Knot Your Typical Event

"My interest in macrame was born out of necessity-- My two cats, Soyah and Ulo, are serial plant chompers. In order to protect my sweet boys AND my helpless plants, I decided to make a few macrame plant hangers to keep my plants out of cat-reach. I scoured Pinterest for tutorials, and a few hours later...I had fashioned a plant hanger out of shiny, synthetic laundry line. What I didn't realize at the time was that I had not only found the combination of many of my interests...I had also found an incredibly cathartic way to combat anxiety. Macrame, at its core, is a very meditative form of art. It requires you to focus on what your hands are doing and touching RIGHT NOW...and not the millions of things flying around your mind. I think that's what enthralls me the most about Macrame: it requires you to press pause and create with your own two hands... and it doesn't need to be perfect. You get better as you go, and your work becomes more complex as you learn more techniques.

My first few plant hangers were a...beautiful mess. The knots were uneven, I was using super thin twine from the hardware store that was rough on my hands, and I only knew two or three knots. BUT!... They held plants, and I kept going; because it quickly became a way to force myself to stop running a mile a minute and to just focus on the now. Two years and many knots later: I teach classes, I have my own Etsy store (KnottedYouthStudio, an homage to my love for the band Sonic Youth), my plant collection has grown, and I have found a way to channel my nervous energy into a relaxing and functional art form on a daily basis. I encourage everyone to give it a try-- we could all use an hour or two of creating something beautiful.

P.S. My cats no longer have leaves to chomp, but they do love to support me while I work....and maybe chomp a string or two."