Macrame plant hangers...

I found myself in Coalville, Leicestershire this week. M had a job to do there and I had two hours to kill. What the place lacks in architectural charm it makes up for in friendliness, and I never really mind when there are plenty of charity shops to browse.

I found a couple of books (see above) that I thought would at least be worth a flick through whilst I had a coffee for my last half an hour (Coalville is not that big!). By the end of the coffee I was keen to get my hands on some string! Those colourful balls were just £1 each. I've taken 32 metres from each of the orange and duck egg and they still weigh a hefty amount so I think they will do two or three plant hangers from each ball.

The books were absolutely rubbish in helping me get started on plant hangers. They both seem to focus on the fashion side of things and have some extremely outlandish designs that I hope will never catch on again. I can't imagine they were admired in the seventies...

No! No! And no! Ugh! The stuff of nightmares. There are some reasonably artistic and tasteful wall hangings in both books, an awful lot of belts, strange clothes trimmings, but overall there is good reason for only the plant hangers to have made their way back into fashion! Useful and in my opinion beautiful. E is very fond of plants and has run out of window sill space for them. After a bit of practice I think I will be making a few for her room.

The orange plant hanger was a trial run. I was amazed it even held the pot quite frankly, but it does and very securely (I walked it through the house looking for suitable hooks). The duck egg one is a more adventurous, thought out second attempt. I think there's going to be quite a bit of experimentation going on.

Although I couldn't get into a local autumn fayre at short notice (tables book up a year in advance and I'm down for next year!) we did go along to see what the craft standard was like. It was a mixed bag. We came home with an armful of books for £1 including a fantastic crochet stitches book. I bought the white plant pot (above) for 50p and the best but of the day was the large bag of old wooden curtain rings (25) for £1. As you can see they are perfect for macrame plant hangers!

M asked me how I remembered how to macrame. It's a bit like knitting, there are only two knots you need to know to create all the variations. Remembering the variations seems to be one of the things etched on my mind. I've told the tale before... When I was unceremoniously chucked off the nightdress sewing class in school (I got through a lot of sewing machine needles) my teacher literally put me in the corner with a large ball of twine, a pot of wooden beads and a flimsy 'How to Macrame' booklet. Something in me didn't want to be humiliated twice so I was determined to complete the plant hanger project successfully, and I did. It was much more elaborate than the orange one I've just made. I wish I still had that booklet!