Owl Friendship Bracelet

Here's a cute pattern for an Owl Friendship Bracelet from the Friendship Bracelets website - I would, of course, change the colors so I could create a row of Harry Potter's Hedwigs, but that's just me.

Macrame + Rhinestones = Sweeeet!

Here's a link to a cool video on Youtube on how to make a macrame bracelet using a strand of linked rhinestones...sweeeeet!

Off to Grad School...

Okay, you say to yourself, what is with this woman? How come she is so lazy and never posts anything new anymore? Well, I do admit, I am lax with blogging upkeep these days, but I do have a good excuse: I am moving from the Seattle area to New York in a few weeks and have been busy packing, throwing things away, and generally sorting out my life as I get ready to go to graduate school.
Yup. I have decided to return to college to get an MFA in Dramaturgy. Cough! Drama - what??? Let's just say it involved theatre arts; I began working in the theatre when I was a teeny bopper and it has always been a part of my life. I am just taking a couple of years off from the corporate world to have a go at studying theatre. The older I get the shorter life gets, and life is simply too short not to have fun!
I have also begun working on jewelry pieces for a new micro-macrame book and posting some of them on my Facebook page now and then.
What would you like to see in a new book of micro-macrame projects? More earrings or necklaces? Collars for pet tigers? Let me know.

Chinese Button Animation

Here's an animation on how to create a Chinese button a.k.a. A Turk's Head knot
While they are sometimes available at places like Michael's or Shipwreck Beads, I've often resorted to making them myself by intertwining DMC embroidery floss around two strands of C Lon cording like these:


The "Rooster of Love" sits on a handmade Chinese knot made of DMC floss, the Dreamy Mermaid's resting place is a store bought knot found at a Michael's, and the Mouse is perched on a handmade Chinese knot.

Pretty Macrame Earrings Tutorial from Brazil

Hello! I'm back after a long unexpected hiatus. As some of you may know I also work in IT for a rather large software company and have recently completed two contracts at said rather large software company. Unfortunately, working in IT takes all my creative energy these days so I have had no time to pursue my artistic side. Didja miss me? Prolly not.

Anyhoo, here's a lovely 6 minute tutorial on making macrame earrings from Elfaria Arts in Brazil.

Getting Your Knickers in a Twist

A while back Chain Creative blog featured a photo of some paper samurai underwear knotted with Solomon knots. She had visited the Antwerp Museum of Fashion which had an exhibition on paper clothing last year.
The Solomon knot is used in both macrame and crochet; we macramers usually refer to it as a square knot or flat knot.

Galit Mastai has Aritzia All Tied Up!

Galit Mastai was busy last year creating macrame installations for Aritzia stores across Canada and the US

From Making Macramé with Aritzia by Galit Mastai:

Here's a bit about one of the projects that kept me busy in 2009.... I was enlisted by the Store Design team at Artizia, to make 70 huge, 1970's-inspired Macramé wall hangings for 6 new Aritzia stores that opened across Canada and the USA, namely Victoria, Edmonton, London and Toronto in Canada and Portland, Oregon and Short Hills, New Jersey.

Macrame in Dressage

Fresh from the Dressage Pony blog comes an equine contribution to the wacky world of macrame.
It reminds me that I keep wanting to macrame one of those Tribal Belly Dance long fringe belts...gotta find the time to do that...

The Delectable Ed Bing Lee

Ed Bing Lee's Delectables are just that! Can I have seconds, please?

How to Make a Macrame Petal

Here's a nifty video on how to make a macrame flower petal. Check out all the other videos on macrame on youtube.

Silberknoten Site

Oh hey, take a look at this: Silberknoten a German site devoted to Viking posaments. Posaments, you say? Hmmm, sounds a bit like passementerie...In this case it's medieval knotwork appliqued onto textiles. Sweet!



Speaking of sweet, Karin sent me a Sami bracelet kit all the way from Sweden! Whoo Hoo! Thankfully, she translated the instructions from Swedish for me. Yes, I know, I have a Swedish name. People think I am Swedish, ergo they think I speak Swedish. I do not. (I wish I did.) I'm not Swedish. My ancestors were Danish. And Dutch. My parents thought Anneke would be easier for Americans to pronounce if it was spelled Annika. (It isn't.)

JewelryLessons.com

I've just posted my first tutorial to Jewelry Lessons.com...it's the Baroque Bracelet I've been teaching around town. I plan to add a few more tutes over the next week or so.

The Evil Side of Macrame...

Saw this on the Knit Kicks website and came to the realization that Macrame is Being Used for Nefarious Purposes! It's obvious - that woman wants to rule the world! And she will tie you up in knots just to have her way! Here is a shot of her Evil Minion off to do dirty work for his Evil Mistress!






Oh, the horror!

Answering a Question on Facebook

Yesterday on Facebook Elisabetta posted a picture of a pair of earrings and was wondering how they were finished.
Since the design for the earrings is not mine, and I do not want to step on someone's toes by using their beautiful design without their permission I feel awkward duplicating how to create them. But creating a diamond with 2 rows of diagonal double half hitches is a common enough part of the design and where you would need to cut the cords can be accomplished in the following pictures.

1. If you have 12 cords, start a row of diagonal double half hitches from the 7th cord in the center; you will tie 6 double half hitch knots that together slant down towards the left.












2. Then create a row of diagonal double half hitch knots that slant down to the right starting with that 7th cord as the cord that is wrapped with the other cords. This will keep the left hand side and the right hand side from separating.










3. Now tie a row of diagonal double half hitches beneath the row on the left.











4. Tie a row of diagonal double half hitches below the row on the right side.












5. This next part is a little tricky and there may be a vastly superior way to accomplish this step, but this is how I would do it. Take cord 1 and use it as the cord to be wrapped and start a row of diagonal double half hitch knots slanting down towards the center. Then take cord 12 on the right hand side and start a row of diagonal double half hitches that slant towards the center.










This is what it will look like when you have finished both the left side and the right side.










6. Now tie a row of diagonal double half hitch knots beneath the left hand side row, then tie a row of diagonal double half hitches beneath the right had row.













7. Turn the knotted piece over to its back. Dab clear fingernail polish on the outer rows of diagonal double half hitch knots, only on the back side. I do this twice to ensure that the knots are saturated with fingernail polish, which acts like a glue to cement the knots in place. Be sure to let the fingernail polish dry - this is important!









8. Cut the cord as close as you can to the knotted diamond; do not cut into the knots. At this point you can singe the edges of the cords so that they are cropped close to the knotted diamond. Here I have used a stick of incense (a joss stick) but you can use a singeing tool instead. I do not recommend using a cigarette lighter because the flame will be too big and you can damage your knotwork too easily.














Here is what the edge of the diamond will look like if you singe the edges. Usually I do not bother to singe the edges on light colored cords because the edges will be black. Also the singed edges are stiffer and can be uncomfortable and hard to wear.












Here is an example of a knotted necklace that was made of a cotton cording (perhaps embroidery floss) that can be cut close then folded to the back side of the piece. You are seeing the back side of the necklace with the lower edges folded up under the green beads.

And the Winner is...

Meh-crame! Thanks to everyone who participated in this contest. I hope to be holding more contests in the near future.

Happy New Year, Everyone!