This little wire element is apparently called a “Danish knot” (possibly alternatively a “runic knot”) http://creativewirejewelryyoj.typepad.com/.shared/image.html?/photos/uncategorized/2007yojweek5.jpg
looking at it I can guess how it’s done, but as I like to have definitive answers i went looking for info about how it might be done (unsuccessfully, I might add, so if you know… 8) I came across a link to…
article (with nice pictures) that is about Harry Eng who used to make “impossible bottles”. like the boat in a bottle thing, but with things other than boats in the bottles. one of his signatures was including a knot (a knot that was much bigger than the opening of the bottle 8) in each. http://newpaper.asia1.com.sg/news/story/0,4136,136640,00.html
A link from the press release is this one http://koreancraft.kcpf.or.kr/index.do?act=index
pick English, Exhibitor, AnBang, and page over a bit (don’t you hate Javascript sites that you can’t link directly? 8) to see some knot pictures.
I haven’t looked at the downloadable zip file, but there may be some knot pictures in there too.
a beginner’s mountain climbing article. the knot content is fairly low, although the line “The first thing we need to learn is how to tie a correct knot” does appear mid-way through http://www.uniondemocrat.com/news/story.cfm?story_no=24160
The first entry in a new craft blog. Suitable cord for tying Chinese knots (elastic vs satin cord) is briefly discussed. It is in English, but the writer seems to be from Hong Kong, although there is a smattering of Japanese text in the navigation (perhaps there is only an “Asian” localization of Blogger?) http://crafts2hobbies.blogspot.com/
This is not new that I know of, but I only just discovered it: dictionary.reference.com has a section in it’s entries about other languages (the Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary) which shows you what that word translates to in other languages. It’s near the bottom of the page. Here’s the link to knot, where they have 30 different translations of the word(s) (rope configuration, marine speed, tree feature, verb, etc) http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=knot&x=0&y=0
Here’s the announcement of a new book by Jacqui Carey of kumihimo fame. This one is about Chinese braid embroidery and includes info about making the braids. In my narrow worldview, it could not be that braids used for embroidery would not also have been used for knotting, so I’ll be getting a copy myself in the expectation that I might find information about braids that historically were use to make Chinese knots (and if not, I’m sure the braids and embroidery themselves will be interesting 8) http://www.careycompany.com/chinese%20braid.html
A short article about the meaning of Chinese knots prompted by the upcoming Olympic Games in Beijing. http://bugoo.cn/2008beijing/?p=15
A description of the activities at Heritage Days at the National Mississippi River Museum & Aquarium in Dubuque, IA which starts out with a description of how much the kids enjoy the rope-making demo. http://www.thonline.com/article.cfm?id=173416
A blurb about using “this animated video clips from this site” (I’m paraphrasing here) for learning knots, except that I don’t see any link. Maybe my security settings are too high… http://www.arabianbusiness.com/500397-get-knotted
The preview of an article in New Scientist about why string tangles (real string, not theoretical string). Because I don’t like registering for things, I ran out to my bookstore, but they had the mid-September issue (it’s a weekly magazine). At least for Canadians (I imagine that they have a parallel deal for Americans) there’s a 4 issues and “free” online access to articles for the cost of 1 issue from the newsstand. Does anyone already have the issue or online access and can give us a review?
It was especially interesting to note that our Vice President, Dr Vaughan Jones, FRS, is the individual whose mathematical formula was used to assess what had happened to the string! He deserves a medal! I wonder how they classified the stiffness of the string? Has anyone got access to the original paper?
I’m curious as to how they determined a knot–i.e., in assessing the entanglement
within their shaken container. For much of what would count as a knot practically
–e.g., a Fig.8 loopknot–is a non-knot mathemitcally (any such knot TIB (Tiable In
the Bight). Since they say that they used mathematical forumlas to do so, that implies
some way of uniting the ends: this path, too, is of key interest, should an end lie
amid the mess!
As for getting a medal, Dr. Jones has–the biggest one possible, no less, 1990.
stormdrane continues to blog about the nifty knotty things he makes http://stormdrane.blogspot.com/2007/10/monkey-fist-bookmark.html
as a bibliophile, however, i need to point out that to minimize damage to your books, your bookmarks should be as flat as possible or they will stress the spine and damage the pages.
the monkey’s fist instructables page also leads to a bunch of other knotty projects including this one about knotted weapons (nunchuks and a mace). 80 8) http://www.instructables.com/id/Rope-Weapons/
which leads to… ugh, so hungry! must stop web browsing to have breakfast… 8) 8)
