Macrame - The Craft of Decorative Knotting.

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Macrame – decorative knotting

The KNOT - How it all began

The knot is as old as time.  Long before the invention of glue or sticky tape, nails or safety pins, the only way to keep things together or to suspend them or to pull them along, was to tie a knot.  The knot could be tied in the object itself, if it was sufficiently pliable, or by binding with plant fibres, strips of animal skins, human hair, long grasses or stems.

The knotted form therefore goes back to the dawn of history, and the tying of a knot is an act almost as instinctive to the human race as breathing, sleeping, eating or drinking.  Gorillas are reputed today to tie knots in creepers to keep their nests together.

 From a purely functional beginning it was not long before the decorative value of the knotted form was appreciated and exploited.  And throughout history wile knots continued to play an important practical part in the everyday lives of almost every race and community, alongside this were developed many types of ornamental and fancy knotting.  The Chinese people are believed to have been the first to use knots in ornamentation, and since ancient times the Japanese have used a series of knots for ceremonial purposes.

Just think how even today knots punctuate our lives from the moment we are born: in babyhood dainty ribbon knots decorate bonnets, bootees, jackets and dresses; functionally they serve to keep bibs and napkins in place.  As we grow up, we tie up parcels with string, thread ribbons in our hair, knot ties around our necks, belts around our waists, and laces in our shoes.

Every profession, trade and calling has evolved its own series of knots:   surgeons knot incisions together, gardeners knot twine round plants.  Housewives have their own series of everyday knots, so do fishermen, builders, butchers, mountaineers, and above all – sailors.

The macramé knot could be called the needlewoman’s knot, and yet this is a misnomer because no needle is required for its execution.  Also, because of its nautical associations, it could be claimed as the sailor’s knot. 

Knots similar to those used in macramé work can be seen in the remains of many ancient civilizations.  Examples of elaborate knotting in flax, rawhide and papyrus, have been found in Egyptain tombs, some known to date from over 3,500 years ago.  Mummy wrappings have been found ornamented with drawn work, cut work and other open ornamentation that implies a knotting technique.  Galley sails for primitive sailing boats were rich in knotted rigging.

The traditional lozenge pattern found in most forms of lace and in macramé work can be seen on the coats of ancient Danes, where borders are edged with a network of this pattern.  A remnant of a piece of gold lace, blackened and decayed, but still clearly showing the lozenge motif, was dug up from a Scandinavian barrow at Wareham, in England, in the 18^th century.
 

The early use of plaiting

One of the earliest craft forms we learn as a child is to plait three strands of fiber together to form a decorative braid.  This is a simple technique yet infinitely satisfying.  Little wonder therefore that plaiting appears on many examples of early craftsmanship: decorated skulls and ritual masks from tribal Africa, India , New Guinea , North America, Fiji Islands show plaiting.

Long before the simplest weaving was discovered, fabrics for clothing; for decoration, for play and for work could be fashioned only from plaiting and knotting. Maori chiefs wore cloaks with kiwi feathers and colored wool plaiting. Jewelry from the Solomon Islands included wristlets of beads worked in with plaited vegetable fibres.

Soon primitive people began to plait and twist plant and animal fibres into immensely strong ropes.  Bridges were suspended from such ropes; fishing nets were made from it, huts supported by it, ships rigged with it. 

Both savage tribes and civilized community’s a like developed rope making and knotting at similar levels, although the materials used were usually different.

Writing in knots

Apart from being decorative and practical functions, knots played another very important part in history.  In the ancient Inca civilization of Peru , the art of writing was never discovered; instead an elaborate system of recording and sending messages was devise, based on a series of knotted cords. 

A number of vertical cords were suspended from a horizontal cord about 2 ft. long – almost exactly similar to the setting-on arrangement of threads for macramé work today – knots were tied in the cords, and according to the type of knot, its position on the cord, its relation to the other knots, and the color of the cord, a message was conveyed.

This knotted message ‘chart’ was called a quipu, coming from the Peruvian word meaning ‘knot’.  The nearer the knot was to the horizontal cord, the more important the subject to which it referred.  A white cord usually symbolized peace or purity, a yellow one meant gold, a red one war or danger, a green one grain, and a black one death. 

Births, marriages and deaths were recorded by this method, and other important statistics of the Inca civilization.  Military chiefs frequently received their orders by quipus.

A similar device as used for a decimal system of numbers.  The colors of the cords were not significant here, but the knots and their positions were.  A single overhand knot at the bottom of a cord represented the figure 1, a double overhand knot was 2, and so on up to 9.  These units were all positioned at the lower ends of the cords.  The tens, following a similar knotting sequence, were positioned above the units, and then the hundreds above the tens, and the thousands above the hundreds.  As well as recording large sums, this early form of accounting also noted dates and astronomical data.

Similarly in ancient China , before an alphabet was invented, the Chinese used knots both to record history and to act as memory aids.  The typing of a knot in a pocket handkerchief to jog our memory is based on the primitive Chinese system. Similar knotted string memory aids were used in many countries, and in many civilizations, including Tibet , Mexico and Persia .  From this early ‘knot writing’ evolved the tally stick, where notches were cut in wood or stone to convey messages.

The North American Indian tribes also used knotted cords to record dates, but they took the system a step further with their wampum belts.  These ingenious belts were made from colored shell berads strung close together on cords, or the beads were embroidered on to deerskin.  The arrangement of the beads, their colors, and size all had significance.  The belts were worn as ornaments, and according to the patterns it was possible to tell the wearer’s place in society, his achievements, and his family history. 

The color significance was similar to the quipu – white for peace, red for war, black for death.  These colors have the same symbolic meanings to us today: red for danger, black for death or mourning, and white for purity.  If an Indian chief was defeated in battle, he would surrender his wampum belt to his victor.  The wampum shell beads were also used as money

More information on Macrame to come!!!!

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