Macramé originated as a form of textile production that utilizes knots rather than employing methods of weaving or knitting. There are three main knots: the square knot, the half hitch knot, and the double half hitch knot. Cavandoli macramé is a form that mostly uses the half hitch knot anforms geometrical patterns, and is commonly found in friendship bracelets.
The word itself, macramé, is possibly derived from a thirteenth century Arabic word for fringe, which was "migramah", or from a similar Turkish word "makrama", which translated to napkin or towel.
Originally used for sailing, macramé was depicted in a fancier fashion for decorative purposes in engravings of Babylonians and Assyrians, who wore garments with braids and fringes. The Moors from North Africa brought the art of macramé to Spain, where it quickly spread to France, followed by most of continental Europe. It reached England by the seventeenth century, where Queen Mary instructed her ladies-in-waiting on macramé techniques.
Macramé is most revered in North America as something invented and popularized by the hippy subculture. This art of knotting to create jewelry, fabric, plant hangers, candle holders, clothing, wall hangings, hammocks, etc. is actually far older than often assumed. These three amazing, yet simple knots have withstood the test of time, since the thirteenth century, and can survive for several more generations for anyone precocious enough to learn.
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