Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Leather globe knot key fobs...

I used a couple of different types of leather lace, dark brown 2mm round and tan 1/8" lace, for these 45 face and 18 face globe knot key fobs tied over 3/4" wood ball cores.

And a long 4 bight turks head knot bracelet, made with the 2mm leather cord over paracord, with a side release buckle.

41 comments:

Tank said...

Hi Stormdrane, I love your blog, I check it out everyday and have made many of the projects you've shown.

I was curious if you could make a "how to" on the 45 face globe? Its an awsome piece of rope work but the diagram is very difficult to interpret. Your "how to's" always seem to be much clearer. Keep it up, you've set the standard.

-Tank

Amanda's Minis said...

Hey, I tried out the knots you suggested last week (or longer ago?) and it worked amazingly well! If possibly, I'd like to get in contact with you to do some link sharing with the company I work for (BladeHQ). shoot me an email if you have some free time?

you ROCK!

Stormdrane said...

I can receive email at, stormdrane at hotmail dot com. It's not listed on the blog to help cut down on spam. ;)

Chris said...

18 face globe was a breeze. Now why can't I get the long 4 bight TH? Oh well, practice makes perfect. I'll try the 45 face globe later today.

Thanks again Stormdrane!

localguy said...

I was wondering if you had more information about the leather turks head over paracord bracelet. It looks great, I'm looking to make one.

Stormdrane said...

The leather long 4 bight turks head knot, was tied the same way as the nylon cord versions, first being tied around a drinking straw, as shown in the previous blog post on them. ;)

Anji said...

I really like your work and I think that the members of exposeyourblog.com would like to see it too.

Anonymous said...

why dont you sell them??? dont you have small jewelleries stores in us? that's very trendy. aurelia from Belgium

Stormdrane said...

I'm sure there'd be some people that would like to buy them, but it takes a lot of time just to make one, and I would get burned out on my hobby, trying to make so many.

Unknown said...

Stormdrane, your projects rock. They have made great birthday and Christmas presents. I just ordered the round leather that you made the globe and bracelet out of. It should be here today. My downfall is figuring out how much cord to start with so I either come up short or have a mile too long. With the bracelet, how long a piece did you start with?
Thanks

Ognyan said...

Stormdrane is quite right regarding the sale/ purchase of these fobs, knot stuff.
In order something to be really beautiful, one must be not pressed by time and/ or profits. Because, he loses what is most required of a hobby - and it is inspiration. Actually I have never sold, I only make gifts to friends and ppl that inspired me in one way or another.
Great job Stormdrane

Btw, this globe knot looks pretty much like an extended MF (the one on khww.net), which I have been trying to do for a looong time unsuccessfully :((

Stormdrane said...

I don't know how much leather cord I actually used for the fob.

I pulled out enough length from the spool to tie the knot, and if I didn't have enough, I could pull more slack from the spool to work through it, or if too much, work it back to the spool.

Cujo said...

Hiya Stormdrane,
I've been lurking for quite awhile now and check your stuff with fair regularity.
We've experimented with some tying and your blog (and links) are helping me to have some great times spent with my boys.
Just wanted to say thanks and keep up the great work

Cujo- Covington, Ga.

Wilcox said...

I really enjoy reading your site, didn't take much convincing and now I have about 500ft of paracord to play with.

Any project updates? It's been a short while.

Thanks!

Anonymous said...

oh no SD. guess this must be the time of year when you go on holiday and no knotting projects get updated for a while again. time comes around quick. enjoy your hols. lo forward for the next project when u get back. trust all is well.

Marsha said...

I happened onto your blog trying to find one
specific project and landed in paradise. I'm looking for
a knot I have made candy canes with in past year.
I couldn't find the instructions...I know it's simple, but
I can't get the final pass through down. You start with
a red and white cord in a crossed manner and then
take the first cord and go over and around the other
three cord and at the end, the final cord goes, perhaps
through all the others. You tighten up each round and
put a pipe cleaner in the center after a few rounds.
At the end you singe the four final cords. Help!

Stormdrane said...

@Marsha, I'm not sure about the candy cane knot, but maybe someone on the Knot Heads World Wide forums might be familiar with it, if you ask there. :)

Miff said...

I think what Marsha is looking for is the round crown sinnet, for which you made a YouTube video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yj6kGuZ2_m8

Anonymous said...

Marsha the knot is simply a crown knot. Tie a few courses then insert a floral wire. Be sure to keep it tight. This was my first macrame project many years ago. I have made over a hundred. This work well for any size cane. I did mini ones for earings, they came out great.

Ed. D.

Anonymous said...

Marsha, Just took a second look at your post. I finish the with a neat trim a melt each cord about 1/16 " ? with a lighter, wet my finger and push the melted end to flare it. If you are real careful with the lighter and make the cut in the right place it looks great. Put this end at the bottom of the cane. It does not take much to hold the cord. I have never had one unravel. Hope this helps.

Ed D.

john said...

Is http://twitter.com/#!/Stormdrane you or has someone "borrowed" your account to espouse deals on food?

Stormdrane said...

@john Yes, that's my twitter account. I like food, and post things I find of interest there, not just knot related stuff... ;)

MN6 said...

You still out there Stormdrane? Haven't seen an update in a while, I think some of us might be going through withdrawl!

Stormdrane said...

@MN6, Yep, I'm still here, but I've been sick for several weeks and haven't done any knot work, so tying is on hold until I get better...

MN6 said...

Hope you get well soon, we await your return!

MN6 said...

Stormdrane-

Quick basic tying question for you. As I've begun to try more complicated work, I've noticed (especially w/paracord) that often as you work, the cord can become quite twisted and kinked, which often makes passes difficult. I know the obvious answer is to try and rotate the cord as you go to alleviate some of the kinks, but even still, sometimes I end up getting them. Do you have any tips or tricks to help deal with this issue?

Stormdrane said...

@MN6, The twisting and kinking of cord, especially when working with longer lengths of cord, is aggravating, but I've not found a way to eliminate it, other than working it out as I go.

I would think wrapping the excess cord around a netting shuttle, would help, but that isn't really feasible when keeping knot work tight and close together, or working with very long strands of cord...

Jack Coleman said...

Stormdrane, found about you via Youtube. I love what you are doing. I will be following your blog and on Youtube.

I appreciate your thoughts about this being a labor of love.

-CJ

Jack Coleman said...

Stormdrane, I apologize. I found the post with the directions for the 45 face knot, so need to direct me. But, how do you do this knot over a ball? Do you start it on your hand first?

Stormdrane said...

I first tie them around a cylinder shaped object as a mandrel first, something slightly larger than the ball it will be tightened over.

I use a magic marker/sharpie for the small ones, sliding it off the marker and inserting the marble to finish it up.

chappy said...

Hi,Chappy from Australia here!
Great looking work you do buddy!
Would like to have a go to even though I am a novice!Any tips on where I can get free illustrated
instructions for this sort of work ??

Stormdrane said...

@chappy, you can find tutorials for various knot work in the links posted in some of my blog posts, in the links list, and more info can be found on websites like khww.net and igkt.net.

tiki_ink said...

Hey Stormdrane, I just did the 4 lead 61 bight 2mm leather knot and it is way too long for a bracelet. It is almost twice as long as it should be for an 8.5 inch bracelet. Did you do 7 wraps initially or did you do less? Because I followed your instructions for the nylon cord bracelet and it ended up almost necklace size. Thanks for the help.
brian

Stormdrane said...

@Brian, The 61 lead 4 bight turks head was tied with smaller 1.4mm nylon cord over the drinking straw, where the 2mm leather turks head is a 37 lead 4 bight knot. The thicker diameter leather only needed 4(I think) initial turns around the straw to get the same finished length as the smaller 1.4mm cord.

The 61 lead TH was also a much tighter pattern, where the others I tied after, were started with fewer turns for a more open look to show the core strands.

You can vary the starting number of turns to get similar finished lengths, depending on how loose/tight you make the knot, and variable cord diameters will also change the look of the finished pattern.

So, small changes in cord diameters, number of turns, number of passes, can make a huge difference in the finished product. There's no fixed formula to use since changing any variable will affect the outcome, which means a lot of trial and error sometimes. ;) Hope that helps.

My Blog is else where said...

Thanks for sharing this, i used a neodymium sphere magnet for the core so i can hang my keys against anything metal, thanks again for the post.

MammaButterfly said...

do you have a tutorial for the leather turks head over paracord bracelet, I really would like to make some for the men in my life (hubby and sons). Thanks...B

Stormdrane said...

@MammaButterfly, Not a start to finish tutorial, but once you learn to tie a 2 bight Turk's head knot, which can be made into a 4 bight knot, you can see my examples to tie one, like here and here.

smet337 said...

Good Day Stormdrane,I'am so so impressed with your attention to detail when I'am trying to do any of your projects. You are truly a master and take allot of pride in your work.My question is when you are making a long 4b bracelet how tight do you get your cord? And how the heck do you get it so perfect? You are always so active with your blog and it does not go appreciated by any means!! Thanks in advance Scot

Stormdrane said...

@Scot, I purposely left gaps in the long four bight knot so that the underlying cord is visible when finished. When tying you just decide if you want it tightened all the way or not.

If left with an open pattern, the knot can be somewhat loose over the core, so you may need to anchor the bights at each end to the core strands with a little needle and thread.

It just takes a bit of patience to keep the knot crossings lined up as you tie the knot keeping it neat, and continually check that as you work the slack out.

Marte Martinez said...

how is paracord core with the buckle terminated isit just a loop, a cord singe form one end to the other or so.?

Stormdrane said...

@Marte, The paracord was looped onto one buckle end, then wrapped around the other buckle end and sewn in place with heavy duty thread.