ROPE HAMMOCK
This full size garden hammock measures over 3 metres (11 feet) in total length and was hand netted using 4mm cotton seine twine, 24mm cotton side ropes and Cornish ash wood stays.
Skill, patience, a lot of twine and several days of work are needed to make one of these. Using the traditional netting techniques and the highest quality materials ensures a long life time of use.
The Cornish ash wood stays were hand carved and finished by a good friend, Tim Hutton from Yurtworks, the ash originally sourced from his own woodland.
An increased mesh in the centre of the hammock provides a comfortable pocket in which to lie, and prevents capsizing!
The Hammock Clews
These are the lines from which the main body of the hammock is suspended.
These decorative clews were initially woven separately on a wooden jig around a stainless steel end ring and finished with a Turk's head knot. Nails are set on the jig to hold the bights of the clew lines during weaving.
Sixteen holes are countersunk and drilled through along each ash wood stay. The loops of the clew (now removed from its jig) are threaded through the fourteen smaller inner holes. The larger diameter end holes are for the two reinforcement side ropes, which will be threaded through once the hammock body is complete.
Netted Cotton Twine
Cotton seine twine is unreeled in manageable lengths, and wound onto a traditional netting needle, which is similar to a weaver's shuttle. Netting starts by working across loops of the clew which now protrude from the wooden stay.
The hammock is netted by hand in rows, much like knitting, with a reversed knot pattern (stitch) on the return row. The needle is also used a measuring device to keep the diamonds of the net neat and even. As the twine runs out, a new length is reeled off and wound around the netting needle, and the two ends are spliced together.
Finally, a strong and comfortable selvedge is provided by a length of 4-strand 24mm cotton rope woven into the finished mesh at each edge, then threaded through the outer holes on the ash wood stays and secured with Manrope stopper knots at both ends.
