Knots and fiber bracelets

January 14, 2014

scarlet orange brown basket weave cuff bracelet 3203

More basket weave series cuffs, this one is a double weave three color design. All cotton hand dyed cord worked over a braided cotton core.

Warm colors: scarlet, orange, brown

The spiral offset pattern has been compacted along the core cords so there are no gaps.

About 7" (178 mm) inside circumference

available soon

design and photographs © copyright 2014 WhatKnotShop

January 13, 2014

basket weave rope bracelet 3206

This simple plain-weave cuff is made with 3 mm cord. These pieces of cord are predominantly blue, purple and verdigris with a bright teal accent. The weft is black polyester.

The weave is drawn up to a firm but not tight tension which allows the loops of cord to show the alternating pattern.

The cords are tied off with waxed thread then trimmed.

Soft and flexible about 8" inside circumference.

available here

design and photographs © copyright 2014 WhatKnotShop

January 12, 2014

ombre dip dyed cord made into a turks head knot rope bracelet 3212

The interesting thing about this design is the cord which was loosely coiled then dip dyed in a blue dye bath then the cord was dip dyed in a grey dye bath and allowed to dry. The overlapping color creates the transition.

The cord was then used to construct a traditional three part sailor bracelet. The areas where the cord was fully immersed in the blue are laid up right next to the grey areas giving this classic design a lively variegated color effect

The cord is a #48 cotton which is a relaxed or loosely laid up product of my local hardware store. It has a light grey toned color right out of the ball so the blue dye comes out a bit more pastel in tone while the grey just looks completely natural.

Built as a sample this is a "small" size (14 part) but the cord can stretch making this a great all purpose bracelet.

design and photographs © copyright 2014 WhatKnotShop

January 11, 2014

blue and white basket weave rope bracelet cuff 3205

This is a very simple basket weave pattern cuff bracelet where the warp cord alternates over and under with the adjacent pass. This creates a relatively thin shell.

The material is an ombre dip-dyed hank of hardware store cotton twine. The warp (running around the circumference of the cuff) is made from the dip dyed cord. The woof (running back and forth along the width of the cuff) is made from un dyed cord from the same ball.

Here you can see the effects of the partially dyed warp cord as it passes around the circumference. The dark blue fades into the natural light grey.

Here's another example of how the ombre cord works in a simple three part turks head knot bracelet.

This plain weave design does not have the same amount of natural stretch as the double weave designs because the fabric has less thickness. The cords don't have the extra space within the body of the fabric.

This cuff was made on a 9 1//2" mold and after the workup now measures 8 1/4" (209 mm) During the layout the cord is loosely arranged to conduct the weaving process then tightened up after all the cords have been placed.

only one available here

design and photographs © copyright 2014 WhatKnotShop

January 10, 2014

tan and sand double thickness basket weave rope bracelet cuff 3201

This cuff turned out to be a bit larger measuring about 8" inside circumference but it seems much bigger due to the double weave construction. The opposing loops give this slip on bracelet a nice thickness. It's quite lightweight made from natural and hand dyed cotton cord.

Here you can see the three colors in offset loops that set up the characteristic spiral pattern common to all the double weave designs. To get the spiral expressed all three of the offsetting loops must be placed or else the definition is lost.

The other innovation here is all the loose ends are turned 90 degrees and buried in the weave. Makes one of the overpassing loops a bit wider than the others but avoids all the tie-offs necessary when the loose ends are terminated at random points.

This one measures a full 2 5/8" (69 mm) wide so it really is a big wide cuff.

interested in this design? leave a comment please!

design and photographs © copyright 2014 WhatKnotShop

January 9, 2014

green and blue handwoven basket weave rope cuff bracelet 3208

Another of the new year's experimental basket weave rope cuffs. The idea was to see what could be made from the shorter pieces of cord that are cut off of the larger bulk runs of colored cord used to make the turks head knot bracelets.

This one uses a mix of braided and twisted cord which produces tapered shape. The twisted cord is slightly smaller diameter causing the weave to be a bit tighter. The green cord is tensioned to create the curved shape on the far end.

The color mix is navy, grey, green, and a couple of intermediate blue-green colors from my cut off ends collection. The weft is a black polyester with nine loops.

Size is a relaxed 7" (178 mm) inside circumference but the weave is somewhat flexible to expand to about 8" or so.

The ends are stitched and trimmed on the inside of the cuff as you can see.

only one available here

design and photographs © copyright 2014 WhatKnotShop

January 7, 2014

blue green double weave rope bracelet cuff 3200

Three mm white cotton cord is laid out on a mold then interwoven with three separate hand dyed colors.

The weave is a simple right angle pattern passing over two then under two. Each color is offset one step.

Cords are tensioned around the mold to an even but not tight shape.

The offset of one step per color creates the subtle spiral pattern composed of the three color combination.

The white weft cords are gently drawn up to make the edges of the bracelet even. Loose ends are stitched with waxed nylon thread and trimmed off.

available here

design and photographs © copyright 2014 WhatKnotShop

January 6, 2014

new year new ideas new weave designs new color combinations new...

A pile of slip-on style cuffs made with a new (actually old but new to me...) technique out of bits of cord. As you can see there is an endless variety of possible color combinations, weave patterns, and sizes. I started out experimenting with simple plain weave patterns then tried some double over-under designs. Cords used include single color and dip-dyed color gradients to achieve interesting blends.

More details and photos of individual pieces will be posted soon.
design and photographs © copyright 2014 WhatKnotShop