A Japanese craft you can start today with cord, scissors and glue.
Mizuhiki is the stiffened paper cord used in Japan to tie the knot on a gift or a celebration envelope. It costs very little, it is flat, and a single cord makes a knot that looks like fine metalwork. This book teaches one knot properly and then treats every other shape in the book as a variation of it, which is the quickest route from never having tied one to a piece worth giving away.
Written for an adult beginner with no craft background. Every instruction assumes you are holding the cord for the first time.
- 19 chapters, from choosing cord to storing and posting finished work
- The basic awaji knot in full, with a check that catches a wrongly woven knot before you tighten it
- Bow variants, the crane and turtle figures, the plum blossom and the star
- Which knot belongs to which occasion, and why the distinction matters in Japan
- Cards, gift bands, earrings, pendants and hair pieces
- Ten projects, easiest first, each with time, difficulty, finished size and a full material list
- Cord quantities, batch planning, a glossary of the Japanese terms and a troubleshooting table
Printed in black and white throughout. Tone, not color, is what makes a knot readable, and the book teaches it that way.
This book was created using artificial intelligence tools. Its text, illustrations and cover artwork are AI-generated.
