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Guild SuppliesPrice List 2004
Item Price
Knot Charts
Full Set of 100 charts £10.00Individual charts £0.20
Rubber Stamp
IGKT Member, with logo £4.00(excludes stamp pad)
Guild Tie
Long, dark blue with Guild Logo in gold £8.95
Badges - all with Guild Logo
Blazer Badge £1.00Enamel Brooch £2.00Windscreen Sticker £1.00
Certificate of Membership £2.50Parchment membership scrollSigned by the President and Hon SecFor mounting and hanging
Cheques payable to IGKT, or simply send your credit card detailsPS Don’t forget to allow for postage
Supplies Secretary: - Bruce Turley
19 Windmill Avenue, Rubery, Birmingham B45 9SP
email [email protected]
Telephone: 0121 453 4124
Knotting MattersMagazine of the
International Guild of
Knot Tyers
Issue No. 84
President: Jeff Wyatt
Secretary: Nigel Harding
Editor: Colin Grundy
Website: www.igkt.net
Submission dates for copy
KM 85 07 OCT 2004
KM 86 07 JAN 2005
Paperweight by C ‘Bud’ Brewer
IN THIS ISSUE
The ‘Irish Bowline’ 8A Pretty Braid 10Loops on a Bight 12Knotmaster 14The 6L x 4B Turk’s Head Knot 16The Head Hunter’s Ring 17The Hanson Patent Knot 18Knot Gallery 22Square Knots & Plato’s Forms 28Cover the End 36Knot Tales 38A Knot-Tyer’s Story 40Knotless Knots 39Branch Lines 40
The IGKT is a UK RegisteredCharity No. 802153
Except as otherwise indicated, copyrightin Knotting Matters is reserved to theInternational Guild of Knot Tyers IGKT2004. Copyright of members articlespublished in Knotting Matters is reservedto the authors and permission to reprintshould be sought from the author andeditor. All sources of quotations printedin Knotting Matters are acknowledged.ISSN 0959-2881
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Notes from the Secretary’s Blotter
hey say that a typical Englishsummer is three warm days and athunderstorm. Well so far we have
had the thunderstorms, but I am stillwaiting for the warm days. Thethunderstorms keep my colleagues andme very busy, so it is fortunate that thisis the quieter time of the year on theadministrative side, as most sensibleknot tyers are busy with their variousactivities.
Fortunately this leaves me with only afew notes on my blotter, and shouldleave Colin with plenty of space for moreinteresting comments from othermembers.
Hopefully, nestling up with thisedition of KM you should have found the2004/5 Membership Handbook. Due tothe earlier failure of my computer, thishas taken much more effort than usual,and has been considerably delayed in itspublication. On your behalf, I must thankLesley Wyatt, who has helped metremendously by trying to update andcorrect members email addresses, whichproved quite a major undertaking. Shesent an email to every address in ourdatabase, and has updated and correctedaddresses where appropriate. As forthose emails that bounced back as‘undeliverable’, we had no choice but todelete the address from our files. Hence,if you find that your email address ismissing from this edition, please let meknow your correct address, as the one
published in the last Handbook did notwork.
One of the more interesting packagesthat I have received is a copy of BrionToss’s latest publication, Basic BraidedSplices which is book five in a seriescalled Working Rope - Field guides forRigging. It looks fascinating, and fromthe quick look that I have had, I am surethat even I shall be able to splice a rangeof braided ropes quite soon, which is justa well because my knot tying leaves a lotto be desired. I cannot confess to havingspent too much time reading it, otherwisemembers might realize why theHandbook was so late in delivery.
I have managed to squeeze in a shortholiday, when Sylvia and I escaped toBrittany for a few days. Whilst there, weinadvertently wandered into theDouarnenez Festival of the Sea. Wespent a very pleasant afternoon there,and I met a number of membersdemonstrating their craft, which was awonderful experience. Later in the weekwe stumbled into the Carhaix MusicFestival, where we found no knot tyers,but many young people with long hair,just waiting for someone to come alongand braid it for them. I would haveoffered but -.
I must stop know, because I must packmy bags and set off for the EssexInternational Scout and Guide Jamboree,in a field somewhere near the seaside, - Ishould have left two hours ago.
Nigel Harding
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Letter from the President
pologies for the lack of aPresident’s Letter in the lastedition of KM, but circumstances
crept up on us and we just ran out oftime.
My wife, Lesley, and I were inAustralia for the whole of March andmanaged to meet up with some IGKTmembers, but not as many as we hopedbecause about ten days before the end ofour holiday, Lesley developedpneumonia - which put a stop to anyvisits we had hoped to arrange in theSydney area. We did manage to spendan enjoyable evening with DarrenSamphier in Melbourne, and after afantastic drive around the coast tonorthern New South Wales, we visitednew member Ron Hodgens and his mateDan Cowie, in Tuncurry. Thanks for agreat couple of days, guys. I managedsomething I had always wanted to dowhen we were in Sydney - I climbed theSydney Harbour Bridge. I left poorLesley in bed in the motel, but she justwanted to be on her own in peace andquiet, and ordered me to do The Climb!!Who am I to disobey?
In May I attended the A.G.M. atChatham Dockyard -a shorter gatheringthan usual, as unfortunately, due tounforeseen circumstance we were unableto hold our usual three-day event. Mythanks to all those who stepped in at thelast moment to salvage the day. Ipersonally had a good time, and I hope
the rest of those who attended enjoyed ittoo.
I attended the Small Boat Show inJune on the River Thames at Beale Parkin Pangbourne, Berkshire, in the veryable company of Ken Nelson, LonnieBoggs, Charlie Tyrrell, Andy Dart,Robin Gray, and new member AndyLyle who was visiting this country fromSouth Africa. A good time was had byall.
There was the usual gathering ofseveral members of the Solent Branch atthe Queen Elizabeth Park Country Showat Butser Hill in Hampshire which I wasinvited to attend - a very entertainingweekend.
Many of those members connected tothe Internet will have received an emailfrom Lesley requesting verification oftheir email addresses. My apologies -that was my fault. I volunteered herservices for the task at the lastCommittee meeting. She has nowcompleted it and passed the resultingamendments to Nigel who has updatedthe Handbook and sent it off to theprinters.
To end on a sad note, those of you whoknow Harold Scott will be saddened bythe news that his wife, Ethel, passedaway in June. She was a lovely lady andwill be sadly missed.
Jeff WyattPresident
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Message from Webadmin
he Guild’s website is continuing togrow with yet another innovationintroduced by our WebMistress,
Mel Pedley. We now have a sectionwhere members can place links to theirown photo galleries. There are manysites on the Internet, some free, somenot, where anyone can upload and storetheir photos for access by friends andfamily across the world.
Don’t forget that there is a Diaryfacility to advise members of KnottingEvents all over the world, and we nowhave a sub-section of the Diary page forReports of Knotting Events. Just sendme the information or the reports and I’llensure that the details appear on the siteas soon as possible.
The Forum is going strong, but it doesstill need input from a few more of themore experienced members to answersome of the questions put by new and/orpotential members.
Mel is continually coming up withnew ideas, so keep a look out for somefancy new stuff on our site in the comingmonths, and if anyone has anysuggestions as to things that they wouldlike to see on the site, just drop me a line.Whatever it is will be given carefulconsideration and could well beincorporated.
I was volunteered by your President,my husband, to help Nigel with the taskof checking email addresses for the newedition of the Members Handbook. Isent a message to all members with anemail address, but only had about a 50%
response. Many “bounced” i.e. werereturned as undeliverable for variousreasons, and as many more did not reply.Thank you so much all of you who didreply, and for the many kind,sympathetic messages contained in thosereplies. Can I just request that as withchanges of normal addresses, can thoseof you with email addresses please notifyNigel of any changes? And in view ofthe number of ‘bouncers’ and non-replies can members please check theirentries in the new Handbook when itarrives.
Lesley WyattWebAdmin IGKT Website
Col’s Comment
recently went through an exercise ofworking out the value of my knottying and rope working tools. It was
an interesting experiment - although onewith an important purpose for me. I wasshocked by the cost I would have to payout should I ever have the misfortune tohave them stolen or destroyed. Perhapsyou rarely take them from your home, sotherefore could claim the replacementcost on your household insurance. On theother hand, if like me, you take them toIGKT displays and other places, thenperhaps it would be wise to insure themagainst loss. The same could be said foryour materials and finished items. Try itsomeday. Get a couple of catalogues ofmaterials and tools and spend a little timedoing the exercise, like me you’ll besurprised!
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More Doodles
by Ken Higgs
any of us who teach our craft toothers have come across theunfortunate person with dyslexia
as regards being able to see how a knot orsplice, etc should be formed. At a recentworkshop this subject came up and, as anexercise for our own insight, we triedthis: -
Make, from a single strand, firstly athree strand flat plait, next a four-strandflat and then the round ‘lariat’ plait. Thisdone we went on to joining them intocirclets and finally doubling them -either flat or as a bangle.
The two examples gave us whatlooked like impossibilities, a 3 x 15 anda 4 x 14 Turk’s heads! The join gives thegame away however!
Working out the need to pre-twist thestanding parts caused some problems butthat was all in the exercise.
Have a go yourself!
M
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Book Reviews
A Guide to the Multi, Single-StrandCruciform Turk’s Headpublished privately in 2004 by HaroldScottIGKT
ISBN 0-9515506-7-5This booklet combines, updates,
corrects and augments the author’s twooriginal works, namely On VariousCruciform Turk’s Heads (1997) andSliding Template Method for DesigningCruciform Turk’s Heads (1998), as wellas the supplement (2001) to thosepublications.
It consists of 34 x A5 pages, in a softcover, containing 35 individual linedrawings, 7 tables of data, and 6 scannedimages of completed projects; all ofwhich enable the Turk’s head devotee toplan and tie knots that are T-shaped,crucifix and cruciform, or right-angled(knee-shaped).
More ambitious shapes described andexplained are a Celtic cross, a ship’swheel and a globular design. There iseven a 5-branch candelabrum.
Whether you are a dedicated Turk’shead practitioner, or an all-roundknottologist, I recommend you take theearliest opportunity to obtain a copy ofthis unique booklet.
G.B.
Working Rope - Field Guides forRigging Book 5 - Basic Braided Spliceswritten by Brion TossIGKT andillustrated by Margie McDonaldpublished (2004) by Xian PressISBN 0-9753343-0-1
This is a soft cover manual of 122 xA5 pages, spring-bound to lie flat whenopen, with more than 150 black-&-white, step-by-step, instructional linedrawings. It contains introductoryparagraphs on splicing terms and tools -including a special feature on theauthor’s own Splicing Wand® - and achart that demystifies and standardisesthe usual measurements and markings bymaking them multiples of ropediameters. Amongst other expert tips isan imaginative use for bungy cord(shock elastics) to ‘milk’ slack sheathover inner core.
Actual splicing techniques are drawnand described for eye splices in: the NewEngland Ropes product Sta-Set-X;double-braid HM (high modulus) ropesof Spectra, Vectran, et cetera; double-braid Dacron, nylon and polypropylene;and single-braid Dacron and nylon. Amultiple Brummel developed by MargieMcDonald for HM ropes also appears, aswell a reeving eye for all core-&-coverropes.
Two versions of an HM grommet arepresented, together with an end-to-endsplice for Dacron, nylon andpolyypropylene double-braid ropes.
Brion Toss is perhaps the mostcredible and readable author in his field.‘Bear in mind,’ he writes in the Preface,‘that splicing is still a skill. Theinstructions will not splice the rope foryou.’ His book is, however, anindispensable aid to acquiring that skill.
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Twistlink LtdSTADON ROAD. ANSTEY. LEICESTER LE7 7AY .
TEL 0116 2361860.FAX 0116 2366423.
EMAIL [email protected] SITE www.fabmania.com
We have probably the largest and most varied stock of braids and cords in the UK. (Recently described by an IGKT member as an “Aladdin’s cave”)
Polyester, viscose, cotton and acrylic round and tubular braid in a wide range of colours.
Products include standard stock items, over makes and clearance lines, with prices starting from just 3 pence per metre.
Minimum order one roll (typically 250 - 750 metres)
Why pay more?
Personal callers are welcome by appointment.
Other books in the Working Ropeseries to look out for are:
Book 1 - Basic KnotsBook 2 - Specialized KnotsBook 3 - Basic 3-strand SplicesBook 4 - Specialized 3-strand SplicesBook 6 - Specialized Braided Rope
Splicesor you may order them online at
www.briontoss.com. G.B.
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The ‘Irish Bowline’ and the Triangular Bend
by Dick Clements
n KM 77 (December 2002) JoeMcNicholas described a loop knotwhich he called the Irish bowline.
This loop knot may alternatively beviewed as one of the loops which can bederived from a knot named by R E Milesin his book Symmetric Bends (WorldScientific, 1995), the triangular bend.This bend is also found in The AshleyBook of Knots as #1424 but Ashley doesnot give it a name.
The knot diagram of the triangularbend can be rendered as Figure 1 wherethe standing parts and working ends arelabelled SP1, WE1, etc. McNicholas’Irish bowline results from joining SP1and SP2 to form a loop and treating
either WE1 or WE2 as the standing partof the loop - the other WE becomes theworking end of the loop knot.
Viewing the Irish bowline in this lightimmediately gives rise to an alternativemethod of tying the Irish bowline to thatshown by McNicholas. Form a Whatnotas in Figure 2, then rearrange the knot asin Figure 3 and take a clockwise (right-hand) turn around the standing part of theloop with the working end as in Figure 4.
Of course, it might be consideredmore natural (and probablymechanically sounder) to form a loopbased on the Whatnot by splicing theworking end of one cord to the standingpart of the other leaving the other
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standing part and the other working endas the standing part and the working endrespectively of the loop. The resultingloop is illustrated in Figure 5. This loop
can be tied in a similar manner to thatdescribed in the last paragraph butstarting from a granny knot rather than aWhatnot.
Walker’s KnotMatthew Walker designed this knot
And saved one sailor’s mortal lot.A Judge giving Sentence of death
Named this challenge in the same breath:‘If you can interlace some cord
In such a way that I am flawed- Or, make intricate a tangle
Of good use which I can’t wangle- Your life at stake you may retrieve-
My word at stake I will reprieve!’The sailor walked back to his cell
Trusting a knot to serve him well.He thought it out and when inspired
‘10 fathoms-cord!’ he then required.With this, unlaying 30 feet
He put in Walker’s-very neat;Re-layed his cordage in a trice
Finished off with a crown-backsplice.The Judge, a hard man to defy,
Could neither make it nor untie.He claimed a new evolution
Stayed the sailor’s execution.
And thus the victim saved his lot With Matthew Walker’s stopper knot.
Knot and their Vices -Michael Jenaid
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A Pretty Braid
by Frank Brown
itting happily up here on my islandthe other day, twiddling with bits ofstring as knotters do, I developed a
braid I had not seen before. No doubt it isnot new, and I would not be terriblyupset if some erudite member provideddetails of its origins. In the meantime Iwould like to describe the method ofconstruction, as I reckon it is a veryornamental piece of ropework that somemembers may like to utilise. I have usedit for bell ropes, key fobs and ditty baghandles, generating quite a fewcompliments.
The method is based on normalcrowning using doubled lines. I havemade braids with three, four and fivepairs of lines so far, and believe it wouldwork quite well with more.
Firstly the lines are gathered in pairsas shown in Fig 1. The first crown ismade as in Fig 2.
Then comes the clever part. Form newpairs with adjacent lines and make thenext crown as in Fig 3. Repeat theprocess of forming new pairs for eachrow of crowning as shown in Figs 4 and5. With continuous crowning, a braidwill emerge that should look like that inthe lower part of the ditty bag handleshown in Fig 6.
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Reversing the direction of crowningeach row produces an interesting braid aswell. However I don’t think it is aspretty. Should the braid prove to be new,I would like to call it the “Tassie Twist”.I can dream, can’t I?
ROPE ENDS
In the ancient Oriental tradition knots and braids made by - or for - men to usespiralled clockwise, and for women, anti-clockwise. (Structurally, it may notmake any difference to the effect). A simple example, still seen in Japan today, isthe knot tying the obi (sash) to its binding-cord. [The True-love Knot]
Europa Chang
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Loops on a Bight by Owen K Nuttall
Middleman’s Loop (Linfit way)
A simple knot to tie, and secure when pulled up tight.
Mountain LoopAnother simple knot that is secure and with a figure of eight style of tying which might appeal to climbers.
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Whitby BowlineTied very similar to the double bowline on a bight. When tying this knot make sure that after placing the single loop (Fig.2) when pulling the double loops, that the single loop pulls right down. This knot can be adjusted so that it looks like the drawing shown, and so that the double loops cross in the middle.
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Have fun tying and using them.
Knotmaster Series No. 22
‘Knotting ventured,knotting gained.’
Compromise bowlineThere are scores of fixed loop knots, many of which are alternatives to the common bowline, but they often sacrifice elegance for ugly extra turns and tucks. This compromise - by Guild member Owen K. Nuttall, of Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England - combines simplicity with reassuring grip and grasp. It was first published in issue No 67 (June 2000) of Knotting Matters.
Some distance from the end of the rope or cord, tie a figure eight knot (fig. 1). Bring the working end around to create a loop of the required size, then insert it into the knot just tied (fig. 2). Take the end around behind the standing part of the line and tuck it down through the lower compartment of the figure eight knot (fig. 3). Tighten (fig. 4).
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The six lead by four bight Turk’s head knot is a two cord knot that is somewhat easy to tie because
one cord may be laid down and the second cord woven through it. Thus, tying this knot is two easy steps instead of one more difficult task.
If two cords of contrasting colours are used to tie this knot, then the characteristic barber pole pattern is seen. Since the knot is rather long, the stripes go almost completely around the knot. As I write this, Christmas is a few weeks away and I tie the knot in bright red and green cords. The resulting knot is rather pretty.
The first cord is laid down according to figure 1. Notice that this resembles a 3L X 2B THK, but is not. This first cord follows an over two, under two pattern. I find it convenient to lay the first cord on a table and tack it down with tape.
The second cord is woven through the first cord according to figure 2, following the usual over/under pattern.
The Six Lead by Four Bight Turks Head Knotby Jesse Coleman
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The Head Hunter’s Ring
by Derwent ‘Tug’ Shipp
any years ago, I purchased TheEncyclopedia of Knots andFancy Ropework by Graumont
and Hensel. Illustrated in this book is theHead Hunter’s Ring (plate 286 fig 428)but its construction is not detailed. Theonly hint as to how it is tied is that thestrand passes over three strands andunder three strands. I have drawn theguide, which will enable the ring to betied.
The method is as follows. Wrap theguide around a former to line up both theend lines. Note the former should be ableto accept pins pushed into it. Startanywhere and wrap the cord round,pinning as you go, following the underand over sequence. Double or treble asrequired. Do not work up the ring at thisstage. Slide the ring from the former ontothe object to be decorated and work upthe weave to tighten the construction.You can make the ring shorter or longerby turning back up before the bottom orby adding another copy of the guidebelow providing you follow the overthree under three rule. Similarly todecrease or increase the diameter turnbefore the end or add further copies toone side, again observing the over threeunder three rule.
I published this guide in the newsletterof my branch of the Guild, the WestCountry knotters, and several membershave tied the knot. Hope you have funwith this.
M
ROPE ENDS“Some have a flair for knotting andsplicing.
To them I would say, Pass the good work on...
Marline-Spike Seamanshipby Leonard Popple (1946)
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The Hanson Patent Knot
reported by our UK stringer(and illustrated by GB)
Patent: A grant from a government to aperson or persons conferring for acertain definite time the exclusiveprivilege of making, using, or sellingsome new invention ... to the exclusion ofother persons.
(The Shorter O.E.D. of HistoricalPrinciples - 3rd edition, 1973)
he earliest known patent for aninvention in England is dated 1449and was granted by Henry VI to
the makers of stained glass for EtonCollege. Since 1855 (when classifiedabridgements of UK Patents were firstpublished) almost all patented knotshave been for mechanisms - oftencomplex - to do with automated net-making, sewing and weaving.
On December 8th 1987, however, theAmerican inventor Alden W. Hanson, ofMidland, Michigan, was awarded UnitedStates Patent Number 4,711,476 relatingto:
‘A knot or bend for use with singleor multiple lengths of material andcomprising an overhand knotentwined with a crossing knot...’The patent document, consisting of
some 5,000 words and 34 technicaldrawings, describes a single fixed loop(shown here in fig’s 1 to 6), a slidingloop (fig’s 7 to 10), a bend (fig’s 11 &12) and twin fixed loops (fig. 13).
Oddly, the patentee labels and nameseach and every sub-divided section ofthe knot layout after one or other of the
twelve vows taken by Boy Scouts. So,instead of the banal ‘strand a goes overstrand b and under strand c’, readers aretreated to such bizarre sentences as;
‘The working end is passed underthe segment Friendly and reevedupwardly through the bightCheerful, and then is turned toparallel the section Clean and passunder the segment Thrifty to formthe crossing knot Trustworthy.’[For those unable to recall the otherseven qualities of a Scout, all ofwhich feature in this knot patent,they are: brave - courteous - helpful- kind - loyal - obedient - reverent.]The US examiners had to search back
to 1952 and 1957 (1961 in the UK) tofind anything comparable, whichsuggests that patenting a knot for its ownsake is rare in both nations. By grantingthe patent, they tacitly confirmed thepatentee’s belief that his knot is adiscovery, since nothing that is not newmay be patented. Yet to register theassertion in this way is as risky asplaying leapfrog with a unicorn, becauseit is rare to be original with basicknotting. Then again, even if no proofemerges for an earlier existence, thisknot may still fail to impress those whodemand; ‘So what?’ and ‘Who cares?’
According to the patentee his knot ispractical, being secure but easilyloosened and untied. Each version maybe made as a mirror image of itself andfurther variations created by swapping
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the working and standing ends. It is also,he suggests, decorative if tied infilaments of precious or semi-preciousmetals as a frog to adorn personalgarments, or as an item of jewellery.
Nevertheless, why - I wonder - wouldanyone go to the trouble and expense ofpatenting a knot?
For two earlier reports of knotspatented by individuals, see page 6 of
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KM#6 (January 1984) and page 23 ofKM#34 (January 1991). If anyone knows
of others, the editor of KM is keen tohear of them.
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Knot Gallery
Above - Another UK rope sculpture spotted by Geoffrey Budworth in the redeveloped bay area of Cardiff, Wales.
Facing - These covered bottles are made by cottonyarn - in Sweden it's called 12/24 yarn. Most of the bottles are macramé-work and one bottle is made by needle hitching.
The corks are made by needle hitching or Turk's head - Ewa Thormählen
Overleaf - Two photographs taken by Don Burrhus at IGKT-NAB 2003. A sea chest with fine beckets and canvas work by Gary C Sessions, and a pair of intricate earrings by
Supplies Secretary, Bruce Turley.
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Above - The sphere is 55mm diameter Racquet Ball covered with two 13x12 interwoven spherical TH’s. The trimming knife handle is covered with two interwoven
7x4 TH’s. Covering is 4mm thong hand cut from Red Kangaroo hide. Jim Caswell
Below - They look like fenders, but in fact they are doorstops. Fenders crowned in manila and sizal around a core of lead sheet. Colin Grundy
Back cover - A “stem-table bell”. The bow is of metal covered with braiding to the star knots then coach-whipping. Three 4L x 3B Turk’s heads finish the stand. Peter Willems
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Square Knots and Plato’s FormsKnot Tying and Dead Dog Platonism
By Dick Chisholm
The Soul that rises with us, our life’sStar,Hath had elsewhere its setting,And cometh from afar:Not in entire forgetfulness,And not in utter nakedness,But trailing clouds of glory do wecomeFrom God, who is our home.
William Wordsworth,“Ode: Intimations of Immortality”
s a sophomore in high school,long after I had mastered tying asquare knot, I first encountered
Platonic realism - in a somewhatattenuated version - in a course on planegeometry.
Mr. Dobbin, our teacher, explainedthat when he drew a triangle on theblackboard, he was merely trying torepresent the real triangle. This was anideal figure that had to be imaginedexisting about an inch out from theboard, and it was perfect in every way.All of the theorems and proofs ingeometry applied to that ideal triangle.
He explained that any triangle youdraw or any that you see is merely ashadow of the real triangle that exists inthe world beyond. He went on to say thatfor every physical object in this world,there is a real object in the world beyond,and the object that we perceive in thisphysical world is only an imitation of thereal object.
Well, this explanation seemed tocapture the imagination of Bobby Street,who sat next to me. He asked Mr.Dobbin about his dog. He wanted toknow if there was a dog in heaven justlike his own. Mr. Dobbin allowed thatthere was. It soon became apparent,though, that the dog in question hadrecently died, and that Bobby was reallyasking about his dead dog.
From Mr. Dobbin’s reply, Iunderstood that he believed that forevery dog, of whatever breed, living ordead, there is an ideal dog, living ordead’ in heaven. What an ideal dead dogwould be, I couldn’t imagine, but eversince then I have thought of Mr.Dobbin’s mode of thinking about realityas “Dead Dog Platonism.”
A Square Knot Helps Students Understand Plato’s Forms
Two years later, as a senior, when Iread Wordsworth’s Ode: Intimations ofImmortality, I began to suspect thatPlato’s metaphysics might be somewhatmore sophisticated than the concept ofan ideal dead dog. Much later, when Ibegan to teach Romantic poetry, Isearched for a way to help studentsunderstand Plato’s concepts: What arethe Forms? How are they related to thephenomenal world and to our customaryway of thinking about reality? How arethey related to Plato’s value system? Tothe Creation?
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At that point I discovered that I coulduse an ordinary square knot tied inordinary rope to make clear the conceptof the Forms. These objects could helpstudents move beyond Bobby’s ideaabout his dog.
Tying square knots is a very oldtechnique. Humans have probably tiedthem since the Old Stone Age, and theyare even tied by primates. For suchcommonplace objects, they have unusualproperties. They have numerouspractical applications, from tying down aload. They were used as a symbol byancient Egyptians and Romans and areused in this way today by Boy Scouts. Sofar as I know, nobody has previouslydescribed how to use a square knot toexplain Plato’s Form
Square knots are highly useful forteaching about the Forms. They arefamiliar and attractive objects that aretypical of the ordinary physical things ofthis world, while at the same time theyembody properties of the ideal world inways that make the concept of the Formsalmost self evident. They are alsointeresting enough to prompt questionsabout other aspects of Plato’sphilosophy.
What is a Square Knot?A square knot is usually described as
the result of a process of tying two ropeends together, perhaps following themnemonic “Right over left, then left overright.” But for our purposes, we need tothink of the essential property of thecompleted knot, which is its structure.
To designate a square knot, we cansimply describe its distinctive structuresegment by segment. The essentialfeatures are the semi-circular loops (orbights) at each end of the knot and the
tails that tuck once under each other andlie parallel to the standing parts. Thesecharacteristics distinguish a square knotfrom its four closest relatives, a grannyknot, a thief knot, a surgeon’s knot, andreversed half hitches (Ashley #2552) aswell as from all other configurations ofrope.
A Square Knot Typifies Objects of This World
A square knot typifies Plato’s (oranybody else’s) concept of the things ofthis world because it is a concretephysical object you tie, hold in yourhand, and use. A triangle, on the otherhand, doesn’t seem quite so physicallypresent - so really there - as a squareknot. A triangle you draw on ablackboard often seems to exist nowhereexcept on the blackboard.
My experience is that while a trianglecan help a teacher make Platonic Formsunderstandable a square knot makeslearning about the Forms memorable.
A Square Knot Embodies Proper-ties of the Forms
According to Plato’s philosophy, toreach the highest understanding ofreality, we must not confine our thoughtsto things of this world, that is, to thingsthat are known to the senses. We mustsee beyond physical appearances todevelop the concept of Forms and theultimate realities that exist in their idealform in the realm beyond, and which areknown only to the intelligence.
Plato’s two central concepts are thatevery particular physical object ismerely a shadow of an eternal Form andthat only the Forms, which are thefoundations of existence, are really real.I would guess that these ideas do not
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immediately recommend themselves tothe imagination of most students. Theyare apt to seem somewhat abstract, if notfar fetched. Students need help inmaking the intellectual leap fromeveryday experience with physicalobjects to the concept of Platonic Forms.The square knot provides a secure meansfor making this leap with confidence.
At the introductory level of instructionin Plato’s philosophy, we put asidequestions about the effect on a knot’sperformance of environment, materials,and mechanics as well as the uses of asquare knot and the various methods fortying them. We begin by consideringonly the structural aspects of the knot.
The Contrasting Characteristics of the Two Realms
In Plato’s view, any object of thisworld, such as a square knot tied in apiece of rope, is characterised by theterms in the first column below, which isthe realm of Becoming. Its counterpart inthe world of the Forms, such as theproperties that each individual shareswith all square knots, is characterised byterms in the second column, which is therealm of Being.
Objects of Forms ofThis World The Other
World1. Particular Universal2. Time-bound Timeless3. Changeable Unchanging4. Imperfect Perfect5. Dependent Independent6. Illusory Real
A square knot makes a good model forteaching Platonic concepts of reality
because it so clearly reveals aspects ofboth realms, the objects of this world andthe Forms of the other world. On the onehand, it is easy to see that a square knotis a particular object that is bound bytime, changeable, imperfect, anddependent on a person who ties it and onthe materials it is tied in. To the eyes ofall observers, it embodies everyappearance and every property ofordinary reality.
On the other hand, a square knot sonearly resembles the ideal that studentscan perceive that its structure isuniversal, timeless, unchanging, perfect,and independent, and that for thesereasons that it is more real than anyparticular knot.
The Characteristics of Plato’s Forms
Contemplating the structure of asquare knot helps students understand allsix of these characteristics of thePlatonic Forms.1. Square Knot Structure is Universal
Students can readily see the strikingfact that the physical structure of anyparticular square knot is identical to thatof all other square knots.
As for physical triangles, no two ofthem are ever identical. To specify theproperties of a triangle, we have todetermine the position of every point onits three sides, so that even a minutedeviation from the specified lines makesany particular triangle different from allother triangles. Because the number ofpoints that you have to line up is infinite,the chance of creating two identical onesis infinitesimal.
In contrast, we specify the structure ofa square knot by the relative position ofeach segment. No two square knots are
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likely to be identical point by point, butwhen specified segment by segment,their structures are identical. Thissameness of structure makes it possiblefor us to develop the concept squareknot, and to name all examples of it“square knots.”
This identity between all square knotssuggests that their structure is universal,which is a property of the Forms.2. Square Knot Structure is Timeless
In a similar way, it is easy to see thateach square knot tied today has aphysical structure identical to that of thefirst square knot ever tied and of all thesubsequent ones. We can look at anindividual knot and see that it embodiesthis same structure, which does notevolve or go through developmentalstages.
This property suggests that squareknot structure is timeless, which is anattribute of Plato’s Forms.3. Square Knot Structure is Unchanging
It is also a striking fact that no changein the structure of any square knot ispossible without changing its identity. Asquare knot can be tied either loosely orsnugly in any kind of cordage, so thatwhile some of its physical characteristicsmay be altered, its structure remains thesame. The description given abovedefines the limits. If you alter theconfiguration in any way, you mightcreate one of its close relatives, but not asquare knot. No square knot can bedegraded or made worse and remain asquare knot. Any configuration ofcordage is either an unaltered squareknot or not a square knot at all.
This invariable structure of squareknots suggests that it is unchanging orpermanent, a further attribute of theForms.
4. Square Knot Structure is PerfectNo particular square knot can be
improved. Any example of it fulfils thespecifications entirely and perfectly. Nomatter how many times I practice tying asquare knot, the product does notbecome better, and it cannot become anymore of a square knot. Even thePresident of the International Guild ofKnot Tyers cannot tie a better one. Incontrast, a triangle does not exemplifyperfection quite so well. Any triangleyou draw is an imperfect approximationof the ideal, not a perfect triangle. Thelines in any triangle you draw are neverquite straight and the angles are neverquite exact. It is always possible to makeit a better triangle.
By the perfection of their structure,square knots manifest a further attributeof the Forms.5. Square Knot Structure is Independent
While the structure of a square knot ispresent in all physical square knots, itdoes not depend for its existence on anyparticular knot or on any person who tiesit. It is the same square knot whether itwas tied today or ten thousand years agoand whether it was tied by a junglegorilla or by a Chief Boatswain’s Mate.
This independence of square knotstructure from any particular physicalobject or any agent is a further attributeof the Platonic Forms.6. Square Knot Structure is Real
The final attribute of a square knot isat once its most fundamentalcharacteristic and the most difficult tounderstand. The structure of a squareknot has a real existence of its own in arealm beyond sense perception. Allparticular square knots that we tie arederived from this structure and share inits characteristics, but they are mere
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appearances, shadows, or illusions. Thestructure in the reealm beyond is theactual one
A distinguishing attribute of thePlatonic concept of reality is the idea thatthe Forms actually exist. They are realentities, not mere intellectual concepts orfigments of the imagination. All theproperties of any particular square knotderive from the square knot Form.
Can Recognising these Proper-ties Lead Students to Platonic Realism?
Analysing these six properties of thestructure of a square knot and clearlydistinguishing the structure of the knotfrom its physical properties help us toraise the question about its reality.
Contemplating these aspects of asquare knot does not lead inevitably toPlato’s concept of the really real but itcan stimulate the search for a solutionWith the help of this example, studentscan make out a path to Plato’sexplanation, which was, of course, theexistence of the Forms. Following thisanalysis does not require any greatstretch of the imagination orphilosophical sophistication. Theexample of the square knot may notconvince the sceptical, but it makes theconcept clear and the inquiry seemsensible.
After students have analysed theontological status of a square knot, theycan be led to see that the six properties ofa square knot also pertain to all knots andto all other objects. Students can begin tounderstand what it means to say that theForms are the ground of all reality andthat objects of this world mislead usbecause they are but partialembodiments of the Forms and because
we perceive them only throughunreliable senses.
When students see that the structuralproperties of a square knot do not dependon the existence of any individual knot,nor on any physical or mental activity,they are well on the road tounderstanding Plato’s concept of theForms and seeing that it was reasonablefor him to posit the theory. They mayeven perceive Wordsworth’s trailingclouds of glory.
Square Knots and Plato’s EthicsMr. Dobbin’s lecture on the ideal
triangle concluded with the notion thatthere is a universal reality. Plato’sphilosophy did not end there but went onto link the realm of existence to a higherrealm, the realm of value. Once again,the square knot provides a means forgrasping Plato’s concept by illustratingthe way that values are tied to the theoryof the Forms. With the help of this knot,students can see the relation betweenPlato’s ontology and his ethics.1. Square Knots Provide a Standard ofUtilityIn Plato’s view, everything in the worldhas a purpose. It is not just good in theabstract but good for something.Because square knots are used for suchdiverse practical purposes, they manifestutility in many ways.
Square knots are extremely usefultools for sailors aboard square-riggedvessels, who use them for reefing sails,that is, tying them up temporarily toreduce the area of sail in high winds.Then, when the winds become calmer,they yank on the tail of the knot, the knotdeforms and comes apart, and the sailunfurls. This manoeuvre is one of themarvels of maritime technique
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In sharp contrast with this technique,if a square knot is used to join two freeropes in sports such as rock climbing, itcan be extremely dangerous, and for thesame reason that makes it so useful forsailors. If the knot deforms and failswhile bearing life or load, it canprecipitate a disaster. In the first use, theknot’s instability is a virtue, in thesecond, a liability. The contrast betweenthese two assessments of onecharacteristic of a square knot makes iteasy for students to understand Plato’sview that the value and excellence of anobject can depend on its use.2. Square Knots Symbolise Growthtoward Maturity
Use of knots presupposes a degree ofmastery of the technique. Learning to tieyour shoes with a double bowknot,which is a square knot that has sproutedwings, has come to symbolise a child’sentry into the adult world. Tying thisknot is one of the proudestaccomplishments of childhood andamong the simpler graces of adulthood.In this potent symbol of the growth tomaturity, students can observe practicalutility serving as a measure of value.
The structure of a standard bowknotdistinguishes it from a granny bow. Thedifference is easy to spot. The tails andbows of a double bowknot lie parallel tothe standing part in the same way as thetails in a simple square knot. In strikingcontrast, the tails and bows of a grannybow emerge at right angles to thestanding part.
Usually during Kindergarten or thefirst grade, children learn to tie a properdouble bowknot that will keep theirshoes laced up all day. So important isthis skill that even some one-armedpersons have mastered a way to tie theirown shoes. Nevertheless, children are to
be seen clomping down the hallway orthe street with their shoelaces flapping.The reason is that they have not tied adouble bowknot but a granny bow.
Among my acquaintances are threeadults who have never learned to tie theirshoes in the usual way with a doublebowknot, so their shoelaces often comeuntied. These persons include,remarkably, a shoe salesman in a well-known department store, a cross-countrybicyclist, and a leader in sportseducation. Some people cope with thisdeficiency by tying a granny bow, thenadding another half knot on top. Tiedthat way, the knot is inconvenient toadjust, and it displays none of the elegantsimplicity of the standard knot. Thosewho never learned to tie a doublebowknot probably can’t tie other knotseither, an inability that limits activitiesthat rely on knot-tying skill, such asmountaineering, sailing, and fishing.
By observing the interaction betweenutility and value in a double bowknot andthe development of personal skill intying it, students can come to understandthe interconnectedness of Plato’ssystem.3. Square Knots Symbolise Spiritualand Moral Values
In Plato’s scheme of things,understanding the ontological status ofthe Forms and the utility of objects areonly preliminary steps towardapproaching the realm of the values thatPlato most esteemed, Goodness, Truth,and Beauty.
Square knots often appear as imagesin art because of their simple andbeautiful classic form induces a positiveaesthetic response. They have beenillustrated in world art for thousands ofyears and today are displayed innumerous media, from a knot board at a
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Navy recruiting centre to the networks inCeltic interlace and decorations on giftparcels.
Square knots have been used torepresent values and meanings beyondthe pragmatic and the aesthetic. Forancient Egyptians, the square knotsymbolised the political unity of Upperand Lower Egypt. In ancient pictures ofthe figure Hercules and in images onheraldic badges during the late MiddleAges, square knots symbolised heroicvalues. For the Boy Scouts, the squareknot has come to symbolise honour andachievement. So powerful is its appealthat ability to tie it has become ashibboleth. Students can understandsomething of the nature of Plato’ssystem of values by inquiring why thesquare knot was chosen to representthese diverse values.
Tying a Square Knot Simulates the Act of Creation
Tying a square knot can even be usedto dramatise Plato’s concept of God andthe creation of the world. Plato’s conceptof the creator God was significantlydifferent from the all-powerful God ofsome types of Biblical theology, whocreated the world out of nothing, bydivine fiat. Plato thought of God more asan architect who built the world out ofexisting materials.
Students can come to understandPlato’s view of the creative God bysimulating this act of creation. Let alength of rope stand for Chaos or un-formed Matter, and let the structure ofthe square knot stand for Form. By tyinga square knot in the rope, the knot tyer isimposing Form on lower-order matter.Tying a square knot with this analogy inmind, a student can consciously
participate in a model of the Creationitself.
Square Knots Lead to Further Questions
Studying Platonic aspects of squareknots can lead students to greaterunderstanding of the fundamentalaspects of Plato’s philosophy, but it canalso open up areas for furthercontemplation and speculation.
1. Did the Form of the square knotexist before there was a physical squareknot (a Realist or Platonic view), or didthe examples exist first, and we merelygeneralise about their similarities (anempirical, Aristotelian, Nominalist, orexistentialist view)? Does essenceprecede existence, or existence precedeessence? What is your view? How didyou arrive at it?
2. Did the first person-or animal-whotied a square knot invent its structure? Ordid he discover it? Was it there all along,ready to be discovered, like the planetarystructure of an atom or the double helixof DNA? Or was it created by the first actof tying? If it was invented, how do youaccount for the identical structures of allsquare knots and the repeated inventionof exactly the same structure? If it wasdiscovered, what was its ontologicalstatus before it was discovered; that is,where did it exist, and in what form?
3. In Plato’s scheme of things, wouldthere be a Form for each individual knot?Or for the individual structures of knots(bights, parallel strands, tucks, and soon)?
4. How can tying and untying a squareknot help us understand characteristic 6,the relation between illusion and reality?Where was the knot before you tied it?Where does it go when you untie it?
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Where does Grandma’s lap go when shestands up?
5. You can loosen a square knot anddistort the bights and the parallel strandsonly to a degree before it ceases to be asquare knot and becomes another knot,or no knot at all. How much deformationcan a square knot undergo before it istransformed to something else? Howwould a mathematical topologist think ofthis change from a square knot to, say,reversed half hitches?
6. Knotters often think of a grannyknot as a poorly-tied or imperfect squareknot. In the Platonic scheme, is a grannyknot a faulty square knot?
7. Can concepts of Platonic Realismhelp us understand physical knots? Bydrawing attention to knot structures,would a Platonic analysis help climbers,cavers, and rescue personnel deal moresafely with knotted ropes?
8. How would Plato have understoodthe effect on a square knot’sperformance of environment, materials,and mechanics? How would a Platonicview of reality affect the variousmethods for tying knots?
No Better ObjectThe square knot provides an excellent
object for helping students understandPlato. It also helps them understand thenumerous philosophers, artists, andpoets who wrote footnotes to Plato.These characteristics of a square knotare, of course, properties shared by everyobject, triangles included, but in a squareknot, they are more manifest, moreaccessible, more unambiguous, andmore interesting to contemplate. Whileanalysing a triangle can intimate theconcept of the Forms, a square knotactually seems to embody the Form
itself, and not merely in some abstract ortheoretical way, but in an object that isclosely related to what we customarilythink of as physical reality. And thesquare knot can help students see thatthere is a good deal more to Platonicrealism than prototypes of dogs, eitherliving or dead.
In The Compleat Angler, IzaakWalton quotes a comment by Dr.William Boteler (or Butler) about thestrawberry: “Doubtless God could havemade a better berry,” he observed, “butdoubtless God never did.” ParaphrasingBoteler, we can say that for teachingPlato’s concepts, doubtless God couldhave made a better object than the squareknot, but doubtless God never did.
A square knot has uses beyond theordinary tasks such as tying up a parcel.In my Republic, everyone would studythis utilitarian device. It may help thememerge from a dark cave.
AcknowledgementsI wish to acknowledge the numerous
suggestions and the continued support ofRay Perkins, Herb Otto, David Haight,and John Strang, all of the Department ofPhilosophy, Plymouth State University,as well as the advice and counsel of JeanChisholm, Geoffrey Chisholm of NewYork City, Laura and Dan Saddler ofPortland, Oregon, and GenevieveTomlinson and David Braun ofBellevue, Washington.
SourcesAshley, Clifford W. The Ashley Book ofKnots. New York: Doubleday, 1944.Cornford, Francis M. Plato ‘s Theory ofKnowledge (The Theatetus and theSophist of Plato). The Library of Liberal
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Arts. New York: The Bobbs-MerrillCompany, Inc., 1957 (1934)._______ (translator) The Republic ofPlato. London, Oxford, and New York:The Oxford University Press, 1941,1945.Farmer, David. W., and Theodore B.Stanford. Knots and Surfaces.Mathematical World. Volume 6.Providence, Rhode Island: AmericanMathematical Society, 1995.Livingston, Charles. Knot Theory.Volume Twenty-four. The CamsMathematical Monographs.Washington, D. C.: The MathematicalAssociation of America, 1993.
Plato. (Various translations) Meno,Phaedo, Symposium, Phaedrus,Theatetus, Parmenides, Sophist,Timaeus, Euthyphro.Walton, Izaak. The Compleat Angler.Second Edition. Part 8, Chapter 4. 1655.(First edition, 1653).
An earlier version of this paper waspresented at the annual conference of theNorthern New England PhilosophyAssociation at Saint Anselm College,Manchester, New Hampshire, October22, 1999.
Cover the Endby Roy Chapman
here is an almost unbearable desireto cover every surface with knotsor hitches. Fortunately all those
around me have been spared by my lackof a Turk’s head with a perfectly closedend. Alas. They are now doomed. Aftermeeting Pat Ducey I began working withhis fascinating cruciform, pear andchalice form single strand Turk’s heads.It is amazing how far you can see whenyou stand on someones shoulders. Whynot tie a flat mat and a cylindrical Turk’shead combined to create a closed, flatend on your Turk’s head? I started withABOK #2390 as my flat mat, givingthree central bights and six rim bights. Ichose a 5Lx6B Turk’s head. Writing ofcomplex Turk’s heads CWA says, inABOK #1397, “An easy way to build upelaborate knots of this sort is to cut the
bights of several knots and then tie theends of the cords together to form asingle large knot. When completed,substitute a single cord for the knottedcord. However, unless care is observed,more than one cord will be required.”After proving the “However” to myselfseveral times I finally arrived at the knotshown in the accompanying diagram.This is the briefest form I could find.Working the knot is slower thancylindrical Turk’s heads. I found ithelpful to put it on the intendedfoundation as soon as I took it off the pinboard. I don’t find quite as much leewayin “adjusting” the fit as you would with asquare Turk’s head. Using the idea of aflat mat end on a six bight knot it can bestretched to any of the six bight knots(following the “Law of the Common
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Divisor”). To do that I found it easiest totie this knot as a “clue”. I do this byplacing it on a cardboard tube andputting six bight pins beyond the clue forseven, 11 or more leads then drawing theleads on the tube with a marking pen.Now I have almost no limit to the thingsI can cover with a single strand Turk’shead. Think of bicycle handlebar grips!Sweat free drinking glasses! Needlecases! I hesitate to think where this maylead. What will happen if I “raise” myknot the way other Turk’s heads areexpanded? What will happen if I useother flat mats from ABOK Chapter 30?Will I create oval bottomed baskets?Will my obsession become an addiction?
Two pieces of string were on a pubcrawl along Edinburgh’s Rose Street Theyhad nearly made it from one end to the oth-er, there was just one pub to go.
The pieces of string were noisy rowdydrunks and immediately annoyed the bar-man when they came crashing through thedoor of the tavern. Ignoring their call for apint he told them in no uncertain terms -“We dina serve pieces of string here, getoot”
Regrouping outside, one of the stringyduo ruffled his longish hair into a rightfulmess and marched back inside - “Twobeers please,” he asked politely.
The barman eyed him suspiciously -“you look like that piece of string I justchucked out”
Shaking his new hairdo the other replied“No, I’m a frayed knot”
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Knot Tales
by Gino Pietrollini
A thief who had stolen a cow was led in front of a judge and accused of the theft. The thief justified himself saying, “When on earth I am became a cattle thief? I have seen a rope on the road, I took and carried it to my house. The cow that was hitched followed me her own free will.”
The murder of Matthew Walker?
The Matthew Walker knot in theItalian language is: piede di pollo percorridore = foot of chicken for walker(runner or similar).
If the knot is invented by MatthewWalker, why in Italian the namechanges? In the French language is thesame: noeud de ride.
In the Italian language is also: nodoper bigotta, manico per tinozza, nodod’arresto. The Italian word mezzo (half)heard by an English maybe writtenMatthew.
Maybe the name is originated from abad transmission (or translation)between sailors of different nations.After some people wrote it with capitalletters making (or inventing) a man. Thisis only a hypothesis, I don’t want to killMatthew Walker.
In Australia I have read: Jamieson(Jameson), supa mart (super market), ti-tree (tea-tree), dip (deep), cheepaa(cheaper), eagleby (eagle bay), allea
(alley), tarace (terrace), land 4 sale (landfor sale), atcherley (at Charley),hilanders (highlanders), snak (snack),ton (town), dauntaun (downtown).
Monkey’s FistsI reply to Sten Johansson KM62 p21. I
found in George Devillers Manuale di Arte Marinaresca 1977,
Italian edition, for Monkey fist knot thename: Pigna per Alzanella. In the Frenchedition is: Pomme de Touline (from theEnglish throw and line). In the Spanishlanguage is: Pina de cabo de guia. Allthis names in English may be: pine,pinecone (or apple) for mooring, orthrowing line. Many Italian seamen callit (may be) wrong: “nodo sacchetto”, butthis name is referred to a little sack fill ofsand, now often used instead of the knot.Only an old seaman says me: Nodo diSalomone (Salomon’s knot). For thetime being I have not see this name in abook. It seems that Italian seamen makethe knot putting (or burying) an end inthe knot. I have tied a monkey fist knotindissoluble. After tying a monkey fistknot send a bight of a working end to theother side, near the other and tie anoverhand knot. Bury this knot in themonkey fist before tightening it. Whenthe two knots are tightened cut theworking ends. It is better to sign thedirection of the two bight as shown in thedrawing.
The workers of Telecom make an eyein galvanised wire with a particular
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whip. They fold the wire rope for about50 cm and put a thimble, after take onewire and whip the 2 ropes. When thewire is at the end, they use pliers to twistit with another wire. They cut the longwire and draw the twist on the ropes.After they take another wire and whipthe two ropes covering the twist. Whenthe wire is at the end they twist it usingpliers with another wire. They follow tothe end of wires, meanwhile the whipdecreases. This eye is used for the linksof the poles to anchor to the ground.
Interesting MuseumIn Italy, in the Navy Arsenal of La
Spezia (via Amendola, closely at themain gate) there is a Naval Museum. Atthe first floor in the room of navalrigging there is an interesting exhibitionof boating and sailing knots and other.No books on the knots are available.
In Marina di Camerota, a little town inthe province of Salerno (Campania-Italy), since to 1960 were handmaderough ropes. The fibres were taken from“erba sparta” (lygeum spartum,graminaceous). The ropes were used fortunny-fishing nets and mussel farming.
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A Knot-Tier’s Story
by Rudi Petschek
hroughout my youth myknowledge of knots was pathetic,limited to the overhand knot and
the granny knot. I was an adult by thetime someone told me to reverse mygranny’s second half-knot to convert itinto a more reliable square knot. Theimprovement from such a simple changewas impressive.
My first defining experience in knottying occurred in college and involvedanimal surgery in the physiology lab.Professor Leslie Bennett explained anddemonstrated the merits of the surgeon’sknot. It seemed so simple and basic-justadds a tuck to each of the square knot’shalf knots to increase friction andsecurity. Again I was impressed with theimprovement from such a simplechange.
Regrettably, in explaining the knot,Professor Bennett had told us that thiswas the best knot. Surely he must havemeant best for the purpose, but I was tooignorant at the time to grasp this subtlety.All he said was best, and I believed myexcellent professor implicitly.
I felt empowered by knowing the bestknot. I relied on it for years and it neverfailed me until 15 years later, already inmy forties, I became a white water guideon the Colorado River. The first time Irowed a boat through Grand Canyon andtwo weeks into the trip, we camped atRiver Mile 202 where the low water hadexposed a wide beach. It turned out myboat’s painter was too short to reach thetie-up. No problem, I thought at the time,
I have an extension and I know a goodknot. In fact, I know the best knot.
I extended my boat’s rope with alength of flat nylon webbing, joiningthem with a surgeon’s knot, of course. Iconfidently went to sleep and woke up todiscover that this was not, after all, thebest knot for the purpose. Rising waterovernight had floated the boat andtugged at the knot, eventually untying itand floating my boat into the river’scurrent as I slept so unsuspectingly. Thevessel meandered downstream throughtwo major rapids, unattended andunscratched, before being pulled ashoreand secured by good Samaritans. A noteexplaining the rescue ended,”... I finallygot serious about learning knots.
Upon scrutinising books at a marinestore I stumbled upon Ashley’s Book ofKnots and realised at once that I was notready to glean useful information fromthis vast encyclopaedia that includesweak, insecure, and impractical knotsalong with their more desirablecounterparts. Ashley would have to wait,I told myself, until I had enough basicknowledge to tackle it profitably. Aftertwo idle years on my bookshelf, ABOKfinally became a constant companionand inspiration to many fulfilling knotprojects.
In two decades of rowing the 273 rivermiles through Grand Canyon for adistance equivalent to the Equatorialcircumference, I never again lost myboat to an improperly tied knot.
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Branch Lines
Meeting at Bremen Vegesack On behalf of Peter Willems here followsthe oversight of our meeting at BremenVegesack on 7th - 9th May. Leavinghome on Friday morning in a terriblerainstorm, which lasted all day. Afterfive hours drive we arrived at ourdestination. A fine example of a sailing-vessel The Deutschland, a training ship
of 1320 tons, where we would stayaboard
At 2 o’ clock we went visiting therope-factory of Gleistein. Very modernand making all the new sort of ropes usedtoday and including the natural materialsof days-past like hemp and manila. Theexplanations were straight to the pointand clear. We liked the splicing lessonwith braided rope and eye fixing. Loadedwith information we left to set up ourexhibition in the shopping centreopposite the training ship, all veryshining and enormous. We had food inthe restaurant on the quayside with ourinternational group of 11 members fromfive countries with their wives andchildren. They were Peter Willems(organiser), the family Luiten, FusiTybor, the family Boeving, fam KarlBayreuther, fam Gerd Heinrich, famJurgen Schwalm, Dick Hollander and me
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Jan Hoefnagel, fam Yon, Anna Ekdahlwith their delightful puzzles and ahammock-maker
Next morning we had a good breakfastwith plenty coffee and then directly outfrom the galley aboard after which wewent to our places in the shoppingcentre. All day we had plenty visitorsand in the evening some colour local inthe form of a birthday party on thetraining-ship with an active drummer,who gave examples of his ability ofmaking ear shattering noise until aftermidnight that made sleeping impossiblebut we survived. Sunday at 1600 we leftafter saying good-bye.
It was a delightful meeting and wewere glad we went to Vegesack and wethank Peter for his well-caredorganisation and will be present at hisnext one at Lubeck next year?
Jan Hoefnagel
Pacific Americas BranchWe did it! We have a big beautifulBranch and now we have one each of anew President, Secretary, jointTreasurers and confirmation of ouracting Librarian, and we have two Boardmembers (Joe and myself) to help hold itall together, all in one weekend of funand frivolity in beautiful, bareBellingham, WA. Not that we werebare, you understand - more explanationlater, perhaps! Bellingham, Washingtonis a rather lovely port in northernWashington State in the extremeNorthwest of the United States ofAmerica. The port is host to the ferryterminal that takes hundreds of travellersto and from Alaska and Canada andintervening islands and islets everyweek. We believed that there would behundreds of travellers but we werewrong! The members who did turn out(24 brave souls, members, spouses andall) outnumbered the visitors on manyhours by a large margin for the entireweekend. Not to worry, because we hada very wonderful time with all of ourmembers, as well we held a simultaneousevent at the Newport Harbor NauticalMuseum in California at which we wereblessed by our members Tom Mortelland Joe Soanes in attendance, who sawand entertained several hundred visitors!
Our new President is the highlyaccomplished knotter and writer, RoyChapman (see his writings in Knot News,KM and below), our new Secretary is PatDucey who specialises in Turk’s Headsof a cruciform shape and is now workingon knotted chess pieces, our jointTreasurers are Dan Callahan of the KnotMuseum fame and his co-Alaskan friendand metalworker, wire splicer andblacksmith new member George Pollitt.
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Rounding out our troupe is former actingand now confirmed official Librarian,the indomitable Jose Hernandez-Juviel,a rigger and biologist who took the timeto teach George how to perform theLiverpool Splice at our Bellinghamweekend under the admiring gaze of oneBrion Toss, of rigging fame. The talentat our weekend was absolutelystaggering! We brought with us over400 years of collective knotting, rigging,wire and fibre-working expertise toshow off to ... a sometimes-bare hall!
So what went wrong? Was it evenwrong? We consider that we had a greatweekend with a visit to Samson Ropes, avisit to Puget Sound Ropes, a formidablechandlery visit, rope tales everywhere,sea-shanty singing, Marc Chardon andhis daughter Marie (Marc, you mayremember, is the grandson of CliffordAshley) visited with us, Brion visitedand talked with us, we got to show offour great collections of everything fromChinese knotting and split-ply braidingthrough ditty bags that make you crywith their elegance (thank you Gary andBarbara for visiting from Texas!) to thevaried collection that Roy has puttogether in the form of a museum-qualitycollection that rivals our own! However,to appreciate the enormous talent, ittakes advertising and people whoappreciate the quality of our collectiveworks. We had at least 24 of them, butwe are rather greedy and want to sharethat selection with hundreds of others, sothat the skills are not lost on this world.Was the venue wrong? Not with aputative potential of hundreds ofvisitors! Was the timing wrong? Therewas a soccer tournament that weekend,and a flying display, and a classic cardisplay....! Normally I might think ofthat as collecting potential viewers and
participants rather than dissipating them.So was our expectation wrong?Admittedly there has to be somemotivation on the part of folks we wouldlike to share our passion with, other thanthrough posters around town. Would Ido it again? In a heartbeat! Better lucknext time or maybe fewer displayers anda more productive venue? What wouldyou do, if anything, differently? Writeand let me know, do! I was happy, ourmembers were happy and incomingPresident Roy Chapman was happy!Meantime, Joe and Tom also did verywell, so I am definitely not complaining.
On to other areas of interest... Roy hasput together this letter on behalf of thenew Branch officers:
Greetings from the new Branchpresident, Roy Chapman.
“Our June AGM, in BellinghamWashington, was a great success! It waswonderful to have so many members inthe same place at the same time! Werealise that is one of the routine joys formany other Branches, but it is a rare treatfor us in the PAB. Now that I have metLindsey face-to-face, I can tell you thathis feet don’t look very big but thatfilling his presidential shoes will be verydaunting. We also installed our newsecretary, Patrick Ducey. We created aco-treasurer position, with Dan Callahanand George Pollitt serving together. Weconfirmed acting Librarian JoseHernandez-Juviel as our officiallibrarian. Now that our new officers arespread across 3400 miles of the Pacificcoast, we really feel that we are thePacific Americas Branch! One of thenecessary changes will be to hold ourmonthly meetings and AGM in a chat-room & telephone conference call
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environment. We anticipate someteething pains for the first few months.The bright side is that we are movingforward with many more shows anddisplays, wider member participation,more opportunities for expanded publicexposure and a well-earned rest for ourformer officers. Joe Schmidbauer willcontinue as the most excellent editor ofour paper Knot News (welcomingcontributions now from all quarters). Ipersonally will have been dragged,kicking and screaming into the currentcentury (hard to run a chat room meetingif I don’t get internet access?) but willstill continue my pen and inkcontributions to Knot News and KnottingMatters.
Our two day show at the AGM was asuccess with continuing demonstrationsof Chinese Knotting by Carol Wang,wire rope splicing by Jose Hernandez-Juviel, split strand braiding from MaggieMachado and coachwhipping fromDennis Armstrong. Brion Tossdelivered an engaging talk on ropemaking and the changes which modernmaterials have brought to our craft [orwhich our craft can give to modernropes]. This dovetailed nicely with thetwo tours of local rope making facilitieson Friday. Our venue at the cruiseterminal was excellent and the PortAuthority personnel most helpful. Wemight have wished for more public walk-through traffic since the rotunda isn’t ina direct line from ticket to boat. Themany visitors who came in spent farmore time with us than they would haveif rushing to catch their sailing. Mostguests ended up coming directly to theevent, due to advertising or word ofmouth with some coming back to us aftertheir harbour tour or island trip. Ourraffle also did quite well [and our thanks
to all our contributors!]. Many guestsexpressed interest in membership,further involvement in knotting andmore than a few left with the distractedlook of a person planning a project anddreaming a dream.
We are anticipating a very good showat the “Fall Fisherman’s Festival” inBallard, Washington on September 11th.We also will have a presence at theWooden Boat Festival in PortTownsend, Washington the sameweekend. The California folks will haveopportunities to display at the Tall ShipsFestival on September 11th and 12th aswell as at the Cabrillo Aquarium FallFestival October 24th.
Lastly, I am investigating thepossibility of having cast brass beltbuckles made displaying the Guild logo.When I ask “How much?” the firstquestion the foundryman asks is “Howmany?” Well, I know that I want one!However, I am not going to proceed ifthere is no market interest. If you haveany interest please let me know andsuggest a fair market price. I see littlepoint in making any $300 buckles! Also,if you do cast work yourself or havecontacts in the trade I would like to talkwith you about this project.
Roy S. ChapmanPresident, IGKTPAB
Thanks Roy and Bonne chance! -that’s all that I have for now, except tosay that this weekend I am going to join38 other souls for a two-week trip aboardthe brig Pilgrim sailing up the SantaBarbara coast of California to visit thatmost excellent town on a good will visit,our first in two years and our first sincewe installed the new mast! Square-rigsailing is a most excellent sport and we
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are looking forward to a great time -news next time!
Lindsey PhilpottIPP, IGKTPAB
West Country KnottersIn March we held our 9th AGM. At thisannual meeting we look back on the yearand also forward to the next
One event, which we reviewed, tookplace in September 2003. The branchtook part in a local fair, The KeynshamCraft Fair. Several members made itemsfor sell and Richard Hopkins, Ken Birdand Tug Shipp ran the stall on the day.Although many people stopped andspoke to us and we gave out a lot of in-formation on the branch and the Guild,commercially the day was not a success.We sold very few items and withoutKen’s generous payment of the cost ofthe stall we would have made a loss.This led us to reflect on the notion ofmaking items and the general publics’appreciation of hand made goods. Canwe get realistic prices for the items wemake cognisance with the work in-volved?
The guest speaker at our AGM meet-ing was Tony Fisher, who until recentlywas President of the New Zealand ‘chap-ter’ of the IGKT. Tony is a highly
skilled rigger and accomplished educatorwho has spent much of his working lifeup masts, antennae and cranes. He talkedto us about his life and also demonstrateda practical way of doing a short splice ina 30mm rope. A very interesting and en-joyable afternoon ensued.
At the start of our May meeting weheld a one-minute silence in memory ofour friend and fellow knotter JumperCollins who died three days after attend-ing the March meeting. Vernon Hughes,our chairman, true his resolve held theformal part short. The rest of the meet-ing was put over to the tying of a bellrope. Each member present was given adiagram and six metres of 3mm cord andlet loose on the activity. At times youcould have heard a pin drop as we allconcentrated on the task
July saw us back at Almondbury, forour mid summer meeting. As the annualBristol Harbour Festival was takingplace as we met and news of the Sea Brit-ain 2005 was tabled, thoughts of partici-pating in such events were expressed.The consensus was that we should join inwith these activities and maybe next yearour July meeting could be held at theBristol dockside. At this meeting Rich-ard Hopkins showed a hammock made inNorthern Argentina from cactus fibres.Who said you can’t sleep in a cactus bed.
‘Tug’ Shipp
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PostbagThe views expressed in reader’s letter do notnecessarily reflect those of the Council. TheEditor reserves the right to shorten any letteras necessary.
Safety FirstI enjoyed issue #83. A couple of things toadd:
Regarding the library. My girlfriend isa weaver and the weavers have scannedthe old books past their copyright ontoCDs that they sell. It generates incomefor the organisation and provides easyaccess to the old books that are limited innumber and fragile. Even the currentGuild publications can be madeavailable on disk and considerablycheaper to produce and mail.
I enjoyed Tony Fisher’s articles onworking high. Parachute riggers have asign in the rigging loft that reads “I willbe sure always”. Plus there is thewonderful quality control process bywhich a rigger can be asked to jumpanything they have packed or repaired -focuses the mind powerfully! Thediver’s safety practice he quotes fromGeoffrey Budworth is similar to thatused by people working with explosives.When you go down range to work on anexplosive charge the master blasteralways disconnects and carries thehandle to the blasting machine with him.
Joe BarryRandolph, Vermont, USA
It’s a Monkey’s AuntIn KM 82 page 33 Thomas Simpsonasked the question- Rare Knot, or Not?And named the knot a Double Monkey’sFist.
As ever a one-page article hasprovoked much discussion. I have beenreliably informed by Gordon Perry andTony Doran - much hot air and theorieshas been on the Knotting Groups on theInternet, to say nothing of the Fridaynight before the Chatham AGM in Mayof this year.
Having listened to all of the evidence,I decided to find out for myself; in thestyle of the late Harry Asher, I thoughtthe best way was to tie the knot, andwithin, would lay the answer. It did andone thing is for sure, it is not a Turk’shead.
Being at the edge of skilful knot tyers,from around the world, some of it rubsoff. The first thing I required was to freeup both hands, so I made up a jig out of awire coat hanger, I did remove thegarment first. Having shown my finishedknot to more than one guild member-Ihave been badgered into writing thisletter, even after I found out that this knot
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is Ashley’s #2207. Have a look, you canmake up your own mind which one iseasier to tie.
Monkey’s fists in the main, have threecycles or phases of loops interlocked,with the last or third phase tied as afrapping to give the fist its form. Insimple terms the knot or fist on page 33,has three phases, but each phase is split50/50. To make it an even divide, logicwould be, to have an even number ofstrands on either side. This is not thecase, stay with me I shall explain.
Before you start, I must advise youthis knot is related to the Rubik’s Cube:you work with all the windows open, sono glass is broken when you throw it out.
If you lay up an even number ofstrands, to give you a 50/50 split for thedouble monkey’s fist - beware! The fistwill finish up with not one, but three,riding turns, one on each face. When youretrieve the fist from the street, or shrubs,you will find the riding turns are causedas the strand transfer from the left half ofthe split to the right half. To overcomethe riding turns problem; the extra strandmust pass under both parts of the 50/50split as it runs at right angles to it. Thisenables the strand to change from the lefthalf of the split to the right half, unseen.
As this is not rocket science, but agood hands-on project; I intend to giveno more details. As to how many turns tocover a sphere and what dimensions thematerials used- a good knot tyer does notgo out just to buy a practice piece, youuse what is in your box, and the rest istrial and error. In my photograph pleasenote I have not allowed enough turns tocover the sphere, and this is the mainlearning part of this letter. A truemonkey’s fist can not be expanded, inthe same way as a Turk’s head. The fistmust be completely untied, and then re-
laid, after you recover it from outside thewindow.
This knot is clearly a monkey’s fist instructure; but to tie it is a ‘Monkey’sAunt’.
Ken YaldenCowplain, Hampshire, UK
Macramé PatternI used to have a macramé pattern that Idid not save. I do not remember where itcame from and I used it for teaching GirlScouts to macramé years ago. It was acute owl necklace pattern. I was wonder-ing if you have ever come across this pat-tern as
I would like to have it again. Margaret Wagner
Bollard Loop SagaI have a photocopy of part of a booklet
published by the Japan PublicationsTrading Company in January, 1965.Unfortunately, I have lost the title page.However, the author is Mr. SuekoOtsuka and the translators are Mr.Masatsugu Tsuzawa and Mr. Donald C.Mann. The booklet, shows a loop namedTori-No-Kubi (Bird’s Neck). It is amirror image of the Bollard Loop p34KM83.
The application of the Tori-No-Kubiknot mentioned is “to fasten the lid offishing bags or the feed bag of hawks”.Without seeing the details of the“fastening”, I am uncertain whether thisapplication is a loop or a binding knot.
Brian GrimleyOntario, Canada.
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Knotting DiaryAGM’s & 1/2 YEARLY MEETINGS
Half-Yearly Meeting8th - 10th October 2004Pitsea.Contact: Don WoodsTel: 01708 229178[
23rd AGM13th - 15th May 2005Beale Park, Pangbourne.Contact: Ken NelsonTel: 07836 722198
BRANCH MEETINGSMidlands Branch11th October 2004The Old Swan (Ma Pardoes), Halesowen Road, HalesowenContact Nick JonesTel: 01384 377499
Solent Branch5th October 2004St Jude’s School, Fareham, HantsContact: Ken YaldenTel: 023 9225 9280
EVENTSModel Boat Show9th - 10th October 2004Beale Park, Pangbourne.Contact: Ken NelsonTel: 07836 722198
SECRETARY:Nigel Harding16 Egles Grove,Uckfield,Sussex, TN22 2BYTel: 01825 760425E-mail: [email protected]
Guild Annual Subscription rates:Juniors £5Seniors £18Families £22Corporate by arrangementPayable by cash/cheque Eurocard, Master-card or Visa. Taxpayers in UK - we would pre-fer a covenanted subscription.
EDITOR:Colin Grundy115 Upper Eastern Green LaneEastern Green,Coventry CV5 7DJTel: 0794 6841157E-mail: [email protected]
Advertising Rates:Members Non-members
Full page £32 £49Half page £19 £22Quarter Page £10 £15
Printed by Gipping Press Ltd., Needham Market. Tel: (01449) 721599 Fax: (01449) 721372
Guild SuppliesPrice List 2004
Item Price
Geoffrey Budworth
Notlore a miscellany of quotes from fact and fiction £2.50The Knot Book £4.99Plaited Moebius Bands £2.50Knot Rhymes and Reasons £1.50
Brian Field
Breastplate Designs £3.50*Concerning Crosses £2.00*Eric FranklinTurksheads the Traditional Way £1.50 *Nylon Novelties £2.00 *
Stuart Grainger
Knotcraft £4.00 *Ropefolk £1.30 *Turks Head Alternatives £2.20 *Creative Ropecraft (Hardback - 3rd Ed.) £9.95Knotted Fabrics Hardback price includes UK postage £9.00
Colin Jones
The DIY Book of Fenders £9.95
Skip Pennock
Decorative Woven Flat Knots £12.50*
IGKT
Knotting Matters copies of past editions £2.50(Some past editions available - contact the Secretary for details)
*bulk purchases of these items available at a discount - phone for detailsCheques payable to IGKT, or simply send your credit card details
PS Don’t forget to allow for Postage
