A crafting hobby can be a great way to relieve boredom, and provide a sense of achievement outside and provide a creative outlet for stress. It’s also a way to translate your physical effort into tangible results – in a digital world where it can be hard to see what effect your day job is having, this can be very reassuring.
There are lots of different potential crafting hobbies you could choose, and they all use different skills, different materials and different tools. As a result they feel very different to practice and produce very different end results. That means before you commit, it’s worth doing some research to learn about a craft and make sure it’ll provide what you need.
Today we’re taking a look at Macramé so before you assemble your first macramé set, you can feel confident you’re picking a crafting hobby that will reward you like you need it to.
The Craft of Macrame
Macrame is a way of making textiles or decorations by knotting cords together. Rather than weaving or knitting which use needles, looms or (at the industrial scale) automated machines, macrame is a craft you do exclusively by hand. If you’re looking for a craft that can absorb you with intricate, satisfyingly physical work, this could be the right option for you.
History
Macrame is originally a middle-eastern art, with the word derived from the Arabic and Turkish words for towel or ‘embroidered fringe’. In the 16th and 17th century, trade and conquest spread the art into Europe via Turkey and Spain, and it became a widespread artform for sailors, as they had both ready access to rope and twine, and expertise with knots!
After a peak of popularity in the Victorian age, it faded until a resurgence in the 1970s, after which it’s become a fixture in the crafting scene, and a way for people to create intricate decorations or functional fabrics!
What Can You Make?
If you’re interested in macrame, then there are plenty of things you can make. There are two main factors that affect the difficulty of a macrame project: the size of the finished item, and the number of different types of knot used. For a simple, beginners project, look for a small item for which you only have to learn one or two kinds of knot.
When you get more experienced, you could aspire to complex projects like intricate macrame jewellery or a handbag, but to begin with, set your sights a little lower and you’ll results sooner and get to enjoy your skills growing before your eyes! A macrame keychain or a simple wall hanging is a good choice for a beginner, as these projects are small and use only simple knots!
