle of the "4." Pull the knot up to the top and snug it in place. Repeat on the same strand. This is important; you must do the full knot or the bracelet will curl.
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Make a forward knot on every strand across, or five forward knots. Repeat this until you have made a series of five forward knots with each color strand until you reach the last color strand. With the last strand make four forward knots, the none forward/backward knot. A forward/backward knot is made by creating the first half of the forward knot, the second half is a backward knot.
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Make four backward knots with the same strand, working it back across the piece. The backward knot is worked from right to left, laying the outermost strand across the strand to the left of it, then bring it around the back of that strand, then back up though the loop the two crossed strands made. The backwards knot is a reverse image of the forward knot.
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Working right to left this time, use each strand to make five backward knots, remembering that a full knot is doing the move twice, not just once. When you reach the last strand, make four backward knots, then one backward/forward knot. The sequences are created to switch the direction of the knots smoothly, to make the point of the zigzag. The backward/forward knot uses a half of a backward knot on the first pass, then forward knot on the second pass, making one full knot.
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Make four forward knots with the same strand working back across the work, from left to right this time.
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Repeat the sequence of working first all the strands in forward knots until the last one, then on the last stitch using the forward/backward or backward/forward knot depending on which direction you are transitioning to. Continue until the bracelet reaches the length you want.
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Wrap the strands together into one group strand. Knot them together with an overhand knot, and clip off the excess tails of the strands. Use this knot to hook through the loop on the other end for the closure.
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References
- Photo Credit Karl Weatherly/Photodisc/Getty Images
