Turns out tying knots on a random Tuesday night is good for the soul.
At least that’s the convivial vibe on a mild winter night inside The Living Room, a houseplant store near downtown, where about a dozen women stand in front of a long bunch of white cords dangling from the ceiling. By evening’s end, the ladies will allegedly mold the cords into a beautiful plant hanger. All they have to do is pay attention to Janel Rogers, the macramé expert who’s guiding the workshop at the front of the room.
But there’s wine involved, and alcohol-laced doughnuts from Happy Hour Donuts, and things aren’t necessarily going according to plan, though it doesn’t seem like anybody’s too concerned. Peals of laughter and lighthearted chatter fill the room.
“Count the horizontal bars,” Rogers calls out.
“I don’t think I have horizontal bars,” replies workshop attendee Lindsay Keller, before ripping out the knots in her project and starting over.
The backtracking doesn’t faze Rogers. Macramé newbies are her thing.
“The first time you try something you’re not going to be immediately perfect at it,” she counsels.
A decades-long knitter and crocheter, Rogers has offered macramé workshops around town since 2019, after teaching herself two years prior how to use knots to create textiles. You need no other tools than your paws for the method some believe began in the 13th century; others think ancient Persians and Babylonians used knots in artifacts.
“It’s an escape from the every day stressors of life,” said Rogers, who works full time in the technology department for a mortgage company. “I love the end result of having this thing I made with my own hands that was a labor of love. It clears my mind and allows me to be creative.”
Scads of women of all ages, and the occasional man, attend her popular, and often sold-out, workshops held throughout the month at various locations, including Red Leg Brewing Co., Nano 108 Brewing Co. and Deuces Wild Brewery. She works with about 10 businesses every month, and figures she’s partnered with upwards of 40 since starting. It’s a win-win for everybody.
“You’re not just providing a service to share your love of this craft, but you’re helping introduce people to a business they might not normally go to,” she said. “I have customers who come to workshops and say they’ve never been to this brewery, and that they’ll come back with their husband.”
Her first class, held at Oskar Blues during a now-defunct Sunday session of Crafts and Drafts, was a self-described disaster. She sold too many tickets and picked a project that was too challenging. Now, though, she’s perfected her offerings, and guests walk away feeling like crafty successes, with their wall baskets, fringe plant hangers, wristlets and feather wall hangings. Each of her Red Earth Knots workshops, which start at $30 and includes materials, is a chance to make something different. “This is a risk for me,” Keller said. “I’m not super crafty, but I’m giving it a go.”
Nobody needs to be an avid crafter to learn macramé. Everyone learns things differently. Rogers has seen knitting pros who don’t pick it up as quickly as someone whose only knot-tying experience is their shoelaces. But however quickly students pick it up, it’s always a joy to see a participant who’s proud of their creation.
“I want them to continue crafting at home,” she said. “That’s usually what happens after a workshop. They reach out and ask where can I get this rope. I love that. It means I helped spark this new creative outlet for them. I hope it can become the same thing for them as it is for me — an awesome escape.”
Contact the writer: 636-0270
