The InterKnot. Newsletter of the International Guild of Knot Tyers North American Branch. March A Progression of Knots

Transcription

1 The InterKnot Newsletter of the International Guild of Knot Tyers North American Branch March 2011 By IGKT member Richard Wilcox Graphics by Glenn Dickey A Progression of Knots I think it is ridiculous to assume a knot is new or never been tied before. Humans have been fiddling with rope, twine, fiber, sinew long before man learned how to make fabric or other necessary items. It may not be recorded in modern books but it probably existed at one time if it was worthwhile. A lot of what I read in books I have thought out myself. But most books will have something I have not yet thought about. Hopefully some of you have not thought this through yet and you ll find it useful. I use this series of knots to teach knot tying because most novices do not have the muscle memory to easily move through the knot tying sequence. Editor s note: Richard has the person he is teaching use a separate cord and has them tie it around their shoe. This gives the starting knot for making the other knots. I m using the shoe illustration for continuity in this article. The Same Knot has several names depending upon its purpose or use! Put the rope around your shoe and tie it like it s your shoelaces only stop with the first step. You have tied an Overhand Knot. Take the cord off your foot and you have an Overhand Knot. Shape it at the end of the rope and you have an Overhand Stopper Knot. Leave it around your foot and pull straight up on one of the ends, (standing Part) shape it around the standing part of the rope and it s a Half Hitch. InterKnot March International Guild of Knot Tyers North American Branch Pg 1

2 Now Complete tying your rope like you tie your shoelaces. If your bow lies across your shoe you have tied a Slippery Square Knot. (Also known as a Bow Knot.) If you pull the ends through the knot you have tied a Square Knot or Reef Knot. (Also known by the names of Common knot, Flat knot, Hard knot, Reef knot, Regular knot, String tie knot, and True knot.) If you pull straight up on one of the ends (Standing Part) and let the other reshape itself around the end your pulling on you have tied Reversed Half Hitches. If you slide the standing part out while sliding a stick or dowel in to replace it you have a Cow Hitch. (Also known by the names of, Bale sling hitch, Carriage hitch, Cinch hitch, Cow hitch, Deadeye hitch, Girth hitch, Hoist hitch, Lanyard hitch, Ring hitch, Running eye, Sling hitch, and Tag loop.) If your bow lies up and down pointing at your toe and your leg you have tied a Slippery Granny Knot. If you pull the ends through the knot you have tied a Granny Knot. (Also known by the names of, Calf knot, False knot, Garden knot, Granary knot, and Lubber's knot.) From the Granny Knot, pull straight up on one of the ends (Standing Part) and let the other reshape itself around the end you re pulling on you have tied Two Half Hitches. InterKnot March International Guild of Knot Tyers North American Branch Pg 2

3 If you slide the standing part out while sliding a stick or dowel in to replace it you have a Clove Hitch. (Also known by the names of Boatman's hitch, Builder's knot, Double half hitch, Peg knot, and Steamboat hitch.) Separate the two half hitches and form loops in the center and you have a Sheepshank. Step 1 Sheepshank Step 2-Sheepshank With the Clove Hitch take the shorter end and wrap it around the other rope end next to it to Form a Constrictor Knot. Constrictor Transom Knot From the Constrictor Knot, add another dowel stick at right angles to the first and you have a Transom Knot. or Go back to b two Half Hitches and reverse the direction of the standing part or straight end of the rope by pulling it out of the two loops and putting it back in through the other end of the loops and you have a Buntline Hitch. If this is tied around the neck with a piece of fabric it is called a Cravat. Two Half Hitches Buntline Hitch Cravat This process demonstrates with a little bit of change that many knots can be tied from a basic knot. All of these knots can be tied using many methods. Each knot has a use, special characteristics, and usually a story to be told. InterKnot March International Guild of Knot Tyers North American Branch Pg 3

4 By IGKT member John Staley KNOT CANADA eh? One of the newest additions to the I.G.K.T. is from Canada. Specifically, we are located in Hamilton, Ontario. Hamilton is a city of about 550,000 people and is located about 40 miles west of Toronto. Given the size and breadth of Canada, we have decided to call our branch the Southern Ontario Knot Tyers Guild and are currently associated with the North American Branch of the IGKT. Currently, we have an active membership of 2 however, good things often come in small packages! To this end Dave Lambert and I have developed a new website and located some potential new members from our IGKT membership directory. On September 25 th, Dave and I had a (IGKT) table set up at a Scout leaders resource day. This event consisted of a number of Scouting workshops. I was asked to do a workshop on advanced knotting for Scout leaders. My workshop, which was only one hour long, consisted of seven knots that could be utilized in a number of ways so that Cubs and Scouts could create some interesting and useful crafts. The main thrust of my presentation was to provide knotting activities that would create an appreciation and interest in knotting for our youth. Utilizing various jigs, copious notes and some in-hand work, the attendees were shown how to tie a constrictor knot, cow hitch, monkeys fist, Turkshead, carrick bend & lanyard (diamond ) knot. Contained within the handouts were instructions on how the kids could make lanyards, woggles, tent or decorative brushes and a variety of key fobs. I know that some readers may be wondering how we managed to pull off so much information in one hour. In a Picture: left Dave Lambert, right- John Staley word. PREPARATION. Dave and I premade kits and as said before, copious hand out notes. All in all, we had a very successful outing and we hope to continue to spread the word about knotting in our community. InterKnot March International Guild of Knot Tyers North American Branch Pg 4

5 KNOT CANADA eh? (continued) We invite you to visit our website at and to drop us a note at southern.ontario.knotyers@gmail.com Editor s Note: If you teach or use knotting in a Scouting activity I d like to publish what you ve been doing. Please send your information to alexd_3@juno.com. By IGKT memberbarbara Merry Pictures by Ben Martinez A Modern Clifford Ashley: Working with an Artist In 1981 I put a note on a bulletin board at a local art school. I was writing a splicing guide, a handbook that encompassed all the necessary information to put an eye, connect two ropes together or finish the ends nicely and neatly on all the ropes from all the manufacturing plants that I could get my hands on. I needed diagrams drawn, lots of them. When Ben Martinez answered the ad and mentioned he was a teacher at the school I quickly told him that I couldn t afford a teacher, I was actually looking for a student and hoping to save money on production costs. He said, No, you don t understand. I m starting a graphic design service and you ll be the first client. We ll work things out.. It was the beginning of a long and productive working partnership. Fig 1: Pier, New Bedford, Massachusetts oil on canvas, 2010 Splicing Handbook came out in Ben and I followed that with an article about the history of rope making for Invention and Technology magazine and then a series of How To articles followed for WoodenBoat magazine. The second edition of The Splicing Handbook (published by International Marine) followed soon after. Then there was a website for my rope products and splicing business, and a booth for a trade show, and on and on. InterKnot March International Guild of Knot Tyers North American Branch Pg 5

6 Ben has a parallel life as a landscape painter in New Bedford Massachusetts, where he lives and keeps his studio. His new works, paintings of the nearby woods and of New Bedford s working waterfront, are on view in the exhibition Four Artists Four Seasons at the New Bedford Art Museum, until January 16, (Fig. 1)Like another New Bedford artist, Clifford Ashley, the famous author of the Ashley Book of Knots, Ben s love of the water and the weather of the Buzzard s Bay area has kept him working. For years he kept a little double ender with a lugsail on a mooring in New Bedford harbor and would spend a day every week running up and down the Achushnet River and poking into the coves, piers and anchorages. He calls it watching the light. Some things haven t changed. I still make elaborate knot boards from which Ben will make his equally elaborate drawings in pencil on vellum before scanning and editing in Photoshop. Occasionally he ll have more room for his own creative ideas, as when we needed a thematic illustration for an article about the rope bumpers called dolphins. (Fig. 2) The strands or art and technology that we ve been able to weave together would probably have pleased Clifford Ashley, an artist who, back in his day, knew how to freshen the nip on a line and how to draw a line when needed. About the author: Barbara Merry is a marine rope worker with thirty years of experience in the trade. Founder and owner of The Fig 2 - Illustration for WoodenBoat, pencil on vellum Marlinspike Artist in Wakefield, Rhode Island, she has worked on projects for boats of all sizes, from small traditional sailing craft and working schooners to commercial fishing vessels and Coast Guard cutters. She has taught at the WoodenBoat School and The Northeast Maritime Institute, and has written on rope and rope technology for WoodenBoat Magazine and Invention and Technology Magazine. The second edition of her book "The Splicing Handbook", published by International Marine, is available at most marine booksellers. A regular exhibitor at the Portland, Maine Boatbuilders show and the WoodenBoat show, she has also lectured at the Herreshoff Marine Museum in Bristol, Rhode Island and the Seaman's Church Institute in Newport. She also teaches and consults privately. InterKnot December International Guild of Knot Tyers North American Branch Pg 6

7 The IGKT in Louisville, Kentucky. I was attending a conference with my wife, Barbara in Louisville, Kentucky in June of While she was at one of her meetings I walked down to the waterfront. Crewmembers for the Spirit of Jefferson were having trouble splicing rope for the gangway. I pitched in to help. After the splicing was done, I asked, What are you going to do with the old rope? Oh, throw it away., was the answer. Not wishing to see perfectly good, used rope go to waste, one crewmember and I made an Ocean Plait for the captain s wheelhouse. Shown here is a crewmember with the newly made plait. ================================================= ================================================= Meeting notice from IGKT member Bonita L. Carter: I'm giving a talk to Scientech Club June 6 on the Physics of Sailing, showing photos of my Atlantic crossings on the Royal Clipper and discussing the principles affecting hull, sails, air, water, etc. See scientechclub.org for more info. Meetings open to public, no charge. This group has met every Monday since Call me for more info if needed InterKnot December International Guild of Knot Tyers North American Branch Pg 7

8 Membership Questions should go to IGKT-NAB Membership Secretary, 4417 Academy Street, Dearborn Heights, MI This is a reminder to update address, telephone numbers and when making a change or relocating. Send e- mails to knottyrope@prodigy.net SUBMISSION OF ARTICLES & PICTURES FOR THE InterKnot Please submit written articles in MS Word Document or convertible document. (I can also accept MS-Publisher documents.) If sending instructions for tying a knot please include black & white sketches or electronic drawings. Motion arrows would be easier to understand. Pictures are welcome but try to make sure they are high-contrast photographs in jpeg format. You may be asked to send the pictures separately so they can be more easily incorporated into the publication. Printed copies will be grayscale pictures to save cost. Please send submission items to alexd_3@juno.com Include IGKT article on address line. Membership Dues IGKT-NAB membership dues are $45 for an individual per year. Please Note Your Membership Expiration Date is shown on the InterKnot next to each member s name. will be in cover letter. InterKnot March International Guild of Knot Tyers North American Branch Pg 8 IGKT-NAB InterKnot C/O 4417 Academy Street Dearborn Heights, MI 48125