Macrame Knots Beyond the Basics: 7 Patterns Worth Learning

Square knots and spirals get you through your first three wall hangings. By the fourth, they start looking the same. I hit that wall myself about four months into making macrame regularly, and the patterns below are what pulled me out of the rut.

None of these require special tools — just cord, patience, and a willingness to redo a knot three times before it clicks. Here's what's worth learning, in roughly the order of difficulty.

Knot	Difficulty	Cord Multiplier	Best For
Josephine Knot	Moderate	6x	Focal point centerpiece
Solomon's Bar	Easy-Moderate	5x	Plant hanger straps
Berry Knot	Moderate	7x	3D texture accents
Crown Knot Sennit	Hard	8x	Decorative cord twist

Josephine Knot

The Josephine knot is the pattern most people associate with "fancy" macrame the moment they see it — two interlocking loops that look complicated but rely on a single repeatable over-under sequence. Once you've tied it five or six times, your hands remember the motion even if your brain hasn't fully caught up.

I use Josephine knots almost exclusively as focal points rather than repeating patterns — one centered knot partway down a wall hanging draws the eye far more effectively than a row of them stacked together. Cord consumption runs about six times the finished knot length, so budget generously if this is your first attempt; redoing a Josephine three times to get the loops symmetrical isn't unusual.

Solomon's Bar

Solomon's Bar (sometimes called a square sennit) creates a flat, woven-looking band using four cords — two working cords wrapped alternately around two filler cords held straight down the center. It's one of the most useful "workhorse" knots in macrame because it produces a clean, finished-looking strap perfect for plant hanger arms or bag handles.

The pattern alternates direction every other knot, which is the detail beginners most often miss — tie every repetition the same way and the bar twists instead of lying flat. Once the rhythm clicks, Solomon's Bar becomes almost meditative; I can tie a foot of it in under ten minutes without looking at instructions anymore.

Berry Knot

Berry knots add genuine three-dimensional texture, which flat knot patterns simply can't replicate. The technique stacks several half hitches tightly on top of each other around a core, then pushes the resulting tube of knots together to bunch it into a rounded "berry" shape.

These work best in small clusters of three to five along a single cord rather than as a repeating border — too many in a row starts looking cluttered rather than textured. Thicker cord, 5mm or above, shows the berry shape far more clearly than thin cotton cord, which tends to compress too much to read as distinct bumps.

Lark's Head Chain

This pattern repeats a reversed lark's head knot down a single cord to create a twisting, almost braided-looking chain. It's deceptively simple — only one knot type repeated — but the visual effect reads as far more complex than the actual technique.

I like using Lark's Head Chains as the central spine of a wall hanging with other knot patterns branching off to either side. It gives the piece a clear vertical anchor without competing visually with more elaborate side patterns.

Crown Knot Sennit

The crown knot sennit is the hardest pattern on this list, mostly because it requires four working cords moving in sequence and the failure mode (a twisted, uneven rope) isn't obvious until several inches in. Each crown knot involves passing all four cords over and under each other in a specific rotation, building a square, rope-like cord as you go.

Patience matters more than skill here. My first attempt looked lopsided for the first six inches before the tension evened out. By the second attempt, the rhythm was manageable, and a finished crown sennit cord makes an excellent curtain tieback or bag strap that looks store-bought.

Calculating Cord Length

The single most common reason advanced knots fail isn't technique — it's running out of cord halfway through. Each pattern consumes a different multiple of the finished length:

• Square knots: roughly 4x finished length
• Josephine knots: roughly 6x finished length
• Solomon's Bar: roughly 5x finished length
• Berry knots: roughly 7x finished length
• Crown sennit: roughly 8x finished length

Always cut cord longer than your calculation suggests. Running short three-quarters through a piece means either splicing (visible, frustrating) or starting over. If you're new to the craft generally, our broader handmade crafting ideas roundup covers other beginner-friendly projects worth trying alongside macrame, and the guide on handmade soap making pairs well if you're building out a maker's market table with multiple product lines.

Updated 2026-06-30