The Short Workshop

Here are some notes to accompany a short workshop on string figures. The learning objective of the workshop is to get participants comfortable playing string games, and teach them a few simple figures. The goal is to get to a string star. A recording is available here: Cat's Cradle Mini-Workshop

Drawing with String

String is an incredible tool for drawing. You can form all sorts of things with it. Here are some letters: I, J, and U-Smile. The illustrations are self-explanatory. In later figures, we give steps for the construction.

Doubling A String

It is sometimes helpful to have a shorter string. To make your string half as long, you can double it as follows:
  1. Hold on to your string loop.
  2. Wrap the string around your left thumb.
  3. Put both thumbs in to the loop.
  4. The string is now a doubled-loop on your thumbs.

Small Box

You can use a doubled-loop to make an nice little box.

Qat! Yatse: A Sand Flee

This figure was collected from the Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw people, also known as the Kwakiutl, of the Pacific Northwest Coast by Julia Averkieva. It's a delightful action figure which lies somewhere between a magic trick and a piece of theater. To form it:
  1. Hold the string between your thumb and index of both hands.
  2. Put a full 360 degree turn in to the loop.
  3. Hold on either side of the full turn's crossings, near the middle of the string.
  4. Briskly snap the string back and forth to make the Sand Flee jump.

Steering Wheel

The string with a double-crossing in the middle can also be used for another figure: Steering Wheel. For this figure, grasp string on either side of the crossing by putting your four fingers through the loop. Rotate the wrists left and right to "turn" the wheel.

You're A String Star!

This is the most complex string figure in the workshop. We give the traditional Japanese construction.
  1. Hang the loop off the middle finger of your left hand.
  2. Place the little finger and thumb of your right hand in to the loop, entering the loop from the same direction as the middle finger.
    Extend to form The Triangle.
  3. The little finger of your right hand approaches the palm of your left hand. It then picks up the palmar string of the left hand from above.
  4. The left thumb then travels over all the intermediary string, and picks up the near string of the left little finger. Extend to form The Star.

Step 1 of The Star

Step 2 of The Star

Step 3 of The Star

Step 4 of The Star