#macre-may

These are really easy basic designs that I put in to take a break from the advanced designs. They're a little bit of flair you can put in the middle of a square knot sequence:

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Switchback:

Simply bring the outer cords in and start using them like base cords, while the base cords then become the outer cords. Changes the color of the square knot sequence on either side, if applicable.

Adding a switchback changes the cord length. If each cord pair takes turns and spends equal time as base or outer cord, then the initial two strings folded over should be cut to the same length, whether they start the project as base or outer cords.

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Figure-8:

A design I came up with inspired by the switchback: the outer cords switch sides but remain outer cords. Like a fancy open square. While the square knots on either side do not change color, you do get a flash of the base cord color.

It's notably less sturdy than a switchback though, and prone to twisting. Make sure to use stiff cord with this design, something that holds it's shape.

Uses cord like a large open square.

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Pictures!

Here's a sample with three switchbacks and two figure-8s:

^Note the symmetry. The yellow and blue cords are used evenly.

And even if you're not playing around with color, they're nice to add just for the sparkle:

^(A bracelet I made a long time ago; the switchbacks are tighter than I would do today)

If you connect two Macro Zigzags together you get a cool diamond design:

^Blue is square knot sequences, pink is a zigzag-style turns and tan is the intersections.

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You can get creative with these intersections, but here are some basics:

^Standard weave intersection on the left, layered intersection on the right.

^Extended weave intersection. While the above two have their cords switch sides, with this one you continue weaving until the cords are back on the side they entered from.

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Here are some starters that get the colors in the correct configuration:

^Square knot starters on the left, lark's head knots on the right. The center loop allows the base cords of the two sides to be different colors.

(These starters can be applied to other macrame designs that need their colors arranged like so.)

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First sample I built had the layered intersections:

(Pro tip: if you have all the layered intersections crossing over in the same direction, the whole project will slowly twist. Watch out!)

Then I built this sample with the standard weave intersections in contrasting colors for visibility:

This one has different colored outer cords so you can see them change sides:

And this one has extended weave intersections:

I used the square knot starter with the loops to arrange the four colors. Here's what that process looks like:

Note how one side stays purple/red and the other stays blue/yellow:

Of course if I can add an alternating square to a macro zigzag to make it wide I would try it with intersections:

A chunky diamond shape! There's nothing revolutionary about this but I have some strategies one might use to pull off this bad boy.

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Starters:

^With and without a hole at the start, for whatever your clasp/button needs.

Tying off the end:

^An extended and condensed version, to fine-tune the overall project length. Note how half the cords are the same length in the two styles, close to the large intersection. Cut the other half of the cords longer when planning your project, as they pass through an extra intersection.

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Using pointy vs. weave turns:

The different turn types affect the overall shape and cord/color path. Pointy turns will also use more cord than weave turns.

Also, remember how weave turns require weird cord length due to the 'gap' in square knots?

Intersections also act like a gap so wide diamonds will require cord length adjustments whether the turns are pointy or weave. Weave turn style diamonds have twice the gaps as pointy and will need stronger adjustments.

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I made this sample to show off how color moves through the different types of turns, and also to play around with intersections.

I used the starter without the button hole:

(And accidentally cut the cord in a way that made me use lark's head knots on the tip. Oh well, that's what they're for.)

Example of weaving an intersection, bc why not:

^Weaves really do look like a mess every time until you stabilize them with the square knots on the other side.

I tried to use a different style for each intersection:

That last one is hard to see especially since it's right next to the ending. Here's a look at what those cords are doing:

^The outermost cords twist over the weave of the rest of the cords. The two other colors twist on the opposite side of the weave.

I wasn't planning on this sample being a bracelet but it ended up the correct length. So I used the cord leftovers to make two braids:

The braids can loop through the hole of the starting diamond and clasp into the loops of the last intersection.

WMZZ for short. Basically it's applying a macro zigzag turn to an alternating square knot rather than a single square knot sequence:

And I came up with two methods!

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Weave turn:

This is the first method I came up with- weaving the turn like the original macro zigzag method but at a larger scale.

It works but it came up with several problems. As I've said before wide weaves are tricky to deal with; the weave cuts the corner off the turn weakening the zigzag shape; and the design goes through cord at a slightly different rate than a regular alternating square knot.

Overall I kinda think it's a bit more effort than the design's worth but it should be acknowledged for it's style, and also because it handles color in a different way than the second turn method.

Taking a step back to how the cord length differs from an alternating knot, there's a phenomenon here that appears in more than just the weave turn. If you were to un-weave the turn and lay the project straight, it may look something like this:

^The weave sections are like open squares- a 'gap,' so to speak, capped on both ends with a square knot. On the right I've labelled the rows of square knots, with two configurations, A and B, depending on if the row has all square knots (A) or the two open square loops on the sides (B).

Regular alternating square knots have an equal number of A and B rows. Each cord generally switches equally between the roles of base and outer cord. But weaves are always capped with an A row for structure with no B row between them, so certain cords spend more time in one role.

On the diagram on the bottom I wrote the length in PL for a regular alternating square, and the adjustments on each cord for if there's a gap. Make the cord longer (+) or shorter (-), adjusting more or less depending on the number of gaps in the project as a whole.

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Pointy turn:

The second turn method I came up with; it fixes the problems I had with the weave- it's easy and fast, pointy, and goes through cord evenly- same as an alternating square. (At least it does if there's an equal number of left and right turns.)

To build a pointy turn, start building the rows of knots incomplete, at a diagonal. When you're at the point where the row has one knot, turn the project and start building knots with the new orientation. Increase the number of knots per row at a diagonal, mirroring the first half of the turn.

^A view of the knot orientation (left), and a shorthand diagram for pointy turns (right). The shorthand diagram matches the turn like this:

There's an impression of circles in the alternating square, and the diagram follows that.

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I made two samples, to test the weave and pointy turns and see if they worked. The weave ended up like this:

^There's a longer section of alternating square in between each weave, which I built once I realized a short alt section makes it look like a wrinkly straight project :/

Here's the process for one of the weave turns:

uh oh

^Tightening the weave by tugging on the loops

^securing the weave by building the square knots, tightening the weave the whole time.

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The pointy turn sample came out way more satisfactory. So pointy! So uniform! So much less struggle!

Here's the process for a pointy turn:

^Building the rows down at a diagonal and turning the project

^Building knots in the new orientation

^Mirror the diagonal of the first half until you have a full row

You can 'braid' three (or more) colors by arranging the intersections like so:

Starters:

^Basic starter left, and button-hole starter right. Two colors start at a loop, and the third color gets added a bit later with a lark's head knot.

With the button-hole starter the hole should be sized to fit the button chosen for the project. Increase or decrease the number of square knots that make up the sides of the hole.

Here's a clearer view of where the cords start:

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Cord Extension

At this point it should be mentioned that if you have a project that requires very long cord, it is a handy strategy to cut the cord shorter than you need and add on to it later.

Like with the macro zigzag the project will go through cord like a square knot- 3PL outer cord and 1PL base cord. If you decide to make a longer project to show off the braid the outer cords can become unwieldy.

If you plan on extending the cord during the project not only is the cord length easier to manage but you can wing the cord length measurement, see how far it got you, and use that to have a better idea on how much more cord to cut to get you to the actual end of the project.

When I built my mambo braid sample I cut the initial three outer cords at very different lengths so there would be some distance between extension spots. For stability. Base cords, being shorter than outer cords, I cut enough to not have to extend them.

I explain extending cord here.

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Adding slide clasps

This was supposed to be in the zigzag intersections post but 1, that post was long enough and 2, the same concepts could be applied to the mambo braid.

Here's a closer look:

(Finally drew the bead correctly with the overhand knot lol)

You could also try a double sided slide clasp like so:

For the record I haven't actually tried these slide clasp methods yet but I plan to try the single-sided slide for a post's sample later this year.

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So I built this necklace-length braid:

^Three outer cord colors, one color for all base cords. All the intersections are 'layered' style to give the impression that one color is on top. The mambo braid's wide structure stops the twisting effect that comes with the layered intersections, so it was a good choice.

It started with a square knot starter with loops:

Because the base cords were the same color I kinda didn't need the loops but it did help me start the square knots in the correct place, so.

^Getting the spacing correct for the button I chose, and then building onward to the braid itself:

This is a popular clasp I've seen around and recently I've been using it a lot more because it's a lot easier to put on than fiddling with a button with one hand. Essentially a bracelet band can be widened without breaking the loop:

This relies on a square knot's ability to slide along its base cords.

It's mainly used in bracelets because you would need an awkwardly long sliding cord for necklaces or anklets. It takes a lot less extension to get over a hand than say, a head.

Here's how to make it:

^The slide clasp starter

A) Place a bead or some kind of bulky knot at the end so the slide clasp can't get pulled out completely.

(ngl I carefully drew the bead attached with a lark's head knot like an idiot but in practice if you followed the picture the bead would come right off. Don't. Don't do that. Loop the bead on the cord and secure it with an overhand knot.)

B) Leave a section of base cord blank. Make it slightly longer than you want the cord to be able to slide. 3in. is a good length, not including cord for holding the bead.

C) Start your project with a square knot starter, no overhand knot.

D) Build the bracelet/project to almost the final length. Don't count sections A and B in the bracelet length.

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Finishing the slide clasp:

^When you get about half an inch to the end length of your project use an overhand knot to secure the base cords only.

Line the starter up to cover the ending's overhand knot and continue the bracelet without any gaps:

A sequence of 3 or 4 square knots works fine.

^The result should look like this.

A) The base cord's overhand knot is hidden beneath the sliding cord.

B) The outer cord is secured by an overhand knot also hidden beneath the sliding cord. Do not include the sliding cord in the overhand knots. This allows the cords to slide within the square knot sequence.

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Two-sided slide clasp:

I personally prefer a single slider but most sliding clasps I've seen other people make have two sliding cords held together by a short independent square knot sequence. It looks like this:

It's good if your style is to start in the middle of a bracelet and work outwards twice, giving you two bracelet endings and no 'start.' This isn't really my style but it's good to mention.

^Sections A and B are the ends of the same bracelet. Overhand knots made more obvious. Section C is a short square knot sequence made from a new cord, not repurposed from the bracelet.

((Also,,, I am straight-up SQUINTING at my past self. Another mistake- there is one cord folded over used to make the outer cords in section C and there shouldn't be 4 strings coming out of its ending overhand knot.))

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So in Macra-May 2024 I made this spectral line bar bracelet:

I didn't mention it at the time but it was secretly given a slide clasp:

okay so last year I didn't post the last macrame project. I meant to, but the moment I lost my momentum I gots da burnout. Oops.

I'm still kinda getting over it so this year I plan to only post that final project. I accidentally made it Way more complicated than I first expected and I can't say that won't happen again on another project.

Makes a crab that's also a tiny pouch! TBH this project was supposed to be really simple but I overthought the process and now it's •°☆▪Complicated•°☆▪

(An extra day has been added to this project; the prompt list now has a day 32. June 1st no longer exists and May grows ever stronger)

The original idea was to build a rectangular body and then stitch up the sides, ending with crab claws:

There were some novel designs for starting and finishing the main body and creating macrame claws in this early concept. But I kept thinking of aspects that were missing that I wanted to add and I kept making improvements until it turned into this:

-Reinforced claw connections (A)

-Rounded crabby bottom (B)

-Little legs! (very worth it) (C)

-And a lot of string-saving techniques that reduced the number of strings that needed to be cut. These techniques are the source of a lot of the crab's complexity, but they smoothed out a lot of corners and turned the crab from like 54 strings to 46.

I built the complicated version and will be reporting those methods over 4 posts, not including this intro.

One last thing: for the duration of these instructions, the sides of the crab will be labelled like so:

(To avoid confusion over what is top vs front, etc.)

Could I have described this in words? Maybe, but instead we have the squarest crab ever.