Rope Wreath

I hope the holiday season finds you well. I took the grommet I made last month and up-scaled it to make this wreath.  I started with a rope core, and then utilized the same technique I applied to make the grommet last month, only (obviously) much larger. There are a couple strands of wire fished through the back to give it some extra stiffness. For this version, there are two strands of 1/2" manila rope about 40 feet long that make the covering. It's about 18 inches in diameter. I also made a few smaller wreaths for neighbor gifts. Let's just hope my wreath hook holds because it's quite stout.

Grommet with Tutorial

This is a grommet I recently tied around a steel ring.  I've always wanted to tie a rope wreath, and this is essentially a "mini-prototype" tied with waste string from my last project.  The Ashley Book of Knots has a few methods shown for tying grommets, but they are somewhat difficult to follow- I decided to attempt to draw my own version which is shown to the side (double click to enlarge).  Tying in two colors makes it a little easier to see what you are doing. It is also important to keep in mind that due to the structure of the knot (which is very similar to a two bight turks head), the knot will be tighter on the inside of the ring compared to the outside of the ring and you need to plan accordingly. I have some rope on order, so keep an eye out for the full sized version.