In my first tutorial on making macramé jewelry I will show you how to do what are arguably the two most popular and commonly used knots. The square knot (above left) and the spiral, or half, knot (above right). By learning these two knots you’ll be well on your way to making your very own handmade bracelets and necklaces.

With these knots you have working strings, which make the knot, and filler strings, which you knot around. The working strings are on the outside, while the filler strings are in the center. In my examples the fillers are brown and the working strings are tan and black.

SQUARE KNOT

Start off by taking the working string on the right and cross it over the two filler strings, then under the left working string.

Next cross the left working string under the filler strings, then up through the loop and over the right working string. Tighten up the working strings and you have the first half of the square knot.

For the second half you basically repeat the same steps but in reverse. So the left crosses over then the right goes under. Tighten again and you have a full square knot.

My example shows what is known as a Right Square Knot. Unless specified in a pattern it doesn’t really matter which way you begin. If you want to create a Left Square Knot just begin using the left working string.

SPIRAL KNOT

The spiral knot is also referred to as a half knot, because it literally is half a square knot. Repeat the first half of a square knot and it will naturally twist as you go. When made with two different colored working strings it creates a neat banded pattern.

Just like Square Knots there are Right Half Knots and Left Half Knots. Which way you begin also determines whether your spiral twists right or left. Right Half Knots twist to the left and Left Half Knots twist to the right.