Thursday, August 2, 2007

Adorable (But Not Knitting)


I found these in a strange little Japanese book called Wonderland. Not much else in the book worth mentioning, but I thought perhaps someone could figure out how to make these sweet, little snails. The technique looks like crochet to me.

16 comments:

Katie K said...

They appear to be braided.

Anonymous said...

I'm guessing kumihimo.

Colette said...

I was going to say single crochet but then I looked closer. It could be blanket stitch or a "single" cast over something. Then rolled up. I'd have to see a bigger picture to be sure.

Also, I can't wait to see your finished Spider King. Based on your little teaser, it's going to be stunning!

fleegle said...

You know, I think it is kumihimo. I have a book, but no patience for more than a single end of stringy stuff.

Kate said...

Looks to me like a macrame knot... I'm blanking on the name of it, but we used it for friendship bracelets, endless friendship bracelets, in the '80s.

Anonymous said...

Yep, that's a macrame knot. Not the twisted kind, where you always begin on the same side, but the kind where you alternate sides. Four strands, the outside strands knotted around the middle two strands. Here's a page on how to do it (click to page 2 for the two kinds of knots used...it's the flat one for the snails). http://www.beadage.net/hemp/index.shtml

Wicked, wicked cute!

z's momma said...

It looks like square knots to me. If I find firm enough string in my stash, I'll try it. Thanks for posting such fun stuff!

LittleBerry said...

much as I hate slugs and snails, in our wet climate they're a garden menace but they're seriously cute.....

Batty said...

OK, those are cute.

Opal said...

i'm guessing kumihimo as well. they look like flat braids.

BadCatDesigns said...

It looks like the lanyard stitch my daughter calls "Cobra" in nice cord instead of plastic lanyard tape. If I show my daughter your Blog entry she will probably make a few snails for me...they are rather cute! I have a book of Japanese knotted accessories, which is all tradition ornamental sailor's knots using lovely silk cord instead of hemp, and fashioned into jewelry and hair ornaments. Maybe your snail book is traditional day-camp lanyard stitches using lovely silk cord and fashioned into darling snails;^)

Carol said...

Looks weird to me. Sorry, I know nothing about macrame etc....

Iris G said...

Yup, Kumihimo, or macrame knot--the theory is the same. The colors are so cute! Maybe they'll make great key chains?

Lacefreak said...

Cute but I have too many of the real thing in my garden to want to make faux ones! I have no idea how they did that but it looks very clever.

Anonymous said...

Spirals are shown at the bottom of this entry - http://ammit.exblog.jp/7225450 - using a crochet method.

Rosemary said...

Macrame with cording which has a wire core. How cute! You can do it - these are square knots.