Hello, my name is William. Welcome to my world of knots and ropework. I made this site because I live and tie knots in isolation from outside input by people who know this craft. I need your help. While I wouldn’t turn down any compliments, the reason for putting this site up is so that others may offer critique and guidance on how I can improve my skills. Thank you for looking and for leaving your comments
Two red roses made from Turk's Head knots, part of the wedding collection.
Turk's Head knots used to make three red roses, for the wedding collection.
The parade of roses continues, with red roses. Like the other flowers in this set, they are made entirely of cordage. Paracord is the main line used, with golden yellow embroidery floss for the pollen in the center of each rose. The green Turk’s Head knot which forms the calyx on the bottom is tacked on with some thread, to make sure it holds its shape.
In another post I showed a top down look at the open blossoms.
The post here is of a white blossom with buds and leaves arranged around it.
The wedding is over and the roses were a hit. The bride and groom packed them up to take with them to another ceremony. I figure they would have left them if they didn’t like them. This is another version of the only true compliment to a cook — silence while they eat, followed by empty plates. People who tie knots may know and appreciate some of the hidden problems, and the level of work involved in making a knot look right. The look of your work, and how it does the job, is all that matters to the happy couple, and rightly so.
Thank you for coming by my site. Let me know what you think; I will greatly appreciate it:
William
I tie knots in paracord. Like most folks who do this, and cruise the net occasionally, I ended up on Stormdrane’s blog. He has various ways to carry extra line / cord on your booney hat. The one on this page is made using a coil of paracord tied off with button & loop toggles. At least I finally know what the local cat with the washerwoman’s coil of line around his hat was aiming at.
The one on Stormdrane’s site is much neater looking, as you would expect from seeing his other work. I don’t think I would wear it, but then again, he says he would prefer one of his other styles too. The local cat with the wacky hat had bights hanging out past the brim. The coil of line looked too tangled to use without a bit of work first. Assuming you’re doing this for emergencies, you may not have the leisure or ability to untangle it.
Stormdrane also links to some other hats on his site from this page. Those hats would be more along the lines of something I would wear. You also have to remember that if I leave my house I have on a hat — with a paracord hat band of some sort. For a hat to be so FUBAR that I would never think of wearing it, it has to be fairly far beyond the realm of normalcy.
While you are at the Stormdrane blog, look around. He has some very nice photos of some very nice work with paracord.
Thank you for dropping by my site.
Come back again; wave if you see me at the parade of knots:
William
Turk's Head knots in white paracord make handsome roses.
This is a single rose, from a set I made for a wedding. The rose itself is made from nested Turk’s Head knots. Each knot is made a little larger than the last by either increasing the Lead & Bight count, or by following the original pass of the knot more times.
The blossoms were made by the same method, but they were worked much tighter.
The leaves were plaited, starting from the tip, with integral stems. The leaves have either 4 or 6 strands. The stems are all of 4 strand round sinnet, while the large leaves use 2 of the original strands for a core. Some of the small leaves were worked loosely so that when you were arranging them you could make them narrower, wider, or twisted. The ring between the leaf and the stem is to keep this looseness in the leaf. The other leaves also have a ring around the stem, just so all of them look the same.
None of the items in this picture are connected. I didn’t know how the decorator was going to use them on the cake, so I left them loose to allow maximum flexibility in their arrangement.
Please let me know what you think. How can I make them better for the next time?
Thank you for taking the time to visit my site. Drop by again when you can; I try to keep the parade moving, and as interesting as I can make it:
William
Roses made out of cord and thread tied into Turk's Head knots.
The cat is now officially out of the bag. The pink roses explain that pink drink coaster. The unofficial name that pink thing contest is over — the winner will be notified by getting a pink thing.
My Lady Rose has a friend, who has a friend who is getting married. This friend was looking for something unusual to give as a gift. Because she has visited my site she knew about the roses I make for My Lady Rose. She thought they would be a nice and novel gift. My Lady Rose agreed. I did the macho thing any manly man should do when faced by two women united in purpose — I quickly threw in the towel. This artful move meant that I would have the perfect excuse to sit and tie knots.
This is the first of a series of photos I took before I sent the roses off to meet their fate. Because of my self-imposed rules, I make these out of cords and a little thread. I don’t use glue, paste, forms, wire, or any supports of any kind. Paracord and embroidery floss and a little thread are all there is behind the glamour.
Each flower is made by layering different sized Turk’s Head knots. I tie them in hand and then work them down around the center knot. The yellow floss stands in for the pollen bearing stamen. Each bloom or blossom also has a green Turk’s Head as a base. This makes them look better, and also covers up the bottom of the knots which form the petals. I didn’t make stems / branches for these because they are slated to top the cake, in place of the little plastic people. I did plait up some leaves on separate stems so they could have them to dress the cake. Pictures of individual blooms will follow these over the next few days.
Thank you for coming by my site. I hope you have been rewarded adequately enough for you to return. If you know of any way I could improve either my site or my knotting skills, I would very much like to hear from you. Come back again; I’ll try to keep the parade moving:
William
As long as my post on the rare and endangered Pink Drink Coaster was, I didn’t include links to related posts — a lack that was quickly pointed out to me. The remedy to this now glaringly obvious error follows:
The post that kick-started this one was about a coaster made of pink paracord. If you missed it, it is here.
A Gaucho knot mat, a passable coaster, but a boldly graphic mat.
This is the most viewed post on my blog. On the image search sites it makes an attractive picture; perhaps that is the secret. It stays high up on the Google Image search in several search terms. It may stay so high up because it is visited so often. There is a hook in here somewhere.
This is a little off the mark, but it is close kin. It is a bracelet made from a Prolong Mat. It is not usually tied as a coaster, but mats are close enough to interest me.
A Turk’s Head mat that I originally tied as research on the paracord coaster question. It is too uneven, and lacks stiffness / body, making a poor coaster. For other things, and in larger cordage, it would work. Thump mats come to mind, assuming your boat thumps.
A torus shaped Turk’s Head knot. Cut in half and looked at end on, it would look like a tire cut similarly. It is worked tightly enough to sound like wood when tapped. A further reach, but still kin. If you’re still with me it is worth a look.
This is the last port in this tramp’s tour of ring shaped knots. A 10 year old lamp pull, tied like the torus shaped knot above. If you’ve come this far, you may as well go all the way, and look at this one, too.
This should cover my mandated list of links for now. Thank you for taking the time to follow along. Come back again. The next post will continue my parade of knots instead of looking back down the line. If you see me next time, wave:
William
A drink coaster made from a Pineapple knot, top-down detail.
A drink coaster made from a Pineapple knot, normal view.
The first question I can feel in the vibration of the strands making up the web of existence is: Why in Hell do you have pink paracord? Is there, somewhere, an army which encourages the killer spirit in their paratrooper units by using pink parachute risers? Did I start off with white paracord and mutate it by exposure to high radiation levels? ( Enough of that ) The reason for the pink paracord will become self evident over the next few posts — it was a practical decision, and a useful end product. You are free to write in your guess — who knows if you are original and amusing enough you may get a pink ????????????? of your very own, to have and to hold.
I used to tie most of my knots with cotton sash cord, the type used to hang the sash weights in double-hung windows. It was a readily available commodity, well made, easy tying, and available in any good hardware store. Double-hung windows and good hardware stores are both rare today. Cotton sash cord is a specialty product made in limited amounts for the restoration market. Paracord, once rare and expensive, has become the commodity cord of the day. It is widely available, strong, and relatively inexpensive. You can find it at various levels of quality and cost; and in many colors — even pink. So now I make most of the things I make in paracord.
This knot was tied with the system now known to my steady readers as “The Monkey Method”. I was playing with a piece of paracord left over from some other knot project. I have been trying to discover a handsome and useful coaster design using paracord. Most of them have failed on one or both points. A coaster needs to be several things: even and level for secure footing, have enough body to hold its shape in use and handling, be attractive enough so that the recipient doesn’t put it in the “keep but don’t take out unless William is coming over” drawer, easy and quick to make, repeatable so you can make sets. I want to use paracord for the same reason I tied this knot with it; it’s what I have the most of in spools, and cut off ends.
This knot is very close to being a successful coaster by those standards. It is a Pineapple interweave over a Turk’s Head knot. Other than being a little small it is an excellent coaster — well, I guess there is that “pink” thing. The only fault is how I dealt with the ends. Because I wasn’t planning to make this ( I wasn’t even thinking — plan?? ) I didn’t preplan how I was going to treat the ends. After I decided this knot was worth the effort of working it down, I accidentally found the ends at the center of the knot. I tied them in a half-knot and then used my crochet hook tool to pull the ends up along the side of one of the radials. Pulling them tight and trimming closely allowed me to hide the ends quite well. The fault is in the half-knot at the rim of the center opening. If you look at the bottom of the hole on the top-down detail shot, you can see the irregularity this made. I may be able to work this better on the next one — but the best idea would be to let the ends meet on one of the radial runs, and trim them close. With laid cord you could thin them down to smooth the transition. I have never tried pulling some of the inner strands on paracord and then trimming half of them out — it may work. The next one will also be a little larger in diameter so you don’t have to be an attentive user and a good shot to hit the bull’s eye every time.
I would like to hear any ideas you have for making the “PPP — Perfect Paracord Coaster”. (PPP = Phony Patent Pending) While admitting this hasn’t been a steady front burner project, I would like to solve this quest. There is a limited call for baggy-winkle and jokes about the lunatic fringe, both made from unused cut-offs.
Thank you for your time, I do appreciate my guests. Please come by my site again:
William
A bi-color Herringbone knot over an small egg shaped core.
A bi-color Herringbone knot over an small egg shaped core, end view.
One of the problems with the hobby of tying knots is that sooner or later you run short of things to put them on. Some of the things around here are more knot than thing. I will think a knot worth saving and work it down tight onto its new home. At some later time, I will tie a knot that I think is better, and tighten it down over the old knot, and its old home — now the new home for this one. If you repeat this you end up with things which are mostly cord.
Because of this I am always on the look-out for suitable victims of sacrifice to The Gods Of Ropes And Knots. Looking through a catalog one day, I saw these “glass” eggs. I really can’t tell if they are glass, and the seller couldn’t either. It is possible that one day an alien will burst forth from its hidden depths — if so it may be good that he will start life tied up in knots made of paracord.
The knots on this egg are:
Two interlaced Turk’s Head knots, of 7 Leads X 6 Bights, one in black paracord, one white. The knots are offset so that each edge exposes only one knot. The bights nest within each other quite neatly. It makes a handsome knot and, by favoring the larger end, it makes a base, formed by the ring of bights on the edge of the black knot. I’ll let you know if I start seeing any shadowy movements in it.
Thank you for dropping by my site. Come back again; I try to keep something new on a semi-regular basis.
William
A paracord Bolo Tie -- with a Turk's Head for a slider.
Many restaurants try to weed out some of their customers by requiring a tie, or a coat and tie. Sometimes you don’t know this til you get there; other times you may know, but make an unplanned visit. Because of the dressing style of people out West, there is a loophole — you can wear a bolo tie. Most of the places I have been to that require ties keep a selection of loaners for you to use — if they know you, or really like your looks, or really like the looks of your money. Commonly it is a Bolo tie — they are easy to put on without a mirror — and inexpensive if you forget to return it. After all you wouldn’t want to turn away a rich Texas oil-man because he had on a bolo tie and cowboy hat and boots.
This bolo is made out of paracord, which is the most common cordage around my house. The dark blue cord started off just under 5′ long. After tying the end knots, 2 Fourfold Overhand knots (ABOK # 517 shows a Threefold Overhand knot, these are the same knot — only more so), it ends up at 4′. The slider is red paracord made up into a Turk’s Head knot of 11 Leads X 2 Bights, doubled.
To my eye it makes a handsome tie, but then if I didn’t think so, it wouldn’t be posted on my site. I may, occasionally post a less than perfect knot if its other virtues are sufficient. I would never post one I thought was ugly or completely devoid of assets.
Thank you for stopping by my parade of knots. Have a look around before you leave; there are some very nice posts that, being older, have rotated off the front page. See you next time you drop by:
William
The knots used on prayer ropes compared to the Sailor's Knife Lanyard knot.
I was searching through the void one day, looking for something new about knots. I ended up on a site that gave the directions for tying the knots on an Eastern Orthodox prayer rope — their version of a rosary. Making them out of knotted cords makes sense to me — they would be cheaper and easier to make. The materials are whatever is to hand; it is the blessing and prayer which make them holy. They also have all the other virtues of knots tied on a cord: inexpensive, practically unbreakable in the normal sense, and made to your desired specs. You can make them as plain, or as fancy, as your humility or pride demands.
The only thing that puzzled me was how they tie the knots. It is like a single- handed version of Cat’s Cradle. They drape the cords over their hand, and then use a very involved weaving pattern. After I had tied two of them using their method, I took a closer look — they are structurally identical to the Sailor’s Knife Lanyard knot (ABOK # 787 — also called the Two Strand Diamond knot). This is also the same basic structure as the Chinese Button knot (ABOK # 599). It is the method of tying them that is unique, at least to me. It might be that this was done purposefully as a form of meditation. It might be that this was done as a form of sacrifice of personal time and labor. It might be they never asked a sailor how he did it. I have no idea, and no way to find out. The video file I saw wasn’t attributed to anyone I could ask, and had been stripped of all identifiers. This may have been a side effect of trying to shrink the file for the net.
The two knots on the left / lower end were tied by meticulously following the original video. After examining the knots, I decided that the sailor’s method was better for me. I then tied the next two knots for comparison, using the Ashley given method. I can not tell any difference between them. The doubled knot ( the last one on the right / high end) is evidently how they join the loop of beads to the dropper with the cross.
It is amazing what you can learn on the net. If anyone could explain the reason for the involved knot tying method used to make these I would be happy to post it. After all, if you take some out, you should occasionally put some back.
Thank you for stopping by to see my site. I do hope you profited from it — in either pleasure, or knowledge. If you see any way to make it better, please let me know. Stop by again some time; I’ll be just as happy to see you then, too:
William
A bottle with Turk's Head knots.
This is your typical bottle of nasal spray of some sort. I didn’t want to have to juggle it every time I used it, so I added knots — as I’m prone to do to anything that can’t outrun me and doesn’t bite. I have recently acquired this fine nylon cord. It is smaller than I usually use, but looks very nice and has a lot of body for its size. This is also the cord I used to make the blue chain sinnets down the page about 6 or 7 posts.
Any time I am faced with a cylindrical object that is smaller than 6″ or so, I instantly think it would look better with a Turk’s Head knot. In this case I had the further excuse of saying that I was improving the grip.
The knots I used on this bottle are:
The top knot is a Turk’s Head of 9 Leads X 4 Bights, doubled.
The lower knot is a Turk’s Head of 11 Leads X 10 Bights. On this knot I led the ends out and tied a Chinese Button knot. No real reason this time — I just like the look. Usually when I do this, it is to make the item easier to pick out of a mix of similar items. I guess I just learned to like it.
The top knot is the handsomer of the two. Because it was doubled, it held its shape better. The lower knot looks a little crowded to my eye. Next time I will double it as well. This will also make a wider knot, and cover more of the bottle.
Thank you for coming by my parade of knots. Sing out if you see any way to make it better. Come back again; I do appreciate it when the count on the meter goes up:
William
Several Turk's Heads and variants cover a peanut butter jar.
After all these posts which did not feature knot-covered glass food containers of any sort, they started clamoring for equal time. Rather than abide any repercussions from the Gods Of Rope And Knots, I decided to post another bottle. This one is a peanut butter jar that shall remain brand-less. I did like the contents, I just hate receiving legal mailings.
The knots used on this bottle are:
From the top, a Spanish Ring knot of 2 passes.
A 3 strand grommet made from a single strand of paracord, which bears a Chinese button knot, doubled.
The next rung is actually 2 Turk’s Head knots in what I have come to call the “Flame” pattern. This name is from a similar pattern used by the what is now called the First Nations. Each is a 3 lead X 14 Bight knot. The bights on the near sides are woven through each other — this auto-magically produces the pattern, with little nudging.
The wide black ring in the center is a Turk’s Head knot of 9 Leads X 10 Bights, doubled, in black paracord.
The white ring at the bottom is a 7 Lead X 6 Bight Turk’s Head, doubled, in paracord.
I find that this makes an attractive covering — a definite upgrade from bare glass. It also makes the jar much easier to hold — a high friction surface that is even enough to feel comfortable.
I have used the flame pattern before, the first time on this hot sauce bottle. Then I used it on this bottle, but I linked a center knot to the two on either side. I think it looks great — but then I tied it, so I may be biased.
Maybe now the Gods Of Knots, and these bottle / jars, will let me sleep.
Thank you for coming by my site. I hope you found your time well repaid. If you can think of any way to improve the experience, please let me know. See you next time you drop by:
William
A novel method of ringbolt hitching, top down viw.
A novel method of ringbolt hitching, side view.
You have to keep in mind that man has been playing with string for a very long time. Because of this, any claim on novelty has to be carefully researched. Even then it is best to include a disclaimer. This is my disclaimer; while I have never seen this in any books on boats / knots, and have never met anyone that knew it, this may not be new. If anyone knows this knot and its true name, I would be delighted to hear it.
Many years ago, when boatyards smelled of wood, creosote, and oil paint, I used to hang out there. By trolling the docks and work lot you could pick up spare change or maybe a day on the water by doing odd jobs. Usually this involved the less fun things, but was offset by the fun of getting out on the water in exchange for your work. Sometimes you could trade knowledge / skills for the same rewards without quite so much hard labor. One of the things I could do was tie knots and such.
On one particular day I was faced with yards of stanchions and handrails. These were to be covered with several spools of cord that were piled on deck. The only instructions were to get it done — and do a seaman-like job of it. That last short phrase is heavily laden with unspoken rules. Like any honest workman, I wanted to do a good job and receive fair compensation. By figuring out how to do the work in the quickest and easiest way that would comply with the “seaman-like” requirements, I could increase my pay per foot. After trying several of the ringbolt hitching methods, and bypassing coachwhipping without trial, I discovered this method.
As with most cord coverings put on a fixed stanchion, you have to pass the line around the bar. Unlike most of the other styles I knew, or have learned since, there are no tucks. In the photographs the job would be started on the left / lower end of the bar. If applied tightly, you don’t have to go back and rework the line you have already done. After seizing the ends I covered them with Turk’s Heads. Both now and and then I just chose knots that I thought would dress the ends and pass review.
The Captain was happy with the job. Happier than I was when he told me to paint over my fresh, new knots. Now, I know that this is necessary to protect the knots. Then, I harbored a slight suspicion that it might be a less than happy Captain covering up a what he thought was marginal job by a never-to-sail-with-him tyro. I was relieved of that worry at the end of the day when he smiled and paid me above the negotiated price. He even asked me to go on the shake down when all the other work on board was finished.
Thank you for dropping by my site. Please let me know if there is any way I can improve either my site, or my knots. See you next time:
William
A Turk's Head knot of 13 Leads X 4 Bights done in patriotic colors.
This key fob was made in the heat of a Fourth Of July Celebration — in Alabama — the heat of the celebration is a comment on the weather — not the celebration. Because it was the 4th and it was a celebration, and I had the cord in red, white, and blue, it was only natural. And now … on with the show:
The main body of the key fob is a Turk’s Head knot of 13 Leads X 4 Bights. Unlike most of these knots, it is tripled in paracord — but in 3 different colors. As I tightened down the knot, I fished the working ends from the center of the Turk’s Head out one end as loops. They then ran the length of the knot to come out the other end as a rough tassel / loop adjusters for the key loops.
So that the finished knot would not be so hard that putting it in your pants pocket would be some form of penance, I didn’t tighten it down as I usually do.
To make it easier to use, I added a red Turk’s Head over the base knot –a 5 Lead X 4 Bight Turk’s head, tripled. The edges were worked straight as opposed to lobed. I did that for years before I found out that Bruce Grant had a name for it. He called it “The Colima Lazy Man’s Button”. Why, I don’t know, as a really lazy man wouldn’t tie it — it’s too much work.
Thank you for coming by; I greatly appreciate it. See you next time at the parade of knots:
William
