How to make a straight beginning row
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| 1 - A small bracelet |
as requested by Melancholy :-)
One quick and easy way to make an even, straight line at the very beginning of any bracelet would be, of course, to cut single threads and tape them down in the correct order. But it works just as nicely when you're starting with a buckle - and the first step, naturally, is to make the buckle. The tutorial can be found here: https://www.friendship-bracelets.net/tutorial.php?id=370
Depending on how many threads your bracelet has, you'll want to create a bigger/wider buckle. For any pattern with more than 40 threads it would be a wise move to make two buckles.
A small bracelet
I've chosen to make #3649, which has 18 threads. When it's done it will be 1.8 cm wide, or 0.7 in - so the buckle needs to be no longer than 3 cm (1.2 in) and I'll fold it so it forms a fairly narrow loop.
To make sure the starting row not only gives the knotted part an even beginning, but to also ensure that the buckle stays centred, I like starting with the middle knot. I've created some extra order and fanned out the threads, and organised them into groups of two, according to the thread order supplied by the pattern.
The first knot can look a little wonky, but those loose looking threads will even out as soon as more knots are added to either side. So, moving out from the centre, we'll take the adjacent pairs to make one knot on either side of the middle one.
It's still looking a little loose and messy right now, but this is about to change ;-) Since the pattern starts off with a chevron, I'll keep going with those threads I just used, until I reach the centre.
I'll do the same for the next thread - since the threads aren't exactly in the proper order, make very careful knots. The very first one often turns out a tad loose, but as of the second knot you can carefully establish nice, even tension. Just go slow and don't pull too tightly, and knot all the way down to the centre. Repeat on the other side.
That doesn't look half bad ;-) If it looks like it's turning out a bit uneven, or a bit off-centre, give the threads a gentle little tug to smooth things out. This is another reason you don't want to make super tight knots, because you've left yourself some room for gentle tweaking :-)
Repeat this with the remaining two pairs on either sides - a careful, loose knot over the first thread to not create any unnecessary strain, and even knots towards the centre. Done!
Editors
The original author of this tutorial is Foz .
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