Thursday, February 14, 2008

Switch Knot Tutorial


Today we’re tying a switch knot. This exotic looking knot is it’s really just the space between two square knots…with a twist.

To tie this knot you need to be working with an even number of cords, usually four.Tie a square knot with two fillers and two knotting cords.

As you pull your knotters to the middle make sure they lay over the original fillers. This is important, because it wraps one set of cords around the other, holding them in place.



Now bring the original fillers, which are now the knotters, around and leave a little space before tying a second square knot. You should have a groovy hourglass shape where the cords crossed one another.

Since a switch knot has open space it has a tendency to slide. I usually clusters of 2-4 square knots for every 2 switches to give the design more stability.



You can also adjust the length of the switch by tugging the knotting cords as you make the first half of the square knot. The second half holds knot in place. You can even out the hourglass by tugging at the filler cords.

If you add beads and tie a few-dozen more knots you'll have created your own unique piece of jewelry.





4 comments:

  1. Great tutorial! I'll have to give it a try sometime when I'm feeling brave. :) I love the necklace btw.

    Peace!

    ReplyDelete
  2. It's (k)not that hard, rainbowmom, I'm sure you can do it if you know how to tie a square knot. If (k)not there's directions all over the internet for that one. I may even add my own.

    (forgive the puns...)

    ReplyDelete
  3. cool tutorial :) I think I still have all the knots memorized from a couple summers of making friendship bracelets! I remember the blisters well.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thanks so much for this! Very helpful and easy to follow.

    ReplyDelete