Paracord Octopus

This was something I had fun making, so I figured I would share with you how I did it.The arms are bendable so he can be moved around for good decoration.Many thanks to you guys at Knot Heads World Wide for always helping me learn new knots!I made this first in black and green but was not 100% happy with the look. So I went with purple as the body, aqua arms and white suckers. .

Step 1: You Will Need

Around 100' of purple paracord to be safe.
6' of aqua paracord
20' of white paracord
4 -13” lengths of 12 gauge copper or aluminum wire .No sharp ends, file them smooth.
1 Toilet paper tube
This pineapple knot tied around a toilet paper tube.

http://img12.imageshack.us/img12/3254/kv4w.jpg

Some pins
1 or 2 pieces of newspaper

Okay, We'll make the head first. Print the pineapple knot tutorial, cut it out and tape it around the toilet paper tube so
the ends meet up. Then stuff the tube tightly with the scrap newspaper. Now push pins in all of the red dots on the
tube. Next, weave the knot using one15' piece of purple cord for the white line and one 15' piece of purple cord for the
blue line on the tube. Don't remove the core out of these strands.

Step 2:

Then loop a small length of purple cord through some of the outer loops. The idea is to close up one end to make the
top of the octopus head. I used the end that did not have the excess strands from making the pineapple knot. Feed the
ends of the loop down into the head, then push it almost inside out so you can knots the ends together inside the head.
Any leftover strands on the bottom, I just melt the ends and tuck them up inside to hide the ends.

Step 3:

Now you want to make his beady little octopus eyes. I took a long strand of the aqua cord and pulled back a few inches
of the outer core to reveal the inner strands. Then I tied 3 overhand knots with the core strands right on top of each
other to make a small ball. Trim off any excess. Then cut a 6” length of the aqua cord below the end with the ball. Grab
the inner core from the end you just cut and pull the inner core back into the shaft so the ball rests inside the end of the
aqua cord like a bird in a nest ( or an eye in a socket I guess). Then gently melt it in place

Step 4:

Now we'll make the tentacles. Cut 4 strands of the aqua cord 15” long, then remove the core strands. Then melt 1 end
closed. Next, slide a piece of 12 gauge wire in the hollow core until it stops on the melted end. Then stretch out the cord
down the length of the wire, cut and melt the end closed. The object is to not have any play in the ends of the cord, the
wire should be right up to where the end is melted.
Do this for all 4 strands of wire.

Next you want to cut about a 3' piece of white cord. Remove the core, then cut it into 1.5” pieces. These will be the
suckers. They are cut a little long now, but we'll trim them up later.

Step 5:

Do this all the way until you reach the other end of the aqua wire. Then cut and singe the end of the knot.

Step 6:

At this point we'll make the suckers look more real. Starting with 1 tentacle at a time, trim all of the ends of the white
cords down to around 1/4” to 3/8”. You may want to only trim a few at a time, just to see what length looks the best to
you. Any longer and they don't look good. After you trim the ends down, insert a pen or pencil into the end of a white
piece and rotate the other end of the pen in a big circle to “bell” out or flange the end into a bell or sucker shape.

Do the same for all of the suckers.
Even if you discolor it a little with too much heat, it's okay. For this process I've used a lighter and it works, but I found that a
butane torch lighter with a fine point works best for me. I can make little circles around each one individually.

Step 7:

Now that all the parts are done it's time for final assembly. Take 2 tentacles and put them side by side, suckers down
and put the octopus head right in the middle. Then, tie the head tightly around the 2 tentacles and knot it underneath.
Then cut and singe the ends. Cut a 3' piece of purple cord and tie a clove hitch just under that first knot. This will be the
start of a square hitch that will tie the other 2 tentacles to the first 2 with the head on them. The clove hitch needs to sit
far enough below center so that the 2 other tentacles,when put together, sit centered under the first 2 in a “plus” shape
(+).

Step 8:

Try different colors and have fun!
Here is another color I made....