YORKTON - Most will be familiar with macrame, which was once quite popular.
Well the popularity seems rekindled as a number of Yorkton crafters have been taking in classes offered by Candace Karkut.
“The last four or five years it’s really been coming back,” she said Sunday as she hosted a Chakra Macramé Class at All About Flowers.
Even Karkut is rather new to the craft.
“I learned macrame about three years ago and have loved it ever since,” she said.
Karkut said she offered one class and interest was there, so she has done more.
“I started teaching classes last spring and there still seems to be a lot of interest in learning the textile art form ... There’s been pretty good demand for it,” she said.
So why has interest reemerged in terms of doing macrame?
One participant summed it up quickly suggesting the art form was “very relaxing.”
Karkut said she wasn't exactly sure herself but did add there is a growing interest in natural things.
The versatility of the craft helps in terms of creating interest.
“There are so many things you can create from decorative wall hangings to plant hangers to a hammock for the back yard,” said Karkut. “I love to see people’s reactions when they finish class and are so happy with their creations.”
For those unfamiliar “macramé is a form of textile produced by using knotting (rather than weaving or knitting) techniques,” details Wikipedia.
“The primary knots of macramé are the square (or reef knot) and forms of "hitching" various combinations of half hitches.
Karkut said understanding the various knots is at the heart of the craft, and once a crafter becomes comfortable with the knots, they become quite second nature and natural.
Once it becomes near reflex in terms of the knots “it really easily lets the mind go,” in terms of creating pieces.
The class Sunday had the crafters creating a wall hanging which incorporated seven crystals, each corresponding to one of the seven chakras -- various focal points on the human body used in a variety of ancient meditation practices.
“The chakra macrame piece they learned in class was the first one I created,” said Karkut.
