Forum - Bracelet tying - Zigzag when it should be straight.

innhdahh

Bracelet King

1 year, 2 months ago by innhdahh

I just made #124937 and you can see my photo on it. It came out zigzag instead of straight like the others people made, and I don't mind how it looks, but for future reference, why does it do that and how can I keep it straight? I assume it has to do with how the strings are pulled, but I can't quite figure it out

halokiwi

Super Moderator

1 year, 2 months ago by halokiwi

Yes, it has to do with how the bracelet is pulled while knotting. In parts where there are mainly f knots there is a tendency to pull more towards the right and in parts with mainly b knots a tendency to pull more towards the left. Try to avoid pulling the bracelet to the sides.

innhdahh

Bracelet King

1 year, 2 months ago by innhdahh

@halokiwi Thank you! Now that I look at it and think of it that way, I can see how that happens. I'll just have to practice keeping it straight when I pull

sodapop

Bracelet King

1 year, 2 months ago by sodapop

Another thing to keep in mind for zigzag type patterns is the direction of underlying strings. For example, the A string on the far right is hardly used so it can have a tendency to "slip" through other knots and get pulled too tightly, which makes the path straighter than it should be, and inevitably gives the inside of the triangle an indented look. For those areas of patterns, if I've accidentally pulled the string too tight, I'll take a pin and wedge it inside the triangle center (left side row 12 and right side row 24) and pull it outward a bit to give all the knots some breathing room.

When we knot normal patterns, we usually have a tendency to pull the strings downward, but if you look at the structures, strings aren't traveling down, they're traveling diagonally out left or right. When we pull straight down on strings, we can slightly distort the structure. If you have a foam macrame board you can pin the sides of the bracelet to keep it secure and pull the strings left or right when knotting without distorting the shape. You can even fasten the bracelet diagonally to your clipboard as you work so the diagonal edge of the bracelet appears to have "base strings" coming straight down and you can try knotting straight across like an alpha lol😂
Just play around with knots and see what works best for you! 😄

innhdahh

Bracelet King

1 year, 2 months ago by innhdahh

@sodapop I could definitely tell you were talking about the little red triangles in the pattern before I even checked what rows 12 and 24 were, lol. I did notice those seemed too tight, so I'll keep that in mind.

Also I tend to make bracelets by taping them on the edge of a table or something stable like that because I don't keep clipboards still very well lol but I will look into the foam macrame board and try some things out until I get the best feel for myself. Thanks for all the ideas!

innhdahh Bracelet King	1 year, 2 months ago by innhdahh I just made #124937 and you can see my photo on it. It came out zigzag instead of straight like the others people made, and I don't mind how it looks, but for future reference, why does it do that and how can I keep it straight? I assume it has to do with how the strings are pulled, but I can't quite figure it out
halokiwi Super Moderator	1 year, 2 months ago by halokiwi Yes, it has to do with how the bracelet is pulled while knotting. In parts where there are mainly f knots there is a tendency to pull more towards the right and in parts with mainly b knots a tendency to pull more towards the left. Try to avoid pulling the bracelet to the sides.
innhdahh Bracelet King	1 year, 2 months ago by innhdahh @halokiwi Thank you! Now that I look at it and think of it that way, I can see how that happens. I'll just have to practice keeping it straight when I pull
sodapop Bracelet King	1 year, 2 months ago by sodapop Another thing to keep in mind for zigzag type patterns is the direction of underlying strings. For example, the A string on the far right is hardly used so it can have a tendency to "slip" through other knots and get pulled too tightly, which makes the path straighter than it should be, and inevitably gives the inside of the triangle an indented look. For those areas of patterns, if I've accidentally pulled the string too tight, I'll take a pin and wedge it inside the triangle center (left side row 12 and right side row 24) and pull it outward a bit to give all the knots some breathing room. When we knot normal patterns, we usually have a tendency to pull the strings downward, but if you look at the structures, strings aren't traveling down, they're traveling diagonally out left or right. When we pull straight down on strings, we can slightly distort the structure. If you have a foam macrame board you can pin the sides of the bracelet to keep it secure and pull the strings left or right when knotting without distorting the shape. You can even fasten the bracelet diagonally to your clipboard as you work so the diagonal edge of the bracelet appears to have "base strings" coming straight down and you can try knotting straight across like an alpha lol😂 Just play around with knots and see what works best for you! 😄
innhdahh Bracelet King	1 year, 2 months ago by innhdahh @sodapop I could definitely tell you were talking about the little red triangles in the pattern before I even checked what rows 12 and 24 were, lol. I did notice those seemed too tight, so I'll keep that in mind. Also I tend to make bracelets by taping them on the edge of a table or something stable like that because I don't keep clipboards still very well lol but I will look into the foam macrame board and try some things out until I get the best feel for myself. Thanks for all the ideas!

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Zigzag when it should be straight.