How to Do Cavandoli Macrame

Macrame is a way of making textiles that uses knots instead of knitting or weaving. It primarily uses square knots and hitches with material like hemp, leather, cotton twine or yarn. Cavandoli macrame uses the double half-hitch knot almost exclusively to form geometric and free-form patterns.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

1. Practice making double half-hitches using a number 18 nylon cord 2 to 3 feet in length. This knot is used to tie a knotting cord to a dowel, wire or another cord. For illustration purposes, assume that the core is horizontal and the knotting cord is vertical and behind the core.

2. Make a double half-hitch. Wrap the knotting cord once around the core to the left so that it hangs straight down once again. Now bring the knotting cord once around the core to the right but this time slip it through the resulting loop of the knotting cord.

3. Use a reverse double half-hitch as variation. Place the knotting cord in front of the core and follow the same instructions in Step 1.

4. Build a series of vertical double half-hitches. This is a very common technique of knotting a mat of cords together in Cavndoli macrame. A series of cores are placed next to and parallel with each other and a knotting cord is used to tie a double half-hitch to each core in succession.

5. Knot a series of horizontal double half-hitches. A row of knotting cords is placed behind a single core and each one is tied to the core with a double half-hitch.

Resources

• Information about macrame

[thebeaddoodler]

on 9/26/2008 Very detailed description, but I'm a visual learner. I think pictures would have made this much more understandable. I'm just not getting the visual for the first step.

[MAB-DESIGNS]

on 8/24/2008 Photos with two colors of cord - or even DRAWINGS with two colors of cord - would REALLY make these Instructions understandable.