(( Closures )) Alternative for a button: knotted closure
1. End your bracelets with some shaping ( see tutorial for shaped bracelets ) to get one big bundle of strings to start the closure with. Make a few square knots or a piece of chinese staircase around the bundle.
2. Divide the strings into two bundles, leaving out two strings in the middle.
Take one of the strings out of one of the bundles and
3. make a half hitch knot ( that's half of a normal knot ) around all of the other strings from that bundle.
4. Leave out one string before making the next half hitch knot. Make that second knot in the opposite direction, you'll have a regular larkshead knot now.
Proceed making half hitch knots/ larkshead knots, leaving out one string after every half hitch.
6. Make another 3 or 4 larkshead knots onto the last string that's left.
*NOTE:
- For bigger bracelets you can do this around more than one of the strings.
- For very small bracelets you can add more strings before you start step 2 to make the closure wide enough. Just knot them together with the bundle of strings.
7,8 and 9 Do the opposite from what you've been doing in steps 3,4,5: Make larkshead knots, but add in one string after every half hitch. You can slide this part upwards after making all of the knots so you don't have to do the knots close to the upper part of the closure right away.
10,11 and 12 I like to make reversed knots with the last strings that need to be added in:
Take a string and knot it onto all of the strings that are in the larkshead knots and the string that made the larkshead knots.
An easy way to make the reversed knot is to turn your work upside down and make a regular forward knot.
Note: You don't need to do step 10,11,12 You can also just keep on knotting like steps 7,8,9. It'll change the colors of the last knots, so it's a matter of personal preference.
There's one thing you need to do though if you skip step 10,11,12 or the closure will maybe slide down when finished: Knot the two middle strings together ( in this case the light green strings ) after all of the larkshead knots are made. A regular forward knot should be enough.
13. Do the same on the other side.
14,15 I like to finish it off with some chinese staircase. I always knot that upside down so the end of the string can be put through the staircase with a needle to finish it off nicely.
This is how it looks like when finished, the bracelet has a larkshead knot buckle at the start:
Editors
The original author of this tutorial is kleinevos .
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