A friendship bracelet is a bracelet

Bracelet

A bracelet is an article of jewelry which is worn around the wrist. Bracelets can be manufactured from metal, leather, cloth, plastic or other materials and sometimes contain jewels, rocks, wood, and/or shells...

 given by one person to another as a symbol of friendship

Friendship

Friendship is a form of interpersonal relationship generally considered to be closer than association, although there is a range of degrees of intimacy in both friendships and associations. Friendship and association are often thought of as spanning across the same continuum...

. Friendship bracelets are often handmade, usually of embroidery floss or thread

Thread (yarn)

Thread is a kind of yarn used for sewing.-Materials:Thread is made from just about everything. Following table lists common materials, a general description and what they are supposed to be good for. If your machine will sew with the thread, any thread can used for just about any purpose. This...

. There are various styles and patterns, but most are based on the same simple half-hitch knot

Knot

A knot is a method of fastening or securing linear material such as rope by tying or interweaving. It may consist of a length of one or several segments of rope, string, webbing, twine, strap, or even chain interwoven such that the line can bind to itself or to some other object—the "load"...

. The making of friendship bracelets is a version of macrame

Macramé

Macramé or macrame is a form of textile-making using knotting rather than weaving or knitting. Its primary knots are the square knot and forms of "hitching": full hitch and double half hitches...

.

The amount of thread used in bracelets varies depending on the pattern. The smallest pattern, a double chain knot, requires two strings. The candy stripe can have as few as three strings and as many as forty, based on the desired thickness.

Friendship bracelets first became popular in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 during the 1970s, and are commonly worn by both male and female teenagers

Adolescence

Adolescence is a transitional stage of physical and mental human development generally occurring between puberty and legal adulthood , but largely characterized as beginning and ending with the teenage stage...

. They are popular throughout the world.

Patterns

Pattern names vary slightly from place to place, but overall they are fairly similar.

• Alpha bracelets (with letters/symbols)
• Basic diagonal stripe
• Bordered chevron
• Broken ladder
• Candy Stripes
• Chevron
• Chinese Staircase
• Diagonal threes
• Dog den
• Double chain knot
• Double chevron
• Hearts
• Inverse chevron
• Rag rug
• Swirl and braids (a combination of a braid and chinese staircase)
• Totem pole
• Zig zag
• Diamond
• Flip Flop Zig Zag
• Flip Flop Candy Stripe
• The Egyptain
• Hearts
• Knitted
• The Wrap