Turk's Head variants cover a curvy bottle.
Now this is my kind of bottle, shapely enough to be interesting, and a challenge to clap knots on. In this case, so many knots clapped on that you can hardly see the glass. All knots came out as I intended them to — none of them oozed down a slope to end up in a different place, or crowd the other knots. The only thing lacking is that it isn’t full of home-made scuppernong wine. Of course that fault can be remedied later.
The knots on this bottle are, top to bottom:
Just under the rim at the top is a white Turk’s Head of 3 Leads X 8 Bights.
Next comes a green Herringbone knot of 12 Leads X 14 Bights.
The white ring that comes next is Spanish Ring knot. This one counts out to 5 Leads x 8 Bights.
The first real feature knot is the bi-color Pineapple knot which covers the shoulders of the bottle. The base knot, done in green, has 9 Leads X 8 Bights. The white interweave counts out to 7 Leads X 8 Bights. I have done my usual trick of stopping the interweave one crossing short of where most people take it. My Lady Rose likes a bolder border than the regular knot provides. By tying the knot this way you have three strands of green on the rim of the knot that are not broken up by white strands. This tricks the eye into seeing the green rim as a thicker line, thus the more graphic look that makes her happy. … … All together now … … and when she’s happy, I’m happy.
Just below the bi-color Pineapple knot, and dividing it from the white knot below is a 3 strand grommet. It is made the usual way — by laying up one long strand into a fake 3 strand laid cord. The grommet also does double duty as the carrier for the Sailor’s Knife Lanyard knot with the ends left long a rough 2 strand tassel. This knot is also known as:
- the Chinese Button knot.
- the Bosun’s Whistle knot
- the Marlingspike Lanyard knot
- the 2 strand Diamond knot
- the single strand Diamond knot
and on, and on … this knot must appeal to something deep in the minds of everyone who ties knots to have been reinvented and renamed so many times. I’m sure I have heard it called by other names, and I have seen it tied as a flat 2 strand lanyard knot. I prefer the button version over the flat, but that may just be from more exposure to, and tying of, that version.
The white knot that covers the waist of the bottle is a Turk’s Head of 9 Leads X 8 Bights, done in paracord.
The green ring between the last knot and the next one is a Spanish Ring knot, also in paracord. I guess you would be safe in assuming that most of my knots are tied in paracord; it’s good stuff, and I like good stuff.
The final knot on this bottle is some sort of a bastard love child between a Gaucho knot and the alien being which kidnapped him. They must have performed vile and obscene acts upon him, because it is not the knot I thought I was tying. There is some sort of an irregular mis-step in the interweave, but it is consistent throughout. When I was tying the knot I thought everything was fine — then I looked closely after I was finished. I probably should have just kept my big mouth shut. I suppose I could also have named it and claimed it as the fruit of long years of research and experimentation (in a way it is all that). I just couldn’t bring myself to do either, so I did the only thing I could — tell you the truth, and let you judge.
That concludes the actual knotting portion of our show. I would now like to turn to our sponsors — the trawl-net full of links page on the upper right. As I said, rather than present you with an all-at-once link page after much labor, I am filling it in as I return to a knot site previously visited (some many times), or a new site I’ve just discovered. I am putting up a link only after I have given the site a personal look-see. My reviews are longer than most link pages because I am trying to give you an honest picture of the site, before you go there. There has already been a surprising level of use; I greatly appreciate your visits. Among other things, they tell me that I am putting up something of use to someone other than myself. Now is your big chance to have input on how those pages grow. Tell me what you like, or don’t like, about them. Tell me which categories you wish to see filled in first. Tell me of any sites, yours or other’s, which you feel should be there. Your wish isn’t my command, but you do have a large amount of influence. I am making this page for you. I’m basically reviewing sites as I happen to go there, either on purpose or just bouncing from knot to knot while following the strands of the void. Your thoughts and ideas are heartily solicited, and will be appreciated.
Thank you for coming by my site. Come back again, and tell your friends about it. The more excited I get by it, the harder I’ll work on it:
William