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Determining Bracelet Sizes

The length and width of a bracelet depend on a bunch of different factors. With a tape measure and your picture chart, you can have a bracelet that fits just right in a few simple steps.

Fig. 1: Background rows plus the number of rows in your chosen picture will determine your finished length.

Length

While a bracelet’s length depends somewhat on how tightly you knot, most bracelets are between 5” and 6” (12.7 and 15.2cm) long, not including the loop or braided ties on either end. The overall length is determined by the design you choose, plus the number of background rows before and after your letters. For most, 12–14 rows will equal about 1” (2.5cm) of the bracelet.

To customize the length, wrap a tape measure around your wrist (or a friend’s wrist). This is how long you will want the finished bracelet to be (again, not including the loop and braided ties). Use the chart below to decide how many rows you need for your bracelet length.

Bracelet Length	Total Number of Rows
5” (12.7 cm)	60–70 rows
5 ¼” (13.3cm)	63–74 rows
5 ½” (14cm)	66–77 rows
5 ¼” (14.6cm)	69–81 rows
6” (15.2cm)	72–84 rows

Next, count how many rows are in the picture you want to knot. Once you know the number of rows, you can look for your size on the chart above and see how many background rows you need to add to reach your finished length. If you’re using a small motif that is going to be repeated, remember to count an extra one or two rows between each motif.

The example bracelet of the Flying Owl (fig. 1) is 31 rows long, which means you need to add 34–46 extra background rows to have a 5 ½” (14cm)–long bracelet. To center the picture on the bracelet, split the number of background rows in half. This tells you how many rows go before the picture and how many go after, which in this case, is 21 before and 21 after.

Width

The width of your bracelet is determined by the size of the picture chart you use. Wider bracelets use tall pictures while narrow bracelets use shorter motifs. (See the picture charts starting here) The width is also affected by the number of border rows you add. All bracelets should have at least one border row on each side of the picture you’re knotting. But don’t feel limited to just one! You can add two or more border rows if you’d like a wider finished design.

To add borders to your pictures, simply add extra strands to the start of your bracelet. For example, if your design is ten boxes wide on the chart and you want to add one border row to each side, you start with 12 strands. If your design is only five boxes wide on the chart and you want to add two border rows on each side, start with seven strands. All the charts in this book are shown with one border row, so add an extra border row on each side to any chart you want (fig. 2).

Fig. 2: You can add one border row on each side of your bracelet for a narrower style or add two on each side for a wider design.