Hah.  You thought you saw the last of palomar knots after I wrote about using them for gemstone donuts and for making real flower resin bookmarks?  Well, I laser cut some macrame wood blanks and lo and behold, I wanted a secure knot that was quick to do and didn't need glue! So naturally I used the palomar knot. 

I used both traditional macrame cord as well as some of the gazillion embroidery floss my mother gave me. Macrame cords come in different thickness as well as in different colors.  I opted for 2 mm macrame cord in natural.  You could also choose 1 mm macrame cord if 2 mm is too bulky for your taste.  The fringe will look less full in that case.  


Although you can use metal frames, I like the idea of using wood ones with the all cotton cord or floss which make  the earrings - aside from the ear wire bits -  organic and eco-friendly.  So you will find a few laser cut wood macrame blank designs in my Etsy

First sand them - especially the underside which might have some laser scorching. Then stain or paint them as you wish. See this tutorial  How to Sand, Stain, Paint and Seal Laser Cut Jewelry Designs for more details. 

This first design is based on the half circle.  By all means use these without cord or floss if you are not into macrame! You can link two Style A half circles for a longer look. Or jump ring together the pair to the right and call it done. 


The Palomar knot is quick to do as you can see from my short video below. It has one disadvantage in that you do need a longer length because the loop end has to pass over the wood blank.  I typically cut about 10 inches of cord or floss. 

Notice that I kept my left fore finger and thumb firmly on the wood while I was twirling to complete the knot?  This is to ensure I did not put undue strain on the wood frame. Wood is not as strong as metal and you could accidentally damage the frame. 


After knotting, the macrame cords have to be untwisted before combing out the individual strands. 


Proceed straight to combing out with embroidery floss.  I used 3 strands of embroidery floss in different shades of pink together for each knot. I used up 3 embroidery floss skeins in all for one pair of half circle earrings.

I used one of my round laser cuts as a trimming guide for a curved look and a ruler for the pointed finishes.


The Palomar knot looks different in the front (left) and back (right) as shown below. So which side you choose is up to you. 


I actually prefer the front but instead of showing the full knot, I let the horizontal strand slip diagonally. The embroidery floss pair does this naturally as the threads are very soft.  



The other design is this double triangle style with one solid side. I kept the solid side plain for anyone with wood burning skills!  You can definitely embellish this area if you wish.  Alternatively, add a charm or flat back crystal. 


I had fun keeping one side of the earrings a dark blue but went with a mixed tone collection on the other side!


Also consider using some of my smaller frames for the macrame treatment like these below!




Last but not least, here are my unique stud macrame earrings versions. These were designed based on my simple wood studs for people who prefer daintier designs. There are round, lotus,diamond/square and triangle shapes all with curved bars below.  Use either 1 or 2 strands of embroidery floss per knot. 




There are also other wood blank designs on Etsy - not just mine!

Before You Go :

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Original Post by THE BEADING GEM