I put a lot of effort into keeping the rows consistent, and fortunately it paid off; it turned out very neat and tidy. I had some trouble at the end, specifically the central two spinal strands turned out to be a little shorter than the outer two. I'm really not sure how that happened, but it took a couple of tries to find a way to tie things off neatly. Here's the result:
Not exactly what I had planned, but not too bad. There's a little under 90 feet of paracord in there, and it's long enough to go around my 34-inch waist with around 3 or 4 inches to spare, making it just long enough for me. I wonder how much longer I could have made it without running out of paracord? I was using a 100 foot piece, if approximate and say that 90 feet was enough for 30 inches, of belt, then that would mean I had enough for about another two inches, three at the most. I actually consider myself lucky I didn't run out, as I was rather careless about measuring out the length at the beginning and I could easily have made the spine 4 or 5 inches longer.
I've also figured out a good way of using my Mark II pattern as a watch strap, just going to pick up the watch I want and I'll get started. I might have been wrong before about the Mark II being thicker than the Mark I pattern; it may have had more to do with the particular paracord I was using (the blue stuff I currently have seems to be more round than this black type, which is more "squashed") and how tight I was pulling it.
I'm also planning to get a longer strand and making myself a Slatt's belt; I've figured out a way to partially solve the issue of it starting at an angle, but I don't think 100 feet is long enough. Lastly, I want to get a two-prong buckle to try a Mark II weave with two rows of holes, which I think could work extremely well as it seems to work best with two spinal strands per loop, but four spine strands (meaning two loops per row) is too narrow for a man's belt. So with six spinal strands I can have three loops and two holes per row.
Sigh. So many plans and so little time.
Very beautiful! What nodes knit? Share braided, please.
ReplyDeleteWould you be able to combine the Mk1 for the majority of the belt and mk2 for the end section where you would most need the holes? The aesthetic of the mk1 is more pleasing, but the functionality of the Mk2/3 is preferable for long term use.
ReplyDeleteOff the top of my head I think it's possible, but I'm not sure it would look very good as the the Mk2 is wider than the Mk1 (that's why the holes are bigger).
DeleteUsing the 4 strand, it might not have large holes, but the twist you do in the middle would still work on 4 strand, I think?
DeleteI started it today, I'll see if I can't get it to work out like I see it in my mind. If not, I'll stick with the MK1.
Thanks for the weave and tutorial. This is the best looking paracord belt I've found.
Well I hope it comes out the way you have planned. Thanks for the kind words.
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