OK I’m going to do a little horn tooting here. I’m a home-based ropemaker selling high grade shibari rope at competitive prices – that’s my plan. Because my setup is flexible, and I’m not just cutting rope off a spool unlike some of the big names in rope, I’m able to craft rope with specific characteristics. I have more ropes and variations that I can make than I’m currently showing, and will add more as I catch up with photos and descriptions.
I have two yarns I’m using for primary rope making – first is a very nice double-ply yarn. This gives a very stable rope, which is very pleasing to use and looks great. Second is my new single-ply jute yarn; this makes up the highest quality rope I can make so far and is for all intents and purposes, an asanawa style rope. The downside is ropes made with single-ply yarn tend to require more maintenance to stay in top form, but handle and feel so amazing!
Both ropes use a high yarn count – my double-ply uses 27 yarns for a 6mm rope, and I use 45 with the single-ply. I’m fairly certain the 45-count is a much higher count and higher grade yarn than you will find from any of the commercial or established shibari rope shops. Because portions of my rope-walk use gizmos and physics for the variations in how I spin the rope, it affords me the ability to be consistent from rope to rope.
And when I finish spinning up the rope, my hands-on process doesn’t end there. I do a polishing of the rope, to smooth out the surface, bake it to ease the built in tension out of the rope, then “gas” the rope which removes excess fuzzies, followed by a final polishing. At that point the rope is good to go. And I send it off to it’s new home. Although the rope can be used as is, and I often do, some folks will like to add a little mineral oil or jojoba oil to moisten the rope ever so slightly. Please don’t use any vegetable based oils as they will go rancid and leave you with stinky rope in time.
If you’re curious to find out more about what rope I can make for you, please drop me a line.
Stay knotty my friends,
-KK