I have eight spiral knot “arms” on the plant hangar — it’s starting to look like a sea critter!
The trick that I’ve found to macrame is managing the cords as you work. It’s rather difficult to make knots with four eight foot cords. Gathering the working cords into individual bundles (and, since I am doing square knots where two cords are being wrapped around a pair of cords … I gathered two of the cords into one bundle) makes the whole process quicker and easier.
The tie around the “active” cords then matches up with the string color on my knot diagram — which is great for remembering which of the two knots you just tied!