Get Started in Macramé: 11 Stylish Home Décor Projects for Knotting

I was super excited for this book to arrive mainly because I am just getting into macrame and the wall hanging on the cover featuring driftwood smacked of the ultra modern boho vibes with which I am hoping to bring to my apartment decor. Also the look inside featured a pair of sandals and I hadn't seen that in any other book before! I was utterly sold and purchased it immediately despite the lack of reviews for this product. Then this book, and I use that term loosely, arrived and I realized my hopes were scuppered.First - this only has 11 projects. I thought at $9.99 USD at $1 a pattern that couldn't be too bad, but boy was I wrong. I purchased Macrame Decor by Marchen Art Studio for only $0.02 more and got 25 boho chic patterns most of which I love.Second - This is literally a magazine. The booklet is made entirely of paper without a hardback cover. So why was this so overpriced and not available in Kindle or e-pub format? This was clearly a means of making money over on the purchaser for no real reason. Again I purchased a similar hardcover title for only 2 cents more so what gives?Third - There are maybe 2-3 projects in this book that are stimulating or intriguing enough to satisfy what I thought was going to be a very modern macrame title. The sandals for being novel, the wall hanging which is maybe the best of all the projects, a chandelier, and maybe the pillow case. It’s tough to say because everything else is so basic. A keychain which is repeated in the exact pattern as a necklace in a later project. Other projects feature a very basic door mat (sigh), double basket hanger that is rather dull in patterning, a table runner, a hideous window valance who's ugliness could not be disguised by the bright yellow yarn from which it was created, and a tote bag I wouldn't give my enemy. Where are my modern fiber art patterns that I've been drooling over on IG and etsy?Fourth - and the most disturbing for me personally. Almost all the projects in this book are made from yarn. Most modern macrame relies heavily on natural cotton or jute fibers. Yarn tends to come in to macrame more in terms of weaving or accenting with fringing. The worst part is there are no instructions for making projects where it gives the measurements in mm for a different fabric choice i.e. where I would prefer to use natural cotton cord I have to eyeball which size of fiber I would be using 2mm or 3mm etc because most of the projects are 4-ply medium weight yarn or something similar which I would prefer not to use and which makes most of these products look so old school and "home-crafty". Ugh.Because I don't want to just slam what was clearly someone's effort I will say the pros are as follows:- Basic instructions for patterning are very clear to understand. No complex patterns which can be hard to decipher and require repeated looking up to recall the meanings.- The writer often outright tells the reader which brand of yarn is being used for the projects. If you are going to use yarn that's a nice touch for finding the same or a similar skien.- Beautiful photos that are very clear and clean looking- Nice large font that is easy to readAll in all I don't think this is a book for anyone who is an advanced macrame artist, and for a beginner you would need to moderate your expectations and understand this is more of a book of yarn based projects book that is very sedate when it comes to innovation in patterning. Because I do want to make the flip flops I will go ahead and keep it but otherwise I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone looking for something more substantial to build up cool home decor or use as possible patterns for your own handmade crafting business.

I liked several of the patterns and the instructions seem clear with a guideline to the knots. Most of the patterns call for bulky yarn which gives the design the flowy look. Cuts the financial cost compared to cotton cording. I'm happy with the purchase.

Arrived on time. Nice little book.

Having fun i bought a large roll to match so lm making longer, well hang over my string of lights. Well send photo of the finished product.

Great book, love the patterns.

Not really for a beginner. I only used the back few pages to learn the knots. The instructions were very complicated and hard to follow

Thought I'd enjoy this "book" and then recieved it today only to find that it seemed more like a cheap magazine. Very disappointed that I wasted $9.99.

The wall hanging on the cover is what prompted me to buy this book. Instructions are easy to understand but the amount of cord needed is often inaccurate. For example. to make the cotton cord key chain I needed to cut 3 feet cords, not 20 inch pieces. So that was frustrating.Most of the projects use bulky yarn to make the projects. Yarn macrame knots do not look as nice as cotton or polypropylene cord does. Also the thickness of the cord needed is not listed. There was a cute macrame necklace that just stated to used braided cotton cord. Well, how thick does the cord need to be?At the back of the book there is a basic illustrated picture of the knots needed to make the projects. But if you are a beginner, this is not going to be helpful.

Everything you need to get started. Very well done

Love it for beginners.. very good and simple instructionNice ..easy to follow picturesDefinately a great book

I should have read the description. I expected a proper book. But it’s only a 32 page pamphlet. Should be made much clearer or price drastically reduced. Still in two minds if I should return it.

It's not as comprehensive as it sounded in the blurb

good patterns and easy to follow