Then read on and (re)discover the joy of knotting :p
Ideally, to work the macramé and braids fringe you should have a number of strands that's a multiple of 12 (since you need a mulitiple of both 4 (for the macramé) and 3 (for the braids)).
Of course, counting strands can be tedious, especially across a wide stole on which you have already spent many hours of your time. A stole that you're eager to wear. A stole that you may or may not have had enough of (hello, supersized stole lovers ;p). I know I couldn't be bothered to count strands at that point. Call me lazy - I am. So I took the easy route.
I didn't count. And when I ended up with 5 strands for the last square knot, I worked the excess strand together with another. Same goes for the last braid. As long as your yarn is not too thick, this won't be noticeable.
Here's how to work a basic square knot in macramé:
To make a square knot, you need 4 strands of yarn (those are called cords in actual macramé projects). B and C are your core cords: they will not 'move' as you make this knot. |
Step 1: Pass A over B and C and under D. |
Step 2: Bring D under C and B and over A through the loop that A forms with B. |
Step 3: Pass A over C and B and under D. |
Step 4: Bring D under B and C and over A through the loop that A forms with C. |
Lastly pull on cords A and D to tighten the knot. |
Now, the actual fringe 'how-to':
Work square knots across the whole fringe (that's row 1).
Then work alternating square knots for Row 2 & 3
On Row 2, D and A become your core cords. Your working cords are now C and B. Work Row 3 the same way you did row 1. |
After these three rows of macramé, braid the strands together.
Once you're done knotting and braiding, you'll probably want to block the macramé section to open up the net-like fabric.
You should end up with something like this (note that I wore this stole all winter, meaning that more than six months have passed between the above and the below picture - the macramé still looks pretty good, I think ^^)
Don't hesitate to trim the ends after you' re done. I had planned to do so, but I actually liked the 'raggedy' look of the braids (see picture above - these do look better in the 'flesh', I assure you).
And... that's all there is to it. Happy knotting!
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