Paracord Drink Coaster

I find working with cord enjoyable and appreciate this opportunity to share the craft. This knot looks fancy but, with some patience and guidance, is relatively easy to start. This instructable will guide you through creating your coaster out of paracord or any other similarly sized cord.

Supplies needed:

15 feet of paracord (I used 10 feet of black paracord and 5 feet of gray).

A board for mounting the pattern, I used a cork board but a cardboard box will do.

Printed pattern of "A Circular Mat" by Eric Franklin from http://www.surreyknots.org.uk/chartpdfs/77_A_Circu... You may want to use the snipping tool on your computer to cut the pattern in step three and enlarge it.

A supply of needles/push pins

Scissors

Lighter

Needle and Thread

Lacing needle (Optional but helpful)

Patience!

For this step you need to attach your pattern to your cork board or cardboard using whatever method you desire. You may pin it or tape it. Then pin one end of your cord(longer one if using two) on top of the starting point on the pattern with about 8-10 inches of cord trailing. Now, start laying your cord on top of the pattern, use as many pins as needed to keep it in order. Pay close attention at any string crossings to determine if the cord needs to go over or under.

Keep pinning your cord and following the pattern until you finish one pass. Before unpinning your mat, carefully inspect all crossings and make sure that your cord goes over-under-over etc. around the whole mat. If all your crossings are correct, rejoice!

Resist the urge to tighten up the knot!

Congratulations, you made it past the most difficult part! This is where your mat will take shape. From this point, you will take your working end back to the beginning of your knot and follow the same steps previously taken. A lacing needle comes in handy here, but is not necessary.

Continue this a third time if using one color. If using two colors, stop after your second pass and start your second color cord. Sandwich your second color between the doubled up cord and follow the knot around.

Resist tightening the knot until done with the third pass.

Now is when you can finally start to tighten your knot. Take your time on this, start working at one end and tighten the knot up while following around the knot. You may need to do this a few times to get it looking right. Just be careful not to over-tighten any part of the knot, it can be tough to get it back into shape.

Make sure your working ends all meet at an intersection away from the edge of the mat. Now pull the ends out at your intersection point as you can see in the photo. Your working ends may be much longer than the ones in my photo. Cut these to length and use a lighter or glue to fuse the ends closed. Use needle and thread to secure both ends to the knot.