Macrame Skeletons

Halloween is just around the corner, and my crafting so far has been distinctly non-seasonal. Via the grapevine I saw a video of skeletons being made from macrame string and wooden beads, thankfully due to previous efforts in princesses and mermaids an excess of beads was readily available to me. Finding the macrame string required a bit more creative thinking, so I gleefully untied a macrame piece I had worked on in the past, it was very therapeutic and I would recommend untying knots as a very good way to relax to anyone, now with all materials now prepared I was ready to go.

Macrame skeletons and very quick and easy to make, the only skill it requires is the ability to tie a knot, so it is a really suitable craft for beginners or those who are looking for a short distraction. I found them incredibly addictive to make, before I knew it I had made about five of them and by then I was hooked and wanted to make more. There aren't a lot of materials needed to make one of these, it's very vague but the length of the string used really depends on the size of the bead as the body needs to be in proportion. To make one skeleton use; two lengths of string, one wooden bead with a hole through the centre, a pen to draw on the face, and of course scissors to cut away any loose ends. 

The first step is to fold one of the lengths of string in half and thread the looped end through the wooden bead, here tie a small knot leaving a short loop in one end with most of the string hanging through the bead which will be used to form the body and legs. As these aren't a precise creation, there is no exact science to this next step, and also it isn't glued down at any point so whatever happens it can be adjusted as necessary. Placing the second length of string behind the two lines of macrame thread now in the bead, ensuring there is an equal length on each side, and the bead facing towards me I then completed a few macrame square knots. This again will be based on the lengths of string used, I made three complete square knots, three each way and six individual knots as I'm not sure on the proper terminology. Leaving some thread remaining as the left over thread on each side which will be used to make the arms. Once happy with the knots, and arm length, I gently pushed the newly knotted body of the skeleton up so that it is touching the base of the bead. 

At this point, I have quite a gangly looking skeleton with a small body and rather long arms and legs! To complete the arms and legs, two knots in each to resemble elbows, knees, hands and feet are required. I had instances where this was quite fiddly because I had used too short a piece of string, in those cases I found it easier to tie the knot at the end of the string first then use the weight of this to pull through the second knot in the centre. In some cases the string used is too long, so just based on personal aesthetic preference I decided where to tie the ends of the arms and legs then cut away the remaining thread. 

Finally the face, my own drawing abilities became the limiting factor in this particular craft that and the fact that the beads simply will not sit still to be drawn upon so the eyes need to become huge to cover up a multitude of mistakes. I found that drawing on the smile first gave me the best way to determine the proportions for the nose and eyes, it also helped to use Halloween decorations of film characters named Jack as inspiration. If I continue to make these I will look to find a way to incorporate some glitter into the design, because only sparkles could make these any better in my eyes. 

They aren't something that has to be made with the utmost precision, skeletons can have slightly different length arms or legs and they will still be fine. The faces can be drawn on a little wonkily and they can still look charming. As with pancakes the first one is never going to come out as well as the rest, at least that's what I tell myself if something doesn't go exactly to plan the first time around. Practise makes perfect, and the more of these I make the better and better they become, that doesn't mean that my first macrame skeleton with a wonky smile and huge eyes won't have always have a special place in my heart, because if it weren't for him I wouldn't have found so much joy in my new favourite hobby! The problem will be finding a convincing excuse to make these all year round!