The craft of knotting a diversity of geometric patterns without availing the use of hooks, needles, or hoops is the art recognized as Macramé.

     The skill of macramé dates back to the thirteenth century. The word macramé is Arabic in origin meaning "fringe". It's thought that Arabian weavers began the skill by knotting the additional material at the edges of loamed material. From these origins it eventually made it to Italy and France in the early fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. Sailors commenced with the skill as it was a favored way to pass some of the long hours out at sea. The basic knots that the sailors utilized are the basic knots of macramé today...the half knot, square knot, and the half-hitch knot. The sailors passed on their craft to the Chinese who adapted the skill to their own particular civilization and culture. The skill became fashionable with the British during the nineteenth century.