The road to any great achievement is paved by one small footstep after another. Each in itself is hardly more than a droplet but taken all together they form an ocean.
That’s what the Knots So Simple collection is all about. It’s about appreciating the forest for the trees, the beach for the pebbles, the breathtaking, handtied ribbon for the thousands of individual knots.
The technique of tying knots to create a textile is called macramé and it’s been practiced around the world since ancient times. The artisan chooses the number and layout of the threads based on the pattern. She begins by tying the adjacent threads in over or under knots and she moves from one pair of threads to another, one row after another row.
The process is delicately supervised by our lead artisan, Yolanda Sebastiana, to ensure quality and consistency while allowing the individual artisan the freedom to follow her own path. From the thread layout to the type of the knots, the artisan might elect among a thousand wonderful variations, which means that each ribbon – like the dog who will wear it – belongs to a breed but is special and unique.
Once the ribbon is completed and certified as Spectacular! we deliver it to one of our tailors. The young and talented Juan Carlos, who began his apprenticeship creating traditional bags and clothing, has a keen eye and a sure sewing hand. He stitches the ribbon onto waterproof polypropylene with transparent thread so only the unblemished ribbon is on display.
If the macramé is to become a leash – rather than a collar, harness, or other – then one end is secured around a stainless swivel clip and the other forms a loop for the handle. We line the interior with soft, handwoven fabric that billows over a narrow strip of foam. This creates a surprisingly plush cushion with a light, slender profile.
Like the forest, the beach, and the oceans, it’s easy to appreciate the stunningly beautiful macramé ribbon without giving much thought to its constituent parts. But each knot, each stitch – performed by a skilled individual – artisans in the truest sense – is an indispensable part of the whole.
It’s about peering deeper to uncover the intricacy and nuance in the world around us and taking pleasure to discover that it’s Knots So Simple after all!
