For the month of January, we are interviewing UW-Parkside student Kayla Eddy about her knotting work.

I picked up the hobby of knotting/bracelet-making during the pandemic. I was stuck in my dorm room at school, and I wanted something to pass the time. As it happened, I had packed some string and started teaching myself how to make more complex bracelet patterns than the ones I knew. I started off with some typical summer camp bracelet types: chevron, candy-stripe, etc. There are some amazing tutorials on YouTube, and that’s the resource I used the most when I was starting off.

The materials I use are relatively easy to find. I typically use DMC Embroidery thread, but will often use whatever brand is easiest to find and most affordable. I’ve found that using the same type of thread for a project works best, but I have also mixed different types of thread and have had success.

Once I had worked through some basic patterns, I started learning how to read and make alpha patterns. These bracelets are made by tying strings onto base strings instead of just knotting strings together. From there, I started making small wall-hangings and keychains, and these are what I’ve been working on lately.