articles and link round up 3

Chit Chat
1

I haven’t posted for a while, so here’s a whole slew of knot links. Mostly decorative, but some practical and all mixed up, so… Chit Chat. :sunglasses:

A variety of scout-y activities described in brief. A few of them involve knots
http://www.vindy.com/news/2008/jan/20/boy-scouts-competitions-winners/

Description of a TV movie in which how knots were tied are an important plot point
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008/jan/21/television

A display of Japanese knots
http://www.bcap.co.jp/nmd-gakkai/katudou2007jul3.htm

Review of Fishing Knots, Proven to Work for Light Tackle and Fly Fishing, by Lefty Kreh
http://www.fishandfly.com/articles/20071228_1

A (large) double fish knot is suspended from a power line like a pair of shoes (why do people do that with shoes?).
http://flickr.com/photos/mikey_k/sets/72157603648742714/
People are mystified, the commentary is amusing.
http://blog.craftzine.com/archive/2008/01/electric_line_monster.html#comments

An essay on scarf tying
http://www.nwanews.com/adg/Style/213295/
and another
http://www.timeout.com/chicago/articles/shopping/25380/forget-me-not-knots
how to make your own with bulky yarn and some knots!
http://www.marthastewart.com/portal/site/mslo/menuitem.0e0eb51a2e6b5ad593598e10d373a0a0/?vgnextoid=1e21c0b266e35110VgnVCM1000003d370a0aRCRD&vgnextfmt=default

A lunar new year article about Chinese knots (original content, not endlessly copied and recopied from the same sources!)
http://giftsfromasia.wordpress.com/2008/02/04/knots-of-goodwill/
Another about the meaning of Chinese knots
http://www.brudirect.com/DailyInfo/News/Archive/Feb08/070208/nite19.htm
a similarly prompted blog blurb
http://englishsinseh.blogspot.com/2008/01/chinese-knotting.html
a festive knotted peacock for New Year
http://www.cctv.com/program/cultureexpress/20080130/102086.shtml

deCor has been very busy of late tying knots in wire and beads. These have been posted to a whole host of forums.
Carrick bend (love knot)
http://forums.bellaonline.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=382676#Post382676
also offered as a tutorial (payment needed)
http://decorshandmades.blogspot.com/2008/02/love-knot-wired-chinese-knot-skylark-on.html
the “grass flower knot” (I don’t recognize the name nor the knot from the views on the site)
http://decorshandmades.blogspot.com/2008/02/wired-chinese-knot-grass-flower.html
the pipa knot
http://cs.beadandbutton.com/bnbcs/forums/p/6392/30096.aspx#30096

An article about fishing lines with a couple of comments about the best knots for such
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080228/SPORTS10/802280424/1058

A pendant with snake knot sennit cord. The artist includes a tutorial for the snake knot
http://lampworkdiva.blogspot.com/2008/02/knot-with-cindy-finish-with-abs.html
and a companion article about finishing the pendant
http://artbeadscene.blogspot.com/2008/02/lucky-knots.html

A review for Suzen Millendot’s pair of books
http://www.myjewelryblog.com/from-jewelry-beading-book-review-chinese-knots-for-beaded-jewelry-and-celtic-knots-for-beaded-jewelry/

An article about the many ways to lose your fish including knot failure
http://www.athensreview.com/sports/local_story_067180148.html

The Hampstead American Legion awards exemplary Scout leaders and that award is called “The Square Knot Award”
http://www.topsailadvertiser.com/articles/burdick_1976___article.html/award_square.html

Fashion created by draped fabric and a few well placed knots
http://www.shinystyle.tv/2008/02/new-york-fashion-week-tadashi-101027.html

The cliched macrame plant hanger updated with cat5 cables
http://www.shog9.com/log/archives/23-Cat5-Macrame-Plant-Hanger.html

An article about maedup (Korean knotting). The interviewed artisan takes pot-shots at Chinese and Japanese counterparts. 8-0 :sunglasses:
http://www.korea.net/news/news/NewsView.asp?serial_no=20001011002&part=106&SearchDay=2000.10.11

A completed eBay auction (pictures are still there, for now) of a ladies mirror compact in an enameled, jeweled simulation of a turk’s head knot (5x3? Someday I will learn to count bights and parts, I promise :sunglasses:
ttp://cgi.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=110223989794&ssPageName=ADME:B:SS:CA:1123

The website of a macrame jewelry artist, Sandy Swirnoff
http://www.swirnoff.com/gallery.html

Not directly knot related, but an exhibition from one of the premier kumihimo (Japanese braids) artists in the world
http://picasaweb.google.com/Makikokumihimo/2008MakikoExhibition?authkey=ic1w3qy3Dw4

2

Dear KnotMe, I followed the metering statistic to this place. Thanks very much for the introduction. :slight_smile:

3

A nice substantial article from Mother Earth News about how to tie the 10 most useful knots
http://www.motherearthnews.com/Modern-Homesteading/1979-05-01/How-to-Tie-Useful-Knots.aspx

A fly fishing (and fly tying) article
http://www.baxterbulletin.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080319/SPORTS/803190308/1006

The Etsy (http://www.etsy.com/) store of someone incorporating maedup into their jewelry
http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5674852

4

Happened upon a profile (in English! 8) of Maedup master, Choe Eun-Sun
http://www.antiquealive.com/masters/m05/master05_view1.html

A substantial newspaper article about Kim Hee-Jin (in English with pictures)
http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/art/2008/03/148_2132.html

A short article, text only, with definitions of some Korean terms. Interesting variations in romanization schemes (as an example of how difficult it is to find stuff on the 'net in languages you don’t understand, and sometimes even when you do 8)
http://english.whatsonkorea.com/main.ph?code=H&scode=H-09&pst=L

An English blog article about Chinese knotting. Covers a lot of the usual ground…
http://www.hwswworld.com/wp/?p=1204

Another newspaper article about tangling
http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/chi-0323_earbuds_n_kmar23,1,7144760.story

5

How to Tie a Figure-8 Follow-Through Knot
http://climbing.about.com/od/climbingknots/ss/Figure8FollowTh_3.htm

Round Brocade (6 flower) tied with “knitted i-cord” == spool knit yarn?
http://ccat.wordpress.com/2008/04/07/april-snow-and-atypical-flower-pin/

How-to for the Palomar knot
http://www.app.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080411/SPORTS06/804110404

A project with a Pan Chang knot and paper embroidery. Instructions for the paper embroidery.
http://chhand.blogspot.com/2008/04/paper-embroidery-and-chinese-knotting.html

A knotted pineapple.
http://www.momisodes.com/?p=610

6

Discovered 2 new-to-me macrame blogs

Calling herself “knotme” (hey! 8) this daWanda (http://en.dawanda.com/) macram? merchant seems to be pretty active
http://knotsme.blogspot.com/

as contrasted to this “macram? lovers” site she linked to
http://macramelovers.blogspot.com/
Last posted to in march of 2007 where it mentions that it was previously last posted to in 2006! 8) So, a low-traffic site that can safely sit in my RSS feed reader and not bug me much. 8)

Since I’m on the topic, I thought I would do a knotty blog round up (at least the ones in my RSS reader) and encourage you to share the ones that you read:

Active, but only very occasionally about knots is Vinegar’s blog. Vinegar takes Chinese knotting classes and shares both her work and makes instructions available on her blog (love that category feed, because, really I don’t care about YOU, just the knots! 8)
http://vinegar-english.spaces.live.com/category/Hobbies/feed.rss

deCor, of course, posts here regularly about her wired knots
http://decorshandmades.blogspot.com/

stormdrane on the other hand, correct me if I’m wrong, never posts here, but is a fixture over at KHWW
http://stormdrane.blogspot.com/
a lanyard guy who uses a lot of paracord (all those lanyards, I wonder how much stuff he has hanging off of his person on a daily basis? 8) 8)

what do you read?

7

??? :o

Should anyone ask Who could think what you assert re this (pathetic, and badly (un)edited) article,
reply with you username!!

Carol, this is a joke of an article (sadly, like all too much of knotting literature).

:-\

8

Thanks Carol.. :slight_smile:

9

Rereading your comments and mine, I was trying to figure out what you thought I had asserted about the article, and I guess “nice substantial” could be interpreted as a value judgment endorsing the contents of the article. Hmm, I think it was more a: “it’s got illustrations that could actually be used to tie some of the knots mentioned” and “it’s more than a few lines long” whereas many of the articles found on the web are so short they don’t even try to be informative.

Assuming that an innocent lay-audience might occasionally make it here to this forum, would you care to add value and substance by correcting the inaccuracies in the original article? 8)

10

Yeah, and isn’t THAT quite a commentary on knotting knowledge!
But “nice & substantial” certainly should connote more than page length
(esp. the meager page length of 4, replete w/ad space, incl. pop-up irritations!).

What you ask is essentially to re-write the article. I’ll refrain from that but give
a quick critique here.

  1. The images/photos of the Carrick Bend is hard to discern, and of the supposed
    Taut-line Hitch fouled & indiscernable.

  2. The Sheepshank most certainly is not–never was–among the “Ten MOST USEFUL
    Knots”!

  3. The ‘Figure 8 Know’ => ‘… Knot’.

  4. “hoisting hay from wagon to mow” ??? That hay sounds already mowed,
    and I’m not able to come up with a correct term to replace it.

  5. “Bitter end”: this term is unfortunately given this meaning, and thereby threatens
    the nautical sense of it, which is the rope at & beyond a boat’s bits–i.e., some
    substantial part/section of rope, aboard ship, and not the “very” end of it.

  6. “There are over 4,000 hitches and bends used in …” : Presumably, this nonsense
    derives from the oft’ asserted count of knots in [u]ABOK, about which I’ve given
    detailed rebuttal elsewhere in this forum.

  7. ‘reefor square knot’ : sounds like some hippee construct. (One of several such
    fused-word typos.)

8 ) ‘It’s also We starting point’ : again, another type of typo found in this article, as
though it was transcribed by eyesight (not such good eyesight) from another!?
‘We’ presumably seen vice ‘the’!?

  1. “The result looks like a sideways numeral 8.” : if one holds it thus; or, it looks
    quite like a Fig.8, oriented at a right angle to the presumed orientation. .:. silly comment.

  2. Recommending the SquaREef knot qua bend–yes, it can work, but there are
    better options.

  3. “SHEET (BECKET) BEND: You should use this knot to join two ropes of different diameters”:
    Well, to some extent of difference, but one shouldn’t allow the interpretation that the knot
    is ONLY so useful; it is also to be preferred over the SquaREef for equal dia. rope joints.

  4. ‘back over as own standing pail … Ken under the bight’ : Ken I call these typos
    “beyond the pail” ?! ::slight_smile: --again, this seems to indicate a transcription process.

  5. ‘less wellknown than’ : again, the fused-words problem.

  6. "if a “Best Bend” award existed, this tricky knot would be sure to walk off with the trophy. ":
    Clearly a parroting of Ashley’s praise, and ignorant of a vast many competitors, and the
    significance of knotting environment & purpose. (The bend IS favored by Alaskan crab fishers
    for their hardlaid, stiff potwarp. But those folks I think could come to have equal favor for
    Rosendahl’s Zeppelin bend.)

  7. (Re the Bwl) “is easily loosened … even when it’s under strain” : Ha! Let’s see them loosen
    an under-strain Bwl!

  8. (re Clove H.) “This hitch won’t be secure unless there’s a load acting on both ends of the knot”:
    this is too strong a caution–the knot tests to rupture in most(?) dynamic climbing rope, e.g.; though
    it has been shown to slip in some other kernmantle ropes; these tests being essentially of a ring
    hitch    , not necessarily relevant to spar-/pile-hitch instantiations. But many a boat has its fenders
    attached by this simple knot; and many have some further hitching–a 3rd HH, or … .
    It is certainly used at times w/o load on both ends.

  9. " TIMBER HITCH: This knot is designed to roll around a tree" : Huh???!

  10. ’ many as eightturns.’ : more word fusion.

  11. “The taut-line hitch will slide up and down to provide a climber with freedom of movement, but
    ?should he or she slip?it will tighten up and stop the fall short.” : This sounds like a fusion of
    hype given for the Tarbuck hitch & the Rolling Hitch. I doubt the part about a treeclimber’s rope
    being simply looped twice through the belt (but maybe there is some special ring that this would
    securely hold in?). As for catching a fall, that is not an expected circumstance (unlike that for
    the Tarbuck hitch–although its performance doing so has been questioned), and the knot’s gripping
    is expected in much more frequent and less dramatic usage for the climb up.

  12. “should have a figure-eight knot tied to its end to prevent it from accidentally slipping through
    the loop of the taut-line hitch, should that knot ever become loose” : Not really, it’s an expectation
    that the material will gradually feed out of this knot, from usage, not idle loosening.

  13. ‘SHEEPSHANK: This is a specialpurpose knot that’s useful’ : word fusion, and a dubious assertion.

QED.

ps: ’ There are any number of other knots you’ll find just as useful as our “10 best” ’ Indeed!

11

Some thoughts on shoe tying including step by step photos
http://www.cruisingworld.com/capable-cruising/seamanship/knot-your-shoes-right-1000059224.html

Another Etsy member (Knotty sheep crafts) who sells knotted crafts (jewelry and buttons):
http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5147309

12

I think I may have posted this link before, but even if I have, it’s well worth another look. Knot artist Ed Bing Lee uses mostly macrame techniques to create pictures, sculptures and wall hangings. The pictorial picnic series looks like Cavandoli macrame. The sculptural representational delectables series has more variety in the knots, but the freeform earthcrust series is the best IMHO…
http://www.edbinglee.com/

The soundknitting blog seems to consist mostly of references to YouTube clips of decorative knots being tied.
http://soundknitting-soundaram.blogspot.com/

An article from the Tampa Tribune about fishing and the uni-knot
http://www2.tbo.com/content/2008/apr/23/sp-fit-to-be-tied-uni-is-all-purpose-knot/

13

IGKT member Yvonne Chang’s website of Chinese knot tutorials was brought to me by my daily search. The page was last updated a year ago, so why Google said “look this new thing” I don’t know. That said, no reason not to bring it to your attention if you haven’t seen it before, right? 8)
http://webpages.charter.net/yvonnechang/knots/12-basicknots.htm

Clara in Singapore blogs about the knots she ties, with the promise of more to come
http://www.bloomize.com/blog/bloom-knots

The infamous Mother Earth News has another knot article, this time about the “forgotten” zeppelin knot
http://www.motherearthnews.com/Modern-Homesteading/1980-01-01/The-Forgotten-Zeppelin-Knot.aspx

LoopyLacer (Lily Morales), IGKT member, but frequenter of http://khww.net/ and not so much here, has a new blog
http://loopylacer.blogspot.com/

A lady in Florida is making macram? bridles (that’s nice) and patenting the idea (oh, please!) of macram? products for animals (quick, someone tell the patent committee that you can’t patent ideas, especially obvious ones this this!)
http://southshore2.tbo.com/content/2008/may/07/ss-whats-knot-to-like-about-new-bridles/

A newspaper article framed as a discussion between 2 guys as to why you would want to wear a tie
http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/style/18463219.html

Esquire magazine makes a list of “the 75 skills every man should master.” Tying a bow tie comes in at 16 and tie a “square” knot comes in at 69 (language warning).
http://www.esquire.com/features/essential-skills-0508

A lady name “Jon” from Malasia combines Chinese knotting and tatting to interesting effect
http://tatsaway.blogspot.com/2008/05/tatting-and-knots.html

An article about the scarves and tassels that are preferable for the end of your Asian martial arts sword. Only obliquely about knots, but for an Asian martial arts sword, most of the tassels involve knots as well.
http://greatrivertaichi.blogspot.com/2008/05/tassles-and-silk-scarves.html

Text instructions (no pictures) for a macram? necklace from “The Hemp Necklace Store”
http://www.hempnecklacestore.com/2007/10/1_7629.html

There’s this piece of jewelry called the “Algerian Love Knot”. It’s famous because it was in a James Bond movie. It’s certainly not a tied knot, although it does have an abstracted knot quality to it. In any case, here’s a link to a picture and publicity about it, just so you know what’s going on if someone should ask you about the “Algerian Love Knot” 8)
http://www.jamesbondlifestyle.com/index_accessories.php?m=ac&g=ac012

What kind of knot do the famous wear in their ties?
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/richard-torregrossa/phat-bill-and-the-politic_b_98974.html

14

The 4th picture down in this blog entry shows a lamppost in China which looks like a pan chang knot.
http://volprincess.blogspot.com/2008/05/we-made-it-to-guangzhou.html

Meanwhile, Bloomize is making good on her promise of more knot-related content.
http://www.bloomize.com/

A copy of Maedup and Dahoe ( Ornamental Knot and Cord) by HEE-JIN, KIM available from an antiquarian book website, although my copy is in Korean with touches of what I would swear is Chinese (no telltale Japanese traces, even when using kanji vs hiragana, contrary to the written description). That said, Koreans used to use Chinese ideograms before the introduction of their phonetic script (http://www.omniglot.com/writing/korean.htm), so the book may in effect be written entirely in Korean as it were.
http://antiqbook.com/boox/hawtho/034259.shtml

A philosophical blog entry with many knot-ical references and talking points.
http://www.grasshoppernotes.com/blog/?p=213

a nice but quick blog reference to a knotted mother’s day present
http://upliftingarts.livejournal.com/116415.html

15

A theatre professional highly recommends some knot tying flash cards (pocket reference)
http://www.kk.org/cooltools/archives/002836.php

A fishing knot article (part 2 of 3 of the “knot wars”)
http://www.the-record.net/articles/2008/05/22/sports/sports02.txt

An eBay listing for an elephant hair bracelet that is actually made of elephant hair (although it looks different than the wire versions)
http://cgi.ebay.com/_W0QQitemZ350060492729

A brief article that introduces (I wouldn’t say ‘reviews’ because there doesn’t seem to be any evaluation going on) a documentary movie about the other side of knot tying, bondage. More specifically, Bakushi (bondage “artists”) practitioners of kinbaku (Japanese bondage).
http://mdn.mainichi.jp/culture/waiwai/news/20080527p2g00m0dm004000c.html

Sail World publishes a list of boating terms “as published by an illustrious marine organisation” and invites you to find the errors. Numerous knot references/terms.
http://www.sail-world.com/cruising/index.cfm?nid=44742&rid=11

A short blurb about the upcoming Olympics in Beijing. It mentions folk artists “…while ‘Chinese knot’ maker Lu Zhao tied four hundred China knot creations and created some paper art, based on the Olympic theme…” (no idea what the quotes around Chinese knot is about…)
http://www.cctv.com/program/cultureexpress/20080426/100576.shtml

16

a short discourse on the uni-knot including instructions
http://www.app.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080530/SPORTS06/805300351

an article about lightening and dyeing plant fibre rope
http://www.pburch.net/dyeing/dyelog/B1063361308/C765382484/E20080602141925/index.html

a blog entry with a brief mention of the good luck knot with picture
http://ssooalexandra.blogspot.com/2008/05/output.html