What you need
A metre of thin cord, string or wool
The printed measuring strip
Scissors
Patience
How to build it
Lay the cord along the stripLine the end up with the first mark. The strip is what turns distance into letters.
Count along for each letterA is one mark, B is two, C is three, up to five. Then start counting again for the next letter.
Tie a small knot at each letterSmall and tight, so the spacing stays true when the cord is handled.
Tie a big knot between wordsAnything obviously bigger. Without it, the words run together.
Wear itRound a wrist or through a belt loop. It looks like string, because it is string.
Never tie cord round a neck, and keep cord away from anyone small enough to get tangled in it.
The template
Print this at 100 per cent, not fit to page, or the sizes will be wrong. The ruler line below tells you whether it printed correctly.
The bar above should measure exactly 10 centimetres. If it does not, your printer has shrunk the page.
Now send something
Tie your initials in and see if your friend can read them with a copy of the strip. Then try it without the strip and see how much harder it is.
Codes made of positionBack to Make