A 30 minute project: Boodles chain and knot hanging plant pot holder

I have been playing around in my brain with this simple DIY. project  for weeks…

A little history by way of explanation…

I was a huge macramé fan in the 70’s. I drove my Mum mad with all the ‘hairy string’ mess to be found in my bedroom. I was approx 14, and I had rolls and rolls of jute and hemp, stashed away in my bedroom cupboards. (nothing changes, except now I have a room of my own devoted to all things crafty)

To this day the smell of that string brings back fond teenage memories… I knotted wall hangings and owls and of course plant pot holders, lots and lots of plant pot holders!

I find it delightful that the trend is back, macrame in some form or other can be found in many trendy interior shops these days.

I decided that it might be nice to make one with a combination of knots and crochet. I wanted to keep it simple, macramé needs to be seen to be taught and is not easy to explain on a flat page.

You will need:

A large crochet hook is best, I used a size 9 mm. Beads are optional but nice. The ring as an old wooden curtain ring, plastic is fine too. Boodles yarn (from hobbycraft and available online) is chunky and stretchy, perfect for this project. A tapestry needle is handy too for threading the beads if used.

Method:

Sizing depends on your pot and how low or high you want the holder. I will give you my measurements, you can adjust accordingly.

1. leave a very long end, (approx 50cms)  and crochet a chain of 105, leave same amount of yarn at the other end and fasten off . Do this four times. (So you will have four long ropes of 105 chain with approx 50cms of yarn left on each end.)

2/3. Fold chains in half and loop through the curtain ring, as illustrated above.

4. Loop all four chains onto curtain ring in this way.

5. Bring the matching ends back together and thread a bead onto each pair (optional) 

6. Tie a knot under each bead, See above.

7. Find your pot and use it to gauge the position of your next knots..above.

8. Using the pic above as a guide, tie a knot add a bead and finish with a knot to each of the three pairs of ends. do not use the first and last end.

9. When the central pairs are knotted and/ or beaded, take the first and last ends and pair up, knot bead and knot again as before.

10.Gather all the ends in a bunch, and thread on the large bead, Knot under the bead. If not using a bead just knot the ends together and pull tight to secure. Trim tassel ends and add more beads to tassel if desired. See below

That is it, you could use different colours, add more beads, add feathers. Thread bits on the chains…over to you!

Here is mine:

I plan on making more soon. if you make one do let me know. I can do another post and feature your makes?

bestest wishes for a happy start to the new week