Clamber Knots — a macramé knot dictionary and pattern ledger

Foundation knots

Five knots cover almost everything on this site. Each entry gives the tension, the cord cost and the mistakes that actually happen.

01 · 4mmLark's Head Mount: getting the first cord onto the railThe mount that starts nearly every macramé piece. Two cords become four working ends in one pass, and the direction you fold the loop in decides whether your first row hangs flat or fights you for the rest of the build.
02 · 4mmSquare knot: the flat knot every pattern is built onTwo mirrored half knots stacked on a stationary core. Done right it is a flat, reversible rectangle with a small bar across the middle; done sloppily it turns into a spiral, and your wall hanging will lean.
03 · 3mmDouble half hitch: drawing a line with cordTwo half hitches tied in the same direction make the one knot that can draw a straight or diagonal line anywhere in a macramé piece. It is how circles get closed, shelves get levelled and diamonds get their edges.
04 · 4mmWrap knot: the clean way to close a bundle of cordsA dense coil of cord that binds a bundle and hides its own tail. It is the knot that finishes plant hangers, gathers the fringe of a wall hanging and hides the join where two rows meet.

Written as cut lists and finished dimensions, so a pattern here is something you can measure rather than something you copy.

01 · 90minFour-cord plant hanger: the classic cradleFour cords, three kinds of knot, one afternoon. This is the version that holds a 14 to 18 cm pot at a stable height and still looks right when the plant grows into it.
02 · 210minThree-row wall hanging: band, V and open panelOne dowel, three rows and three different knot families. The straight band sets the width, the diagonal V draws the eye inwards, and the open panel underneath keeps the whole piece from looking heavy.
03 · 45minSquare knot bookmark: a 45 minute flat bandSix cords, one flat band, and a fringe that does the job a tassel usually does. It is the smallest project that still uses the mount, the square knot and a spiral edge, which makes it a good test piece before a wall hanging.
04 · 75minCord-wrapped jar lantern: a 75 minute first projectA net of vertical ribs held by five horizontal passes, closed under the base and hung from a loop. It is the cheapest way to find out how your tension behaves, because the jar inside shows you immediately when the weave is uneven.

Ordered tracks that say what to make first, with the working time and cord each one takes.

01 · 165minDesk set for a weekendTwo small flat pieces that use up the odd lengths left over from a bigger project. Both are worked flat on a table, so they are the easiest things to make while learning to keep tension even.
02 · 90minFirst hanging potStart here if you have never mounted a cord. One ring, four cords and three knots take a 15 cm pot from the windowsill to the ceiling.
03 · 210minWall piece in three bandsThe first piece that uses two different knot families together. Twelve cords, a diagonal that gathers inwards, and a fringe you can shape by eye.

more entries are written and scheduled to appear over the coming weeks.