Welcome to “Weekend Warriors.” Every Friday, we run a shining example of a reader’s recent makings—to say TGIF and send you off right into your own weekend’s projects. Well, this Friday's Weekend Warrior is a little different from most, in that it's about a project by a person who isn't a reader (that I know of), but I like to think she would have been...

I was exploring the interwebs one day when a series of clicks led me onto the archives of Mother Earth News, which are deeper than I ever knew. Eventually I stumbled upon this piece from 1984, in which Karen New de Franco writes about how to make a hammock out of a blanket and a single piece of rope---on the spot, with no sewing. How is this magical feat achieved? Describing it as "a neat trick I picked up over a decade ago from Mexican Indian women," de Franco writes,

The procedure is simple, and the only materials you need are a regular-size blanket and — in most situations — about 24 feet of rope. The exact length of rope required will, of course, depend on the distance between the points from which you're going to hang the hammock... As for the blanket, its width will determine the length of the finished hammock, so the only problem I've encoun tered in making an adult's hammock is finding a blanket that's wide enough. Once you've selected a place to hang the hammock, double your rope end to end and tie it in place so that the twin cables droop in a gentle curve. Now fold a short side of the cover over one of the ropes so that a little more than a fourth-but less than a third-of the blanket is hanging between the ropes. Pull the rest of the blanket under both ropes and fold the other side over the second rope, toward the center. The two ends of the blanket should overlap each other by at least several inches. That's all there is to it. When you lie in the hammock, your own weight on top of the blanket's overlapped ends keeps the whole thing from slipping apart and dumping you on the ground. Surprisingly enough, the arrangement is completely sturdy.

There's an editor's note that you shouldn't try to put, oh say, your child in this type of hammock before you are absolutely sure about it's safety---and of course, I couldn't agree more. But, being a cavalier adult, I'm eager to give the method a whirl.

An eHow called "How to Improvise a Hammock" describes the same procedure in a little bit more/different detail, which is helpful; there's even a little diagram. Karen de Franco notes that this kind of hammock will hug your body like a coccoon; she says you can add a sturdy stick at each end of the hammock (pressure will hold them in place) to keep the hammock spread wider if you want. City dweller that I am, I don't have a yard or a porch to try this out in. If somebody gives it a whirl---possibly this weekend---won't you please report back? (Yellow hammock from alan(ator), on Flickr)

If you’ve completed a project that you’d like to see featured on Weekend Warriors, don’t be shy—send it to us.

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