mixed cord grommets green 3633 and purple 3634

 The green mini collection combines the darker blue-green with loden and lime to create a verdant contrast. Black whipping goes with the darker shades, brown with the less saturated color.

All about 7 1/2" (178 mm)

Find the green collection here.

The purple mini collection features a darker purple mixed with lighter neutrals and a dark navy. One is a simple all purple color with brown whipping.


Find the purple collection here.


design and photographs © copyright 2015

mixed cord grommet collections 3631and 3632

 This collection of grommet bangles comes from one of the many piles of cord ends and odd bits of color that accumulate during the making of rope bracelets. This group is a mix of colors made with multiple coach whippings. Using multiple colored cords in a single grommet entails securing the extra loose ends. Three colors of waxed thread are used individually and in mixed combinations.

This group (3632) is all about 8" to 8 1/4" in size.

Find this grey collection here.

In this group there are both the twisted cotton cord and the smooth braided cords used to create a range of color and texture. The coach whippings are tan, brown, black and white.

This group (3631) is about 7 1/2" in size

An illustrated tutorial showing how grommets are made here.


design and photographs © copyright 2015

string bracelets 3538

 Thin cotton cord unwound and re-worked into grommets. Each is secured with waxed thread coach whipping.

 Double strand fog grey
sand
ecru
6 7/8" (200 mm)

made-to-order item

These and other unique bracelets can be found online WhatKnotShop on ETSY





design and photographs © copyright 2015 WhatKnotShop

grey string grommet bracelets 3163

cotton cord
coach whipping details

grommets built from both thin and thick cord with nylon thread whipping then boiled in grey dye bath for an even consistent color

white slender grommet bracelets here

larger set: 7 3/4" & 8" (#60 cord)
smaller set: 6 5/8" 6 3/4" & 7" (#24 cord)






design and photographs © copyright 2013 WhatKnotShop

nylon cuff bracelet aluminum bracelets grommet bracelets

 Extra wide cuff with a set of grommet bracelets.

Cuff 13 x 19 x 2 made with 1/8" nylon

grommets made from various types of cotton cord, stretch over hand and shrink when wet

                   cuff bracelet available here


                   grommet bracelets available here

 Extra wide cuff with three metal bracelets

cuff 13 x 19x 2 made with 1/8" nylon

metal bracelets 3/8" aluminum shape to fit in place

 seams of aluminum bracelets are precision ground and aligned then compressed together for a custom fit











design and photographs © copyright 2013 WhatKnotShop

ultra slender string grommet bracelets 2801

 Grommets are pieces of rope or line that have been unlaid then twisted back into a circular form.

Here's a tutorial that shows how traditional grommets  are made.

Here's a video showing the same process.

The design shown on the left  is made with a waxed thread whipping to bind the loose ends instead of the splicing shown in the tutorial.

 The material used is a white #60 cotton cord which is about 1/8" (3 mm) diameter.

I measure about 3 1/2 circumferences of cord then cut the piece and un-lay it. This creates three strands, each has a "corkscrew" shape due to the original construction of the cord.

As in in the tutorial above the cord is re-twisted in the circular form three times around. The ends are laid parallel and the whipping is applied.

Here you can see the white whipping cord that binds the loose ends which have been trimmed off in the photo.

A variety of sizes is available, this one is a 6" circumference. These are very sturdy and can be stretched hard to slip them over your hand. They will shrink back to original size or slightly smaller if you get them wet.

                   Available here
design and photographs © copyright 2013 WhatKnotShop

three wrap rope bracelet or necklace design 2284

Received a special request to make a wrap around  style rope bracelet from a customer who liked the look of the rope grommet bracelets and wanted something more contemporary. White can be a difficult color to keep looking clean, her choice was grey a color that is very complementary.

Find a similar design here in the Etsy shop.

 The materials are a hand dyed grey cotton cord and waxed cotton thread.

The design starts with a 3x3x3 monkey fist button knot. The extra length cords are then worked into a traditional twisted rope. This process is done on a jig. The end loops are wrapped around a pin on the jig and secured with the waxed cotton whipping thread.

The loose ends are laid parallel and secured with another whipping.

This design works as a three-wrap bracelet for a smaller wrist (about 6 3/4") and can also be used as a choker style necklace. The overall length is about 19".




design and photographs © copyright 2012 WhatKnotShop

white grommet rope bracelet 1920

Oversize rope grommet bangle made with bleached cotton clothesline and waxed cotton thread.

Size medium" 8" (203 mm) inside circumference

                         available here


design and photographs © copyright 2012 WhatKnotShop

colorful grommets

A colorful collection of grommets made from 100% cotton hand dyed cable cord.

These are finished off with waxed cotton whipping twine using a concealed loop to hide the cut ends.

Colors in this collection: green, navy, tangerine, red, pink, and white. Find more like these at  WhatKnotShop on Etsy.

design and photographs © copyright 2012 WhatKnotShop

grey grommet group 1833

 A group of grey grommets made with hand dyed grey #60 cotton cord and finished with white waxed linen whipping.

A grommet is a round endless ring made from rope that is about five times as along as the circumference of the finished grommet. Read more about these interesting and useful knots on WikiHow or try this netplaces knot site article by Randy Penn. The traditional grommet is made from manila or other natural fiber rope. A length is "un-layed" then woven back together in a circular form.

These cotton grommets are made from cotton cord that is intact not the "un-layed" condition. The overlapping ends are bound up using another traditional marlinspike seamanship technique known as whipping. Ropeworks offers a clear diagram for several types of whipping methods. These are made using "method 3" (scroll down to see it)

You can find grommet bracelets like these in WhatKnotShop on Etsy.

design and photographs © copyright 2012 WhatKnotShop

Square sennit braid flexible bangles 131 144 145

This is a re-post of some work in sennit braiding. (click here to see original post ) Three examples are shown here the smaller of the three at left. The bracelet is made from eight interwoven strands starting with a four part grommet. The direction reverses and then there are four interweaves. The reverse loop is positioned under the bead which terminates the knot.

This is the "large" size about 8 5/8" (218 mm) 
The material is a high strength dacron/nylon mix used by sailmakers to make leech tensioning lines.

And the "larger" size about 10" (254 mm). As you can see they all are about the same (colored beads are different on each) Size is controlled by how many bights are made in the grommet and can vary from just a few to a huge number. Think napkin ring all the way up to hatband size.


design and photographs © copyright 2011 WhatKnotShop

How to make turks head knots - some interesting sites

First off the Wikipedia definition for those of you new to the hobby.

There are a number of excellent online tutorials available that show how to tie turks head knots.
Here are a few of my favorites:

The Golden Knots site "Hand-crafted Knot Jewelry: Decorative Marlingspike Seamanship rendered in precious metal" There are some good illustrated "how-to" instructions in cotton cord as well.
 5 lead x 4 bight     click here
 7 lead x 8 bight     click here
both illustrated with still photos by Loren Damewood

Jan Brett's Sailor Bracelet site is a nice simple single page illustration of how to make a classic three part rope bracelet. This would be a great project for kids on a rainy afternoon.

Alan Folsom's knotting page is another great source for instructions on tying turks heads. How to Tie a Turkshead will get you started.

Animated Knots by Grog has a great animated sequence showing how to tie the basic three part turks head also know as a "woggle" by the boy Scouts.

Stormdrane's Blog has a video that will get you started on a bigger project.

One of the many video tutorials showing how to tie a simpler 5 x 4 knot

Disclaimer: Now this short listing is not complete. I'm sure there are a number of other sites with instructions and illustrations not to mention the large number of crafters and old salts who make and sell a wide variety of things nautical. Please feel free to leave messages with additional references or comments.

fiber wrapped slip on bracelets 849, 850, 851, 852

Soft cotton fiber wrapped bangle bracelet 849

Made with a nylon core and hand dyed cotton fibers in colors grey, turquoise, and copper green

Size "extra large" 9 7/8" (251 mm) inside circumference

Soft cotton fiber wrapped bangle bracelet 850

Nylon core and hand dyed cotton fibers in colors eggplant, copper green, turquoise, and denim

Size is "medium" 7 3/4" (198 mm) inside circumference

Soft cotton fiber wrapped bangle bracelet 851

Nylon core wrapped with hand dyed hemp and cotton fibers, colors are natural tan, red, and eggplant

size is "large" 8 1/2" (218 mm) inside circumference

Soft cotton fiber wrapped bangle bracelet 852

Nylon core wrapped with hand dyed cotton fibers, colors are grey, eggplant, turquoise, and white

size is "medium" 7 5/8" (194 mm) inside circumference

Find these and other fiber wrapped  designs on Zibbet

design and photographs copyright 2010 WhatKnotShop

crazy cotton fiber bracelet 663

What to do with the cut-off bits of colored cord? As an inveterate hoarder it's impossible to throw these pieces out so they accumulate in a box until the moment when inspiration overtakes reason.

Here's an experimental piece that combines somewhat randomly chosen bits of hand dyed colored cords in a grommet style lash-up. As you can see the ends are intentionally left free to fray. The cords are sewn together with nylon thread to prevent total entropy.

More fiber experiments here: Anemone         wild fiber bracelet             work in progress

design and photos copyright 2010 WhatKnotShop

grommets made with really small line 131

This collection of grommets are made with 1 mm nylon worked in an eight strand square sennit pattern. The diameter of the smallest is 2 1/2" the largest is about 3 1/4". They are about 1/4" square making these small and delicate but very tough.


The design is an eight stand square sennet weave.

Check your slip-on size   check my size   then shop with confidence.


Here is the most recent posting

design and photographs copyright 2010 WhatKnotShop

8 part square sennit bracelet

These bright colored nylon rope bracelets start out as a four part grommet which then is interwoven with four additional strands to complete the eight part design. The bead marks the place where the direction of the line reverses.

This one started with 9 loops in the grommet resulting in an inside diameter of about 2 1/4".

To learn more about these visit the knotworkin web site
See these online venues for this and many other sizes and colors.
WhatKnotShop on Etsy
WhatKnotShop on Zibbet

Design and photographs copyright 2008 WhatKnotShop