Meet the owner of Knot Like the Rest

Pictou County woman finds business niche out of necessity

Jessi Firth thinks it all comes down to house plants.

Currently, house plants are all the rage. Maybe that's because everyone is home more often because of COVID.

Firth says her plant collection has gotten out of control since the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020. The Pictou County woman says she needed plant hangers to create room for all her plants.

On top of that, there is another trend. Firth says a lot more people became interested in crafts and supporting handmade local businesses during the lockdowns. Add those notions together, and you have the perfect recipe for a homebased business that is not like anything else. It’s Knot Like the Rest.

Two years ago, Firth taught herself how to do macrame by watching hours of YouTube videos. Once she became interested, she says it was easy to follow along. She has now taken these new skills and created a macrame business called Knot Like the Rest.

Like many other makers, Firth did not set out with the intention of starting a business. Instead, it stemmed from needing something to do during COVID. “At first, I was just really bored in the house and sort of feeling bad for myself,” she says, noting it was a rough year during the pandemic.

She had just recently given birth to her daughter, and she felt like she really didn't have much to do besides being a mom, which she absolutely loves. But everyone needs something to do, so she found a hobby she loved – macrame.

Then other people started to love what she did, too. Once they saw what Firth was making, they began messaging her to place orders before she even thought about taking for them.

“So, I suppose you could say I did sort of just fall into this business with the help and encouragement of my peers!”

Today, Firth makes macrame home décor, shelves, and plant hangers. She also makes cat hammocks, crystal keychains, Christmas decorations, and so much more. Firth says her hanging shelves with the macrame backdrop have been the most popular item and her favourite thing to make.

But she also loves it when a customer gives her free reign to do whatever with the item. She said they trust her artistic skills, and there is nothing more rewarding than that.

“I'm also open to any new ideas my customers have come to me with!” she says.

When asked for an interesting story about something she has made, Firth says there is one that immediately comes to mind.

In the last few months, she took a major break from macrame. She was pregnant with her second daughter and was very ill her entire pregnancy. Because of this, she says it was very hard to try and stand for hours and do her work. So, she started a piece and worked on it for an hour a day. It took over a month to complete, she says.

In the process, she ended up messing it up and cutting her cords way too short. So, she had to completely take the piece apart in some places and come up with a new idea.

“I was so upset, but in the end, the piece ended up being better than what I had in mind in the first place. It was so rewarding to finally finish it even if it took so long, I pushed through and got it done and it was beautiful!” she says.

In the future, Firth says she would love to expand her business and possibly get involved in some markets around Nova Scotia.

Being crafty comes naturally

“I was so upset, but in the end, the piece ended up being better than what I had in mind in the first place. It was so rewarding to finally finish it even if it took so long, I pushed through and got it done and it was beautiful!” Jessi Firth

to Firth. She says she’s always loved doing crafts and being hands-on is important. However, she didn’t realize just how crafty she was until she tried. She says she has surprised herself. When she’s not making macrame, Firth is a full-time mom to four children. So, most of her work, she says, is done during nap time or at night when everyone is finally asleep!

To learn more about Knot Like the Rest or place an order, find her on Facebook at facebook.com/knotliketherest.