Lace Lounge #2

If you recall from Lace Lounge #1 a few days ago, I'm building a chair but testing the design on an ottoman first.  I am currently lacing soft nylon rope through holes in two parallel pieces of plywood, much like lacing up a shoe. The catch with this lace job is that it has to be very taut or I think it will get saggy and lose its bounce. On the other hand there should be some give to soften the touch.

To maintain tension I have purchased a couple vice grips. While the large VG is pulling the rope taut by leveraging the curved head, the small VG clamps the rope so it can't return through the hole. Then the large VG are taken to the next eye hole to lever the next section of rope taut. 

After blowing through 50' of rope, here is what it's starting to look like:

It is creating a cool pattern on the outside and the inside. Im currently using every hole sequentially, however I don't think the pattern needs to be sequential. I wonder what other patterns I can create while maintaining the same supportive effect!

In order to increase the tension I am clamping the two vertical boards so they will bend toward each other. When the clamp comes off it should be tighter because the wood is pulling harder. 

I'm a little stuck on how to effectively terminate the rope. The knots look a bit tacky. Do you have any good ideas on how I could stop the rope but make it prettier to look at?