Tying Up Loose Ends

I just redid my room. I painted the walls and changed the curtains. I was very satisfied at first, but as I was sitting on my bed one morning, watching the sunlight peak through the window, I looked over at the many plants encumbering my shelfs and I cringed. The décor in my room was off; it was missing something. I opened my computer and searched ‘’Macramé plant hanger’’. Instead of finding online stores to purchase macramé, the result pages overflowed with DIY how-tos and tutorials. I was working two jobs and thought I didn’t have the time to start a craft project. The plant hanger would most probably not be done before weeks, and because I am very impatient, I was in a hurry. So, I sighed and searched ‘’Macramé plant hanger for sale’’ and found out that the prices ranged between 10 and 70$. After browsing for a while, I realized that the most fitting pieces, the most beautiful and perfect ones were of course on the higher side of that range. But since I was paid minimum wage, I had a tight budget.

Defeated, I went back to my original search, and clicked on the first tutorial video. Then I watched a second one, then a third. Halfway through the fourth macramé tutorial I watched that morning I was convinced. I actually could do this. It seemed easy enough and all I needed was rope, hooks, a measuring tape, and a pair of scissors, and I already owned three out of four. I was hyped, I was ready, but if I was going to do this, I had to respect my very low budget of 10$. Which honestly did not seem impossible.

I went to the dollar store the next day and bought 27 meters of jute rope for 3.45$. When I got back home, I measured my window and drew up my plans, realizing that the smart thing would have been to do that before going to the store. I was going to hang three plants in font of my window. I wanted a longer two-tier hanger and a shorter single hanger to have an asymmetrical style.

I went back online, looking at all the different types of knot, gathering inspiration. The square knot and its variations seemed to be the go-to for (beginner) macramé plant hangers. The square knot is a four-strand knot alternating left and right. To tie it, bring the far-left cord over the two middle cords and under the far-right cord, and the far-right cord under the middle cords and over the far-left cord, and pull to fasten. Then, bring the far-right cord over the middle cords and the far-left under, and pull again to tie. The alternating square knot is a square knot spread on eight strands and the spiral knot is a half square knot.

At this point I had a pretty good idea of what I wanted. The hangers would have three strands, each knotted from four cords. For the two-tier hanger, I would tie twenty square knots, leave a space and tie alternating square knots around where the pot would sit. For the single one, I would start with twenty square knots and carry on with spiral knots until I get to the right length: just between the two pots of the tiered hanger.

I gathered my tools and was ready to start. I stared at the rope unknowingly. How much rope would I need for a 70 cm macramé? How much do you lose in length when tying square knots, or spiral knots or alternating square knots? I figured I would just forget about the plan, cut an arbitrary length, and just go from there. I would start with the single plant hanger and figure out how much rope I would need for the two-tier hanger based on that, a very scientific approach.

I cut my rope into six strands of about 200 cm and I inserted a hook at half length. I tied them together at the base with a gathering knot. This knot is made by taking a separate piece of string, making a U shape with it and wrap the rest of the string around it.

I began tying 10 squares knots and 15 spiral knots to make the first strand. Turns out, you lose a lot of length on the outer cords when tying, ending up with two shorter cords and two longer cords. At this point, I wasn't sure what to do. I had completely used my outer cords and so I tied them up and kept only the longer inner cords. I repeated this procedure for the other two strands. I then tied the left cord of each strand with the right strand of the one next to it. I finished up by tying a gathering knot and cutting off the excess fringe.

I was happy with it, I think. My conclusions from this first macramé were that:

1. I was way off in determining the length of cord;
2. jute rope has a more rustic and less clean finish.

I wasn't sure how I felt about the last conclusion. But, I still had 6.55$ in my budget so I went to the dollar store and bought another 13 meters of jute rope and carried on with the two-tier hanger.

I cut six 4 meters long strands and began the same way as for the previous macramé, with a gathering knot and a series of square knots. I tied them a lot tighter and saw that it made quite the difference. The finish was a lot cleaner and the knots more regular.

I left a few inches of loose cords and tied the strands together with square knots. I tied it off with a gathering knot and began tying a series of spiraling knots for the second tier of that hanger. I finished the same way I did for the first tier and cut off all excess strings, and fringe. I had a few strands of rope left, so I gave the single hanger another try. I did a series of square knots, followed by spiral knots.

I was sitting on my bed that afternoon, watching the rays of sun peak through the window, bathing my plants in light. I sighed and smiled. I am satisfied.