Knotty Abi Macrame: Getting Knotty with Creativity and Community

As a mother and wife, one of the biggest challenges can be finding the balance between caring for others while maintaining your own sense of individuality. For Abi Espinoza from Daegu, this was no different. Abi has been an Army spouse for over 14 years, and a mother for 12. She has always been drawn toward DIY projects, fiber art, and home decor, and while scouring the internet for ways to make her on-post house feel like a home, she came across macrame. And thus, Knotty Abi Macrame Art was born.

As someone who has been a fan of Abi’s work since the beginning, it was an honor for me to sit down with her, on what happened to be the 4th anniversary of her business, to talk about all things Knotty Abi. 

Abi stands  proudly with her husband, 1SGT Espinoza, son Isaiah, and daughter Ellie.

Abi’s journey to becoming a military spouse sounds like something straight out of a movie. Originally from Palmdale, California, Abi met her husband, Lawnie, during her freshman year of high school. They formed an incredible friendship, which they maintained for the entire four years. After graduation, they said their goodbyes, as he was heading for basic training, and she was going on to begin her adult life.

However, the letters from Lawnie quickly began to arrive and, as they say, “the rest is history”. Over the past 14 years, Lawnie and Abi have created a beautiful life together, with their two precious children, Isaiah and Ellie, and their adorable pup CeCe. 

Large macrame pieces gives Abi the creative freedom to use a variety of colors and patterns that create a truly unique design.

Their family has been fortunate enough to enjoy some impressive duty stations during Lawnie's career. After spending time in Germany, Hawaii, and Southern California, they arrived in Daegu, South Korea in 2019. And then, 2020 came along and changed everyone’s life. During the pandemic, and while being a stay-at-home mom for the first time ever, Abi would search YouTube for tutorials on DIY and fiber arts to keep herself busy. She swiftly mastered the art of macrame and hasn’t looked back. First, Abi began knotting by following other fiber artists’ tutorials but then moved on to creating her own designs rather quickly. During the four years she was stationed in Korea, she brought to life so many incredible macrame pieces. You could find her at most of the base events, such as Kringlefest, where her tent was always a big hit. It is incredible to see how she creates so many different and unique pieces simply by tying knots. 

Her husband was relocated to Colorado in April of 2023. PCS and location changes can sometimes be detrimental to a home-based business, you just never know what the next duty station may hold. However, Abi feels that this military lifestyle “forces you to the edge to have a new beginning” and that the moves always bring her family closer together. 

Before leaving Colorado, Abi and Ellie packaged many orders to be shipped, smiling with excitement the entire time!

The short move to Colorado in 2023, brought new opportunities for Abi as a small business owner. She was able to start an online shop and sell her items in local boutiques, not to mention being able to offer wholesale items. Abi was also able to grow her socials rapidly. Now with over 5,000 followers on Instagram and 2.4k on TikTok, she says the secret to social media success is to record everything! Even if you feel silly, there will be someone watching your content who can relate to and will appreciate the time and energy you share. 

Abi also mentioned that creating videos that educate, entertain, or resonate with your audience can have a highly positive impact on your social media presence. She further explained that making connections with your audience instead of just chasing results or sales, really plays a big role in reaching a bigger online audience. Even though one of her TikTok videos garnered over 1 million views, not a single sale was made from that particular video. And while that may seem disconcerting to some, to Abi she knew she was creating connections with a lot of people, and that was worth more to her than physical sales. 

Handbag designs are offered in a variety of gorgeous colors and patterns!

Managing your own home based business involves juggling various responsibilities, such as finance, marketing, customer service, and web management. All of these commitments are added on top of the actual product manufacturing. Effective time management is crucial for maintaining both sanity and joy in your craft. Asking for help and “turning off your small business” is essential to preventing small business burn out. It is also very important to value your time and your work. Her advice to other home based businesses is so insightful. She says that if you “love your craft fearlessly, the perfect customer for you, will love it too”.

Abi recently relocated back to Daegu, where she intends to add a new aspect to Knotty Abi. With the launch of her YouTube channel, she plans to share macrame tutorials! She also hopes to connect with readers of United on the ROK. So, be sure to follow her on her socials and let her know you read this article! In the future Abi intends to create a girl's night for the Area IV community where she can teach others how to macrame in person. 

Be sure to look for Knotty Abi’s booths at Area IV events! I will leave you with this, if you have a dream or are on the fence about starting a new endeavor, never underestimate yourself and in the words of Kotty Abi “Go for it!” 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/knottyabi

Instagram: knottyabi https://www.instagram.com/knottyabi/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@KnottyAbi

Insightful Babes Podcast Interview with Abi: https://youtube.com/shorts/Jq4hPEdo0xw?si=8-qosXr5zxqSQ8wY