1 button red orange fiber cuff friendship bracelet with polymer clay button 3065

 This colorful cotton one button cuff bracelet is made from hand dyed cord inspired by the color of sugar maple trees in autumn. The brilliant reds and oranges light up the darkening sky. Unlike the falling leaves this color can stay with you and brighten up the winter months.

Read more about the construction technique for these bracelets here.

 Shown here with the other two bracelets in this small collection this is one of three experimental designs made using custom handmade poly clay buttons.

Read about the green beaded bracelet here.

Read about the red-black bracelet here

The polymer clay buttons have holes sized for the heavier cords enabling a simple stylish toggle closure detail.


                     available here



design and photographs © copyright 2013 WhatKnotShop

1 button green beaded cuff bracelet 3064

 This 1 button cuff bracelet is made with hand dyed cotton cord, green glass seed beads, and a handmade polymer clay button.

Read more about the construction technique here.

 This handmade cuff is part of a small collection. Each bracelet is made on a mold using an edge-stitching technique to secure the cords with high strength nylon thread.

Find the red-orange bracelet here.

Find the ecru tan and red-black bracelet here.

This polymer clay button is slightly oversized with two holes large enough to pass the 3 mm cotton framing cord and still slip through the loops to form a secure closure.

                      available here




design and photographs © copyright 2013 WhatKnotShop

1 button red black cotton cord cuff bracelet 3066

 This mini-series of three one button cuff bracelets is made with hand dyed cotton cord edge stitched together secured by handmade polymer clay buttons.

The first design features ecru and tan framing cords with high contrast red and black center.

Here's an illustrated guide showing how these bracelets are made

 The green bracelet on the left has two rows of seed beads positioned on the edges.

The red and orange bracelet in the center is a color scheme based on the bright colors of sugar maple trees in the fall.

All have slightly different button designs made from polymer clay designed to complement the fabric colors.

This button is a rounded shape which slips easily through the loop to form a secure closure.


                       available here




design and photographs © copyright 2013 WhatKnotShop

Himba style beaded anklets

 These beaded anklets are made from ordinary black plastic pony beads. The design is modeled after the traditional Himba anklets. The model is wearing a 20 strand layered anklet measuring about 7" wide.

The Himba people live in northern Namibia. Check out this photo gallery or read the National Geographic article here.

These imitation pieces are made with a single piece of multi-filament  synthetic cord to provide strength and chafe resistance. The beads are placed in rows of varying lengths between two pieces of black suede. The cord passes through the suede strip, then through a cinch bead then back through the suede. Each row has an cinch bead. You can see the cinch beads with the zig-zag pattern of cord in the photo at left.

A second piece of cord is threaded through the cinch beads shoelace-fashion then tightened up to provide a snug fit.

The ends of the cords are knotted then buried in the rows of beads.

 This photo shows a pair of 19 strand layered anklets made with metal beads, possibly recycled nuts, and leather strips. The red shoes are perfect.

One of the reasons cited as to why the Himba wear these anklets is the prevalence of snakes. These anklets apparently provide some protection from snakebites.

The plastic beads are considerably lighter than the traditional materials weighing in at a few ounces instead of several pounds. No tests have been done to determine the potential for snakebite resistance...






design and photographs © copyright 2013 WhatKnotShop

beaded turks head knot bracelet 3062

 Here's another beaded knot bracelet made with hand dyed cotton cord and seed beads.

The cord is a 3 mm smooth surface cotton that has been dyed a tan/taupe color. Read more about the small batch dye process here.

The beads are 8/0 Toho seed beads strung on 4 ply high strength nylon thread.

 The bracelet is constructed with the two outer strands. The beads are strung on the thread then interwoven into the two strand knot. Read more about Placing the center strand here.

I like the sympathetic color relationship between the beads and the cord color. This is a "small" size bracelet made to demonstrate the concept and color. Larger sizes can be made to order.

                  Available here

You might be interested in these other beaded turks head knots:

Blue and green beaded turks head bracelet

beaded white turks head knot bracelet

beaded turks head knot bracelet

design and photographs © copyright 2013 WhatKnotShop

walnut taupe seasonal color collection 3061

 Fall season refers to the action of black walnut trees in my neighborhood. The ripe walnuts drop from the branches and I have to compete with the grey squirrels to gather them up.

Read more about this annual ritual in this posting.

Find out how the dye process works in this posting.

This collection is made from genuine organic locally harvested black walnuts that have been processed into a colorfast dye then used to make this handsome cotton cord.

Here's three three-part traditional sailor bracelets made in sizes large, medium, and small.

Above is a wider five part weave size small.

DIY kits are also available and for a limited time larger quantities of hand dyed cord are also available by special order.

Check my Etsy shop for these and other seasonal designs.


design and photographs © copyright 2013 WhatKnotShop

1 button vertebrae bracelet 3036

 Flat drum shaped poly clay beads form a ridged vertebrae on this handmade rope bracelet.

 Simple button & loop toggle closure

Hand dyed cord edged stitched with high tensile strength nylon thread.




                 Available here


design and photographs © copyright 2013 WhatKnotShop

2 button cuff with beads 3046

 Made with autumn colors of faded red, brown, black, rust, tan hand dyed cord. Large size 8 5/8" (219 mm) circumference. Mold formed with high tensile strength nylon thread edge stitched.

 Glass seed beads are seamed into the cord fabric. Two buttons and loops secure the closure.

              Available here






design and photographs © copyright 2013 WhatKnotShop

white and grey ribbed 1 button bracelet 2726

 This cuff is an assembly of white and grey cords secured by a single plastic button. Construction is edge stitched with four ply nylon thread.

 The center grey cords are thicker pieces of hand dyed cord. Size is 7 1/2" (191 mm) circumference.

The white cords are a heavy gauge twisted cotton.






design and photographs © copyright 2013 WhatKnotShop

2 button organic industrial cuff bracelet 3038

 Summer is cooling off and a new batch of assembled designs is waiting in my basket to get published and uploaded to the fiber design section of my Etsy shop. This is an example of industrial organic a contradictory combination of rough beads dark colors and things that suggest a machine made origin.

The cuff is made with the edge stitching technique combining hand dyed cotton with bits of paracord to form a matrix that traps the nugget like beads.

 The closure is a double button and loop toggle that is offset creating a wrap-around effect.

The poly clay beads were made using a screen to produce a knurled texture making it appear that these are nuts or knobs re-purposed from some piece of machinery.

The colors are darker with black and various shade of green accented by blue and grey. The blue glass beads create a mysterious glow.

                       Available here


design and photographs © copyright 2013 WhatKnotShop

black walnuts are in season - hand dyed cord back in stock

Summer got a late start here in Minneapolis but the hot weather  has finally arrived in late August and with it a crop of black walnuts.  There are several trees along the alley behind the house which have been shedding nuts. There is also a small grove in the corner of a park several blocks away. The squirrels are fierce competition but the harvest is underway.

Here's a look at the first batch scooped up from the ground.

These are about the size of paddle tennis balls and as you can see un-split and therefore safe to handle.


So the important thing about this is that these little green nuts make a very nice dark dye that is used to make a once-a-year special colored cord.


Read more about the process of making hand dyed cord here. 

And here is a finished hank of dyed cord ready to use.

Read more about finished rope bracelets made from this special dye here.





design and photographs © copyright 2013 WhatKnotShop