~ Macramé Spice Rope Project ~

 You will need the following items to make a spice rope.

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The total time takes about 2 – 3 hours to complete and decorate one spice rope.

To begin the rope, start by cutting two lengths of rope twelve yards long.  Then cut two more lengths of rope about four yards long.  Fold one of the short ropes in half and put the folded end through the brass ring.  Slip your fingers through the hole in the folded half of the rope, grab the ends of the rope, and pull them through the folded end to make a knot around the brass ring. (This is commonly called a larks head knot) Keeping the cut ends of the rope even, pull them tight to make the knot around the ring secure.  Repeat this for the other short rope, keeping the knots on the all face-up.  Repeat again with the long ropes, putting one long rope on the left side and one on the right side of the short ropes.  You should now have a total of 8 ropes (four that are 6 yards and two that are 2 yards long).  The four short ropes will remain in the center and are not used to make your knots. They are commonly referred to as the knot bearers.

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 To make the knots you will need to hook the brass ring from something sturdy.  You can hang it from a nail if you prefer to stand or you can hook it to a table somehow if you prefer to sit.  Also, make sure the knots are face up.  You will also need to secure the four middle ropes to keep them straight and in place while you make the knots with the 4 long ropes.  (I like to sit on the middle ropes and hook the brass ring on my toe.)  See Macramé Basics for instructions on how to make the knot.  Continue to make these knots all the way down, (referred to as making a sennit of knots) until there is about 7- 8 inches of rope left at the end.  Not all the ropes will be even so make sure that the shortest one is at least this long. 

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Next cut one more piece of rope about 3 yards long.  On the back of the finished knotted rope, lay the last rope so that it is even with the rest of the ends and starting where your knots end, wrap this piece downward  around all the ends about 8 times.  After you have wrapped it, tuck its end up through all the wraps and then cut off any excess.

 Then cut all the ends of all the ropes so that they are all even.  Tie overhand knots in all of them about 1 to 2 inches from the end, keeping them all even.  Then comb out the last 1 to 2 inches.

You should now have a completed rope that is ready to decorate.  Keep the excess rope that was cut off if it is long enough to use as ties for the decorations.

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To decorate the rope with spices, cut some fabric circles about 7 inches in diameter, with pinking shears so that edges do not fray.  Place a few cloves in the center and add 3 or 4 large cotton balls (6 or more for small cotton balls), then fold up all the sides of the fabric and tie it off at the base.  Pull the fabric tight and even all the way around.  Make a few more until you have 3 or 4.  Cut some cinnamon sticks about 2 – 2¹/₂ inches long.  Cut a short piece of rope about 8 inches or long enough to use as ties, (or use leftovers from excess), and pull apart to separate the strands.  Then, alternating cinnamon sticks and clove pouches; use a large, strong needle to attach them to the rope.  If you want to keep them straight and even, you can use a glue gun to dab  a little glue between the rope and the cinnamon.

Fabric Circles

Completed Spice Rope

Completed Christmas Rope

 Something different: For a gift, you can use the pouches to hold the spices for a favorite recipe, like pumpkin pie or apple pie, and include a recipe card with the rope.  You can make and decorate spice ropes for any holiday, but Christmas is my favorite.  You can also use buttons or other small decorations to add to your ropes.

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