Novel decorative knots

are particularly enjoyable to tie. There is something really enjoyable about making a design on paper or in my head come to life. The pan-chang-esque knot with the hexagonal grid is one of my favorites as I really like that grid pattern and was surprised that nobody seems to have ever used it in a large-scale knot. I’m also fond of the turk’s head-ish knot with unusual the “3 in 5” braid pattern.

 

Chopstick wrappers

Seem to exist just to give you something convenient to fold while waiting for your meal. Here are some of my recent chopstick wrapper folds – a heptagon, a trihexaflexagon, an octahedron, and the “hand holding chopsticks”.

 

Good skirts

for dancing seem to be surprisingly difficult to find, so I have taken to making my own. I really like this one. It spins well and has convenient pockets.

Braids

can be used to make very attractive choker necklaces. The bottom three here are choker length. My personal favorite is what I refer to as a “3 in 5” braid as it is a five strand braid that alternates between three and five strands. These braids all have the property that they were braided out of a single length of cord that was looped to form the number of strands in the braid and then braided normally downward. This is possible with all odd stranded standard braids, but no even stranded standard braids with greater than four strands. A second strand is added for color interest, as well as a loop and knot system for clasping (out of a 3-strand braid and a standard knife lanyard or Chinese button knot.