Diagonal Lines and Where Beginners Run Them Backward
Okay. You've got the double half hitch down from last time. Now we're going to point it somewhere, and that's where diagonal lines come from.
Same knot. Different direction. That's the whole secret, and it's also where about half of you are going to get turned around, so let's go slow.
What a diagonal line actually is
A diagonal line is just a row of double half hitches tied along an angle instead of straight across. One cord becomes your "leading cord," and you pull it at a slant, and every other cord ties a double half hitch onto it as it goes. The leading cord doesn't tie any knots itself. It just holds still and gets knotted onto.
That's it. That's the whole knot. The trick is which cord is holding still and which way it's leaning.
Setting it up
Pick a section of your piece, four to eight cords is plenty to practice on. Take the cord farthest to one side. That's your leading cord. Pull it across the other cords at an angle, roughly 45 degrees, and pin it or hold it in place with your thumb.
Now take the cord right next to it, the first working cord, and tie a double half hitch over the leading cord. Snug it down. Move to the next cord over, tie another double half hitch on the same leading cord. Keep going down the line, cord after cord, all knotting onto that same diagonal cord.
When you get to the end you'll have a clean line of little knots running on a slant, and the leading cord will have basically disappeared under them, which is the point. You want it covered.
So here's where I always mess up
Here's where I always mess up, and where I bet you will too the first few times: which side the knot loops over.
If your leading cord is running down and to the right, every double half hitch needs to wrap the same direction, over and around, consistent, cord after cord. Flip it even once, tie one backward, and you won't notice right away because a single knot looks fine on its own. It's only once you've got six or eight of them in a row that you see it. There's a little kink in the line. It jogs instead of running smooth.
I ran a whole diagonal section backward once, a good two hours of work, before I stepped back and saw the jog in the line. Had to undo the whole thing. That's actually the lesson from a few sessions back, step back every few rows, and diagonals are exactly why I keep saying it. A straight row of square knots, a mistake sits there and you catch it fast. A diagonal, a direction mistake can hide for a while because each knot looks correct up close. It's the line that tells you, not the knot.
So: tie four or five knots, then stand up, walk back a few feet if you can, and look at the angle. Does it run smooth? Good. Keep going. Does it kink? Find where it started and fix it before you tie one more knot on top of it.
Two lines, meeting in the middle
Most wall hangings do this in pairs, one diagonal line leaning left, one leaning right, starting from the same middle point or the two outside edges, meeting somewhere in the center. That V shape, or the upside-down V, that's ninety percent of what you're seeing in most macrame patterns when you look at them close. It's not a fancy stitch. It's two double-half-hitch diagonals aimed at each other.
You don't need a pattern to do this, by the way. That's an opinion of mine and I'll say it again here because this is exactly where it applies. Most printed patterns make the diagonal section look more complicated than it is, with arrows and numbers and little diagrams. Once your hands know "lean the cord, knot onto it, check the direction," you can build any diamond, chevron, or zigzag you've ever seen on a hanging without following anybody's chart. You're just aiming lines at each other.
A caution
Keep your leading cord taut but don't yank it. If you pull it too hard while you're tying the working knots onto it, it'll bow the whole row and pucker your work, same puckering problem from a few lessons back, just sideways instead of straight down. Firm and steady. Not a fight.
Also, watch your fingers when you're snugging a lot of these close together. It's easy to pull a knot tight and catch the side of your finger in the loop. Nothing serious, just uncomfortable, and it slows you down more than doing it carefully the first time would have.
Before next time
Practice one full diagonal line on scrap cord if you've got it, just to get the direction sitting in your hands before you commit it to your actual piece. If you don't have scrap, that's fine, just go slow on the real thing and check the angle every few knots.