Begin Again

Happy New Year 🥳 to my readers and any rando internet surfers stopping by to see what’s up! I hope all are feeling the New Year Vibes and not too down in the doldrums due to Omicron. I am trying to be upbeat despite feeling like we are stuck on a merry-go-round of illness in the US and lately, with my son. This post was drafted the first week of January and clearly, it’s now February. Can’t catch a break truly.

I had a thought (shocking, I know) like a week ago when I was looking for my Blog Notebook. The Blog Notebook is missing and has been for a couple of months now. It has all kindsa post ideas in it with a few scattered outlines. I have been quite distressed over not knowing its whereabouts as you can imagine. Like imagine what some evil ne’er-do-well would plan with my shoddy sketches and macrame knot patterns. Ay yi yi! 😱

Anyhow, I’ve been thinking, why not talk about what you need to start up as a macrame biz or macramaker. Why not a genesis post per se? You’d have thought I would’ve covered this in the 2 years if this blog, but it has been a rough two years, hasn’t it?!

With no further ado, there are a few integral items or tools you will need to get your knot on! So, let’s start at the very beginning? (Sound of Music Reference 😉)

•Mulig Ikea clothes rack or something similar. This rack is essential if you are making wall hangings or plant hangers. It allows you to hang your dowel or ring from which to work. The Mulig isnt as sturdy as the rolling one, but either way, you can get shit done. I also made one of 1×4’s for markets and to work from while at markets. The Ikea ones are less expensive than making your own, especially given the pandemic inflation here in US. The above one is 12.99.

If you arent able or want to purchase one of the above, you can add a lateral bar like below to some sturdy wall in your house and work from there. Just make sure to set it up at a level that will be ergonomic.

You will also need S hooks and the more of them the better. They come in handy. I got most of mine at IKEA in the kitchen section but the World Market also sells them online for a good price.

For small works, like ornaments or earrings, you need a macrame board or foam board and T pins. Michael’s craft store has macrame boards in the bead/jewelry section. I repurposed an old styrofoam shipping container top as my ‘macrame board’ (and I use it for crochet and knit blocking. BONUS🤓 🧶).

If you are following down the clothing path, a dress form is a must have. I heavily rely on mine. I also find they help me design in general. In the past, I’ve just created straight from the dress form.

Recently, I figured out a macrame use for an over the door multi coat hanger. I had seen some hooks on Etsy which are very expensive and was like “what can I use instead?”, being the thrifty maven that I am. You can add your macrame rope spool on the hanger, and it will spin as you pull to measure and cut.

A few final essentials are tape measure(s), scissors, and stitch glue. I recommend having more than one tape measure because two is better than one. Oh, and I almost forgot, a tiny baby comb or hard tooth brush are needed to brush fibers apart if you are making macrame leaves, tassels or soft fringe feature.

I’ll talk about rope types soon, and go into how some are better for certain projects. And of course, my most recent podcast episode is rope talk if you wanna watch instead.

Sorry this post has taken forever. 2022 has proven rough already with illness, yet I keep telling myself, “roll with the punches”.

Keep it Knotty,

eitm🌚