How to Tie a Lark’s Head Knot (Macramé)

The lark’s head is the mounting knot — the very first knot of almost every macramé piece, the one that fastens your cords onto a dowel, branch, ring or hoop so the real knotting can begin. Our beginners’ book starts you with it on your first coasters, and every wall hanging, curtain and dream catcher in the shop hangs from rows of them.

Step by step

Fold your cord in half so the two ends match up, and pinch the fold — that folded loop is what does the fastening, and folding in half is also why macramé patterns ask you to cut cords twice the working length you might expect.
Lay the loop over the front of your dowel, branch or ring, with the loop sitting just above the bar and the two loose ends hanging down behind it.
Reach behind the bar, catch the loop, and pull it down behind the bar so it peeks out underneath.
Take the two loose ends, pass them through that loop, and pull them down and through until the cord wraps the bar.
Tighten by pulling both ends evenly, straight down. The knot should sit snug against the bar with the loop’s band lying flat across the front — a tidy little collar with two cords hanging from it.
Slide the knot along the bar to its exact place before you snug it right up; lark’s heads shuffle along a dowel happily while they’re loose and grip firmly once tightened.
Mount every cord the same way — loop over the front, ends through — so all the collars face the same direction. A row mounted half one way and half the other looks rumpled before you’ve tied a single real knot.
Working the other way (loop placed behind the bar and pulled forward, ends fed through from the front) gives the reverse lark’s head, whose collar band sits at the back. Patterns say which one they want; the difference shows on pieces where the mounting row stays visible.
Count your mounted cords before you start knotting — each lark’s head gives you two working cords, so a pattern calling for groups of four needs an even count of knots. Then push the knots up snug against each other, and you’re ready for square knots.

Patterns that use it

Macrame for Beginners Vol 1 | 12 Starter Macrame Patterns PDF

Macrame Curtains & Door Hangings Vol 1 | 12 Macrame Patterns PDF

Aussie Macrame Wall Hangings Vol 1 | 12 Macrame Patterns PDF

Aussie Macrame Plant Hangers Vol 1 | 12 Macrame Patterns PDF

Aussie Macrame Dream Catchers Vol 1 | 12 Macrame Patterns PDF

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Common mistakes

Mounting some cords loop-over-the-front and others the other way round. The collars face different directions, and the whole mounting row looks rumpled before you’ve tied a single real knot — pick one direction and stick to it for the entire row.
Pulling one end harder than the other when you tighten. The knot skews sideways and the collar twists; pull both ends together, evenly and straight down, so the band lies flat across the front.
Snugging every knot hard up against its neighbour as you go, then finding the spacing is wrong at the far end. Leave the knots just firm until the whole row is mounted, slide them into their final places, and only then tighten everything for good.

Tina’s tips

I count my mounted cords out loud before I start knotting — each lark’s head gives you two working cords, and finding you’re one knot short after the first row of square knots is nobody’s idea of fun.
Mount the whole row before you tighten a single knot properly. Loose lark’s heads shuffle along the dowel happily, so you can nudge the spacing perfect, then go back along the row and snug each one up in turn.