Tying Knots Into a Frame Craft

Knot frames made with white rope can lighten up dark-colored rooms.

Understanding how to tie a variety of rope knots is important for boating and sailing enthusiasts; as a result, ropes and knots play a prominent role in nautical interior decor. Framing a picture from a recent sailing trip or a day at the beach with a rope tied in a series of decorative knots enhances a nautical theme or brings a beach-like feel to any room.

Preparation

A rope knot frame has either a series of ropes and knots glued to a pre-existing picture frame or a series of ropes and knots glued next to each other to create the frame. In either case, hot glue works well for securing the ropes into place and keeping the ropes in the shape you want.

Chose a white or whitewashed picture frame for the foundation if you want to glue ropes to a frame. A store-bought picture frame comes with a glass picture cover and backing, which allows you to store and display the picture on any surface. Creating a rope frame from scratch yields similar aesthetic results but is suited mostly for hanging on a wall.

Ropes

Select small ropes about a centimeter in diameter to frame small pictures such as 5-by-7s and 4-by-6s. You can increase rope size with the size of the picture, but keep in mind that the thicker the rope, the more difficult it is to cut. White ropes are traditional in boating and sailing, and white will not distract the viewer from the picture. Used ropes provide a rustic characteristic, but you can create a used look by soaking new white ropes in tea for a few hours.

Knots

Reef and figure-eight knots add a decorative appeal appropriate for a rope knot frame. A reef knot incorporates two knots, which gives you the opportunity to incorporate another colored rope. Twist one rope over the other, pull both rope ends up over the twisted section and twist one rope over the other again. Pull the two ropes heading in one direction away from the knot, and do the same with the other two rope segments. One color of rope ends up on one side, and the other color ends up on the other side.

Only one rope is necessary for a figure-eight knot. Create an “8” with one end, leaving a long rope end tail. Weave the long rope segment under and through the top part of the “8.” Pulling both rope ends tightens this knot.

Considerations

The knots take up more space than a single strand of rope; consider encompassing the entire picture with rope section that has a series of knots first. Use rope without any knots to build out the frame shape so the rope lines are as thick as the knots. To give the rope knot frame an even pattern, lift up parts of each knot to line rope underneath it perfectly perpendicular with the straight portions of the rope.

References

• United States Search and Rescue Task Force: Ropes & Knots