Growing up on an island meant lots of goodies on the shore to beachcomb. Amongst the fishing floats, old shoes and occasional deck chair there would be lots of bits of rope. Rope from tug towlines, 3 or 4 inches in diameter, yellow nylon for fishing bouys and smaller lengths for uses unknown.
The rope came in handy for everything from devil swings to lashing rafts together, often fashioned into long ropes with granny knots and whatever kind of splice would hold two slippery logs together long enough for a morning’s fishing.
Knots have always been a kind of sanity break for me, the simple mindless act of square knots, twist knots, even idly crafting reef knots out of swizzle sticks at boring parties. At one point I rather got into the ‘macrame scene’ which other than the fact that most synthetic cord makes my hands break out in a rash, was quite enjoyable.
A few weeks ago one of my wife’s colleagues was in need of a new bracelet and my wife being my wife, offered my services. It is actually kind of cool, her colleague ex-mil so we have lots in common. I agreed on the spot.
Sadly the 35C temps with 90% RH kind of kicked my arthritis into high gear so it was just this morning my balloons for hands had simmered down enough for any sort of rope-dexterity.
Anyway here are a couple ‘test’ examples of bracelets, as well as a belt I did up a while back that is still going strong. 🙂
(If you remember the bags of oak flooring I was gifted you will recognize a piece upcycled into a rather helpful bracelet board).