Cavandoli Macrame / Ornamental Decoration / De Macramé Cavandoli

Cavandoli Macrame (also called Tapestry Knotting) is an intricate form of knotting used to create geometric patterns. The Cavandoli style is done mainly in a single knot, the double half-hitch knot. Reverse half hitches are sometimes used to maintain balance when working left and right halves of a balanced piece.

Cavandoli Macrame is named after Valentina Cavandoli who received a gold medal of recognition in 1961 before she passed away at the age of 97 in 1969.

Valentina Cavandoli was born in 1872 in Reggio Emilia. She became a teacher and with her natural talent, later a headmistress. She took a course in the Montessori method and started a very unique experiment when in 1915 she became in charge of a school for children in need of assistance.

The recreational activities within the school included manual tasks. She taught the children a technique she had learned from her grandmother Virginia Lamberti who was an expert on macramé, especially the creation of colorful pieces of textile which became known as 'Cavandoli'.