A Jaunty Tassel

The Twelve Months of Ornaments, created by our own PieceWork team members, is our way of saying thank you to our All Access subscribers for being such valued members of our community. Each monthly seasonal ornament pattern will let you enjoy needle-crafting with us all year. Relax, try a new craft, or savor a familiar craft in quick-to-accomplish projects that are a pleasure to make. It has been so much fun for us at Long Thread Media to work together on these ornaments, and we hope you’ll share your finished pieces using #pieceworkmagazine. We can’t wait to see them!

Inspired by the traditional macramé techniques of Weldon’s Practical Macramé and a souvenir from the Center for Traditional Textiles of Cusco, this project is a chance to enjoy favorite yarns in a new way.

Materials

• Smooth yarn, at least 5 colors, at least 10 yd each (Shown here: silk, wool, and wool-blend yarns from Lisa Souza Knits
• Tassel maker or 3" square of cardboard
• Tapestry needle
• Sewing needle
• Size 6° seed beads
• Strong sewing thread to match beads
• Large safety pin or kilt pin

Note: For the knotted portion of the ornament, choose 5 DK- or worsted-weight yarns of about the same grist, or diameter. [PAYWALL]

Techniques
Forward half hitch: Lay out the knotting yarn in a figure 4, crossing the tail over the next yarn to the right. Bring the tail around the next yarn and through the opening in the 4. Holding the next yarn taut, snug the knotting yarn—one half hitch complete. Repeat for a second knot around the same yarn to complete a double half hitch.

Backward half hitch: Lay out the knotting yarn in a backward figure 4, crossing the tail over the next yarn to the left. Bring the tail around the next yarn and up through the opening in the backward 4. Holding the next yarn taut, snug the knotting yarn—one half hitch complete. Repeat for a second knot around the same yarn to complete a double half hitch.

Knotted section
Cut 36" lengths of five yarns. (For a wider knotted section, add additional 36" lengths of yarn.) Fold the yarn in half and tie an overhand knot 1" from the fold to form a loop. Secure the loop to a working surface.

Lay out the yarns in a mirrored arrangement (i.e., with the same yarn on the outside left and right, etc.).

*Beginning with the outer leftmost yarn, tie a forward half hitch on the second yarn from the left, and repeat for a second half hitch. Move the second yarn off to the left, and with the same knotting yarn, tie two half hitches on the next yarn from the left; continue to the center of the bundle with the last yarn from the left side.

Beginning with the outer rightmost yarn, tie a backward half hitch on the second yarn from the right, and repeat for a second backward half hitch. Move the second yarn off to the right, and with the same knotting yarn, tie two backward half hitches on the next yarn from the right; continue to the center of the bundle with the last yarn from the right side.

The yarns that were on the outsides of the bundle should now be in the middle. Use the left knotting yarn to tie two forward half hitches on the right one. Repeat from * for desired length. For the ornament shown, 16 rows of knotting yielded about 2".

Anne found Weldon’s Practical Macramé to be a helpful guide in creating her tassel.

Tassel section
With the tassel maker or using cardboard, wind an ample tassel about 3" long; do not cut open the ends. Tie the tails of the knotting yarns around the center of the tassel and let them hang down in the center. Use about 12" of the tassel yarn to wrap tightly around the tassel neck. Thread the tail of the wrapping yarn on a tapestry needle and pass it through the bundle several times to secure. Being careful not to cut the tails of the knotting yarns, cut open the bottom of the tassel, and trim evenly to about 2½".

Make a 2" tassel with each of three other yarn colors. Secure the tassel necks and cut the bottoms open, trimming to about 1½".

Divide the knotting yarn tails into three bundles as evenly as possible. Use one yarn from each bundle to work half hitches around the rest of the bundle, leaving about ¼" between half hitches.

Thread one bundle on a tapestry needle and pass it down through the top of one of the tassels; pull the tassel up on the bundle so that it falls just below the large tassel. Separate the yarns in the bundle and tie them to yarns on the inside of the tassel, being careful to hide the knotting yarns. Trim the tails. Repeat with the two remaining tassels, positioning them 1" and 2" below the large tassel.

Beaded trim
With sewing needle and thread, secure a 24" length in the neck of the largest tassel. String enough seed beads to reach halfway around the neck, pass the sewing needle though the center of the neck, string enough beads for the second half, and pass through the center again.

Secure the strand of beads by stitching between groups of three or four beads to the yarn wrapping below. Tie off the sewing thread. Repeat for the smaller tassels.

Open the safety pin, pass the loop at the top of the tassel onto the pin, close it, and rotate so that the loop falls inside the coil of the safety pin.

Trim and tidy the tassel ends.

Anne Merrow is a co-founder of Long Thread Media.