I wanted to make a rope mat so i googled how to make one. There were plenty of templates to draw to show where the rope cross and such, and using nails on a board to hold it in place while you get it started. I decided to make a peg board loom that would allow for making different sizes of mats with various numbers of Leads and Bights . The pegs are glued in place on the left and top side. The bottom and right side are left open to allow for free placement of the pegs to set the desired size.

Here is the main link I looked at to figure out how this works and gave me the inspiration for the peg board.

Step 1: Draw the Grid

I used a 2x4 foot piece of pegboard for this project.
Using a sharpie I drew a diamond grid that teh rope will follow while creating a mat.
In order to fit larger size rope as well as small I made the diamond grid 3 holes on each side.
I drew a border around the outside to remind myself to leave room for screws and such.

Step 2: Draw the Cross Overs

Draw thick rectangles at alternating 45 degree angles at each cross section of the diamond grid.
This shows where the rope will either cross over itself or under itself as the weave is created.

Step 3: Mark Moveable Peg Lines

When creating smaller sized mats the moveable pegs will be placed along the lines as shown in respect to the fixed pegs.

Step 4: Board Backing.

Use a solid piece of board for the backing to keep pegs from falling through, use some of the outside holes to bolt on the backing board.

Step 5: Glue the Pegs

I made the pegs by cutting 1/4" dowel rods into 32 - 2" pegs.
16 of those pegs will be glued and 16 will be loose.
Glue the pegs on the left and top side at the apex of each diamond.

The other 16 pegs can be stored in the holes along the top when not in use.

Thats pretty much it for the loom. You are now ready to start playing.

Step 6: Testing Your Size

Not all combinations af Bights to Leads will work. Sometime the rope will come back around to the start without rounding all of the pegs. I suppose you could make it work in all case if you did not follow the gris lines, I haven't tries that yet. :-)

In this pic you can see a quick set up for a 4 Bight by 6 Lead Mat.

Step 7: Creating Your Mat

I decided to go for the biggest size first... I used 100' of 1/4" glow in the dark rope. (Because if you can use glow in the dark rope, why wouldn't you?) :-)

I started at one corner and followed the gridlines all the way around until I got back to the start, making sure to go over or under the line as the board was showing.

Once I got a complete path i looped the rope around for a second pass.

By the time I got the second pass run I was out of rope. It is at this time that you can remove the loose pegs, lift the ends off of the fixed pegs and start to tighten the mat.

As the mat gets tighter there will be more rope at the end to work with and weave your third pass, forth pass, and so on depending on how much rope you have and how big you want our mat. From reading on line generally 3-5 passes is good for most mats.

Once you are satisfied with your mat run the ends underneath and secure them together. You can do this by melting them, glueing them, taping them, or sewing them with an awl.

Thats about it... This is my first rope mat... now I can play around a lot easier with ideas since the pegs are so easy to use!

Enjoy!!