An Egg Shape Covered In A Bi-Color Herringbone Knot

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 Bolo Tie Made From Dark Blue And Red Paracord, A Turk’s Head Forms The Slider

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

Sailor’s Knife Lanyard Knot As Is Used On An Eastern Orthodox Prayer Rope

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.

There is now an additional post on this subject. I tried to pass on the answers/ideas that some people had given me in response to this post. I also tied a 10 knot sample of imitation prayer cord with the Sailor’s Knife Lanyard knots as closely spaced as beads would be — this in reponse to one of those ideas.

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 Spray Bottle Made Easier To Hold By Adding Turk’s Head Knots

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

A Jar Covered In Turk’s Heads Knots, And Its Variants

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 Method Of Ringbolt Hitching That I Have Never Seen Anyone Else Use

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 Patriotic Key Fob — Red,White, And Blue Paracord Make A Handsome Accessory Item

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