🌻Now offering: Friendship bracelets

I’m serious.

I have always loved — LOVED — making friendship bracelets. 

I’m not talking about those stretchy beaded anomalies that Swifties have tried to steal the naming rights for. I’m talking knots tied in embroidery floss that make a woven bracelet (or anklet!) that you tie on and keep on until it falls off because that is how committed you are to the friendship of the person who made it for you. 

If you’re not familiar with the beaded Swiftie version, here’s what I can tell you: Apparently, Taylor Swift’s fans heard one line in one song — “So, make the friendship bracelets, take the moment and taste it” (from “You’re On Your Own, Kid”) — and decided to start making bracelets en masse. But instead of, I dunno, Googling “friendship bracelet” or asking anyone over the age of 25 about it or asking Taylor herself what she meant, they just made up their own entirely new bracelet culture. 

Taylor and I are the same age, and I can assure you, when she said “friendship bracelet,” she meant THESE:

Exhibit A. Friendship bracelets. (Photo: Becky Stern)

Anyway, nothing against Swifites or exchanging beaded bracelets with your friends, you all can carry on (I love my Swiftie bracelets). Your beads will just never redefine “friendship bracelets” in my heart.

A brief history of the friendship bracelet

Growing up in the 90’s — and well into the 2000’s if I recall correctly — we’d make these for each other all the time. I had this rad book from Klutz with instructions for various patterns (which, spoiler alert, I last referenced last week).

And they weren’t just for kids or just for girls.

Are those beads around Jeff Goldblum’s neck, or could that possibly be woven thread?! (Source)

I didn’t actually know the pre-90’s history before Googling it just now, but that’s what Wikipedia is for. “Although it is generally accepted that the origins of these colorful bands lie with the indigenous people of Central and South America, some decorative knots can be traced back to China from 481 to 221 BC. Friendship bracelets first became popular in the United States during the 1970s.” Neat!

I never stopped

Probably somewhere in the 2010’s or so, friendship bracelets as most of us knew them were largely relegated to 90’s nostalgia, placed alongside butterfly clips and Tamagotchis. 

But not for me!

For whatever reason, I kept making them every now and again… even though I was neither giving them to friends nor wearing them. I genuinely just liked the process of the weaving, especially if I wanted to occupy my hands while listening to something. Most people take up knitting or crocheting at this juncture, but no, I kept going back to the bracelets. 

A sampling of my friendship bracelet collection accrued over many, many years. Far left is one that was given to me, I wore till it fell off, and then kept because #FriendsForever (if only I could remember who it was from).

I found they’re especially nice to make while I’m playing Dungeons and Dragons. D&D involves a lot of listening, thinking, and chatting, with only occasional need to actually look up and do something with your hands. Weaving a bracelet during D&D is a delight. Somehow it also keeps me more engaged, not less — the threads in my hands ensure I’m never peeking at my email or phone. 

I discovered this magical combo maybe 10 years ago, when most of my D&D playing was still in person (it’s now moved to remote as my group has dispersed to five different states). The first bracelet I made during a session even went to a friend in the D&D group during which it was woven. He loved it, and would always be sure to wear his “D&D bracelet” on game days. (Love you M.C.!!)

Klutz taught me everything I know.

I’ve had a few stops and starts since then, but recent run-ins with the Swiftie beads have pushed me back into bracelet making, big time. 

So really do you want one

The one thing Swiftie bracelets have over the originals is that you can actually take them on and off. Per the original friendship bracelet rules, this lack of commitment to the bracelet might seem like a lack of commitment to the friendship. But I will begrudgingly admit that I am indeed 35 years old and maybe not all of my friends want to don (and sleep in and shower in) a bracelet for the next few months. That unfortunate fact is what has prevented me from just starting to churn them out for my friends: I must acknowledge that, friendship aside, some people might not actually want one. 

So, in order to avoid ever having a friend look me in the eye and say “no thanks,”  I’ll just issue an open invitation to the Funkyardigans instead! Do you want one? I’ll make you one!

Available base patterns. Though I love a challenge if you want to ask me for something not on this list.

Don’t feel weird about it or anything. Assume I’m just sitting here cranking out bracelets that will just get shoved in the junk drawer if you don’t rescue them. So you might as well let me know if you’d like one, and while you’re at it, you might as well pick a pattern and colors that you like, too. 

I’ve had the same collection of thread for years and years, I don’t even really remember ever buying it, it’s just something I’ve always had on hand, like Worcestershire sauce. It’s super cheap to replenish, too, were I ever to run low. And the finished product doesn’t weigh anything, so I can mail it in a regular envelope. It’s really a win-win for me and your wrist (or ankle).

So anyway, hit me up with your order, I mean it. 

Pick your pattern, and your colors, bracelet or anklet (or Jeff Goldblum necklace!), and we’ll be on our way! Bonus points if you bust out a measuring tape and tell me exactly how long you want it to be, otherwise the length will be “slightly longer than it’d be for Anna’s skinny wrists/ankles” for girls or “fits Anna’s husband Andy” for boys. :) 

If you’re a subscriber reading this in your inbox, you can reply and it’ll email me directly. If you’re on Substack you’ll have to comment for everyone to see or hunt me down elsewhere (very easy to do). 

Breaking the cardinal rule of “no good person wants to see your feet on the internet” to show you the super cool anklets I’m currently sporting.

Friendship bracelets forever!!! ✌️