How to Macrame - Make a Larks Head Knot

Macrame is commonly used to make friendship bracelets and hemp jewelry. There are two main knots used in macramé, the ‘larks head knot’ and the ‘square knot’. Once you know how to tie these two simple knots, you are on your way to making beautiful bracelets and necklaces at about.com.

A lark's head knot is easy to remember.

What You’ll Need

• Hemp or jute twine. These can be found at your local Wal-Mart or craft store. Embroidery thread will also work, as in the case of friendship bracelets.
• A keyring or pencil to tie your string to while you work on it.
• Scissors

Now that you have what you need.


You will make one lark’s head knot for every basic macramé project. Your hands will be busy, so you need something to hold the twine while you work with it.The lark’s head knot is simply used to attach your project to a key ring. This is important because you will want to be able to pull the twine tightly to make your finished product sturdy.

Your necklace will be made of two short strands and two longer strands that will wrap around the short strands. First, wrap the twine around your wrist or neck, approximating the size of the finished bracelet or necklace.

• Take this measurement, add 2" to allow for tying off.
• Multiply this number by two. Measure and cut this much hemp for your short strands.
• Multiply the previous measurement by two. This is how much hemp you will need to cut for the longer strands.
• Example: if your necklace needed to be 14" when finished:

  Each of the short strands should be 16". We added 2" to the original 14" to allow for tying off. 16" + 16" = 32". The strands that will wrap around these need to be twice as long, or 64".

Find the center of each of the two strands and fold in half. Put the folded points together.

Now you are ready to tie a quick lark's head knot.

Lay your key ring an inch down from the top of the upside-down ‘U’. Fold the ‘U’ towards you over the edge of the key ring. Pull the four long strands through loop of the ‘U’.

Give it a tug to secure it. You just made a lark’s head knot! After you are done with the entire necklace, you can remove it from the keyring and see that your larks head knot turns into a loop.

You will need to hook the key ring to something so that your hands are free to knot the rest of the twine. One easy way is to use a scrap of twine to tie the key ring onto a chair rung or table leg. Try to attach it at eye level so that you are not uncomfortably bending over your work. Some people even hook the key ring over their big toe to macrame while they watch television or sit outside.

Now that your twine is attached, you can start making square knots.