Table of Contents
Changelog
- 2025-05-31
- Initial publication
What’s Here
This post is less ‘macrame project’ and more ‘useful information’.
Overview
As I continue to work through learning macrame, experimenting with sinnets, learning to tie various knots and more I realized I need a basic method of tying things together (duh?). I also need a way to organize my materials for everything I’m working with at any given moment.
I generally have some lengths of rope in my organizer for learning new knots and I have various rope cut for learning sinnets and… well I rotate through my focus points and need to stay organized for what cut rope goes with what item I’ll be working with. I need a way to keep each length of rope from tangling and a way to bundle the lengths of rope that will be used for a given project togther. Basically I need a way to group rope lengths based on project in a way that won’t create an unholy rat’s nest.
This lead me to learn to make small hanks as well as learning about binding and lashing knots. There are a lot of options for bindings and lashings. There are so many that I re-visited the Ashley Book of Knots and ear marked the knots that looked most compelling and useful for my needs.
Below, in the Techniques section, I’ve documented how I’m creating hanks of rope as well as the knots I’m using to tie things together. For each technique I’ve included some of my personal notes and thoughts about each.
Materials
- Paracord 550
Techniques
- Unnamed Small Hanks - ABoK #3085
- This has been amazing for helping keep my rope organized
- All rope I cut for use in learning, projects, etc is wound into this style of hank to avoid creating a rats nest of rope that needs untangling every time I go to engage with macrame
- This technique works so well I wound a very long length of rope up using two legs of a chair (yes, it was a very long length of rope – too long for hand wrapping)
- Lock Knot - ABoK #1990
- This has quickly become my favorite ’tie stuff together’ knot
- It’s straight forward to tie
- It’s easy to adjust
- It’s easy to untie
- It holds firm despite its adjustable and untying properties
- Constrictor Knot - ABoK #1249
- This knot I’ve been using to secure the start of sinnets
- It holds fast
- It can be untied but is a mild pain to actually untie
- This knot I use when I need some form of permanence or a very strong hold
- Square / Reef Knot - ABoK #1205
- This is a good, general use knot
- It’s easy to tie
- It’s reasonably easy to adjust
- It’s easy to untie yet holds under load
- This is a great knot that can serve as an alternative to the Lock Knot mentioned above
- This knot is less bulky than the Lock Knot in my opinion
- This knot can self-loosen, when tied with paracord, if not under consistent load in my experience
- Sheet Bend - ABoK #1223
- The ABoK mentions this is a good ‘robe sash knot’ (paraphrased)
- I agree with the ABoK: this is a great knot for creating a rope belt
- I’m not fond of this knot for general use but if I ever need a ‘rope belt’, I’ll be tying this knot
- Half Knot - ABoK #1202
- Simple
- Loose
- Junk
- This knot has its place but I have to say ‘you should only use it when you have a real good fucking reason’
- It may ‘hold up’ better when tied with a natural fiber rope instead of synthetics like nylon (paracord) but I wouldn’t put much faith in it beyond ‘very temporary for a very specific need where the knot failing is a non-issue’
Gallery
Figure 3: An example image showing the Square / Reef Knot (#1205) tied around a Krill AA glow stick light
Figure 4: An example image showing the Constrictor Knot (#1249) tied around a Krill AA glow stick light
