ISSUE 53 SUMMER-JULY1996 ISSN 0959-2881 · 2015-01-25 · Set of8 Single Strand Ornamental Knots (White on Blue) RUBBER STAMP "IGKT -Member" (excludes stamp pad) TIES Polyster (Dark

ISSUE 53 SUMMER - JULY1996ISSN 0959-2881

\' .. GUILD SUPPLIESI.G.K.T. STOCK LIST 1995

"'..::II:I:I:I.jlll~lllllllllj:i:i::li:l:iljl:::l:I:II:·1··:·II·lj·I:I:::III:I:ljl·:~lljl:lilll:lllllii.:I::·:1:::llilil::lil:ll jl·:::lll:::i::IIIIII:lil:llillll:::i:iil:l:I::I.i.i:lllil~:il:~~::.llillliil.~:··li·I::i·i::·:·I:lil::::~I:lljlillllllll::l::llllllll·:

KNOTCHARTS100 to choose from £0.10 each

POSTCARDSSet of 8 instructional(Brown & Cream)Set of 8 Single Strand OrnamentalKnots(White on Blue)

RUBBER STAMP"IGKT - Member"(excludes stamp pad)

TIESPolyster (Dark blue, with white Knotmotifs) LONG

BADGESGuild LOGOEnamel Brooch TypeCloth, Blazer TypeCar Sticker (Solft Plastic)7" Display Stand Logo

KNOT CRAFT· THE VIDEO elementary teaching aidVHSorNTSC

Stuart Grainger

SUPPLIES SECRETARY3 Walnut Tree Meadow

Stonham Aspal

STOWMARKETSuffolk IP14 6DF

£1.50 Set

£1.50 Set

£4.00

£8.95 each

£1.80 each£1.00 each£1.00£7.50 each

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THE QUARTERLY NEWSLETTER ofTHE INTERNATIONAL GlTILD OF KNOT TYERS

ISSUE No. 53 SUMMER - JULY 1996

PRESIDENT Des PawsonHON VICE PRESIDENT Dr. Vaughan Jones,F.R.S.

PAST PRESIDENTS Perey Blandford - Geoffrey Budworth - Erie Franklin Jan Vos - Stuart Grainger - Glad Findley

GUILD ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTION RATES:Payable by cash/cheque EurocardlMastercard orVISA. Juniors £4

Seniors £14Families £19Corporate By Arrangement

SECRETARY:Nigel Harding

3 Walnut Tree MeadowStonham Aspal

STOWMARKETSuffolk IP14 6DFTel: 01449 711121

Taxpayers in the UK - We would prefer a covenantedsubscription.

Advertising Rates: MembersFull page £32Half page ~19

Quarter page £10For inclusion in one issue only.

Non-members£49£22£15

EDITORS:Lonnie & Margaret Boggs

78 Marlborough AvenueKIDLINGTON

Oxford 0 X5 2APTel: 01865 378104

Submission dates for inclusion of articles/letters:KM54 16 AUGUST 96KM55 22 NOVEMBER 96KM56 07 MARCH 97KM57 07 JUNE 97

Except as otherwise indicated, copyright in KnottingMatters is reserved to the International Guild of KnotTyers IGKT 1995. Copyright in members' articlespublished in Knotting Matters is reserved to theauthors and permission to reprint should be soughtfrom the author and editor. All sources of quotationsprinted in Knotting Matters are acknowledged.

THE IGKT IS A UK REGISTERED CHARITY NO. 802153

EDS BYTES & PIECES

What do you think of the new frontpage and table of conrents? I heard alot of good ideas about how to makeKM better at the AGM at Gilwell inMay. I hope we have included themall in this issue. The new 'HOUSESTYLE' will include things likeindented parC;lgraphs and puttingauthors names and areas at the headof the article or letter. We will try touse some symbols to break betweenarticles and letters to help alert thereader of the change. We try to retypeall letters and articles but sonle timesthe quality of the item is as good aswe could do and would loose thedistinctive look of the author, so wescan it in or send it off to the printersas camera ready copy. So there willbe changes in columns and type facebut its deliberate. There are somespelling errors but not that many for68 pages. We make_ every effort toproof read all the text at least fourtimes by three different people andstill we see glaring mistakes when weread the printed copy from theprinters. We will continue to strive tocome up to the very high standardthat was' set by our previous editor,Gordon Perry.

Erratum KM 52: The articlebeginning on page 10 is of course byStuart Grainger, and I didn't includehis name. The letter beginning onpage 34 'Nautical Unequal Ropes'was written by Eric Jones but

submitted for him by RichardHopkins. Page 45, Animals Knotsshould be 'ANIMAL KNOTS' andwas written by Heinz ProhaskaHorsching, Austria. Also the letterends, 'Gorillas use knots to join theends of lianas (not lines) whenmaking its nest. Page 50, the letter'More on Clock Ropes' was writtenby Terry Ridings. Here is his addressso you can write to him: 121 GarnerRoad, Salt Spring Island, BC,Canada, V8K 2B1.(email:[email protected])

Going back to KM50 (page 20) and51 (page 26) the two articles on 'TheUse Of Knots On Inland Waterways,written by Stuart Grainger, was firstpublished in the magazine "Canal andRiverboat" in 1992- copyright StuartGrainger.

NOTES FROM THESECRETARY'S BLOTTER

I am sitting here looking out at thesun shining on the garden, andthinking, why am I sitting indoorswriting this, when I should be outsideenjoying a brief glimpse of summer.Such is the sacrifice one has to make,especially when the deadline for copyfor this edition of KM is tomorrow,and Lonnie can be so persuasive,(and he is also one of the few people Iknow who is bigger than me).

As usual I am in a rush, as I have toget all those little jobs done before teatime today, which is Friday, because I

2 KNOTTING MATTERS - JULY 1996

shall be going to bed about that timein readiness for an enjoyableweekend of night shifts. On Mondaywhen I start moving back into theland of the living, I shall be climbinginto my car and setting off on mytouring holiday in France. By thetime you will be reading this, I shallbe back home again, wading kneedeep, through the piles ofcorrespondence which will have piledup on the doormat, in our absence. Ifyou have written recently, and arestill awaiting a reply, that is probablythe reason.

Since I last put pen to paper we haveheld our Annual General Meeting atGilwell, which was an amazinggathering of knot tyers from all overthe world. With well over a hundredmembers present it must rate as ourmost successful gathering so far. Ourthanks must go to Charlie Smith andhis team of helpers who made all thenecessary arrangements, notforgetting David Doy, and hisdaughter Jane who kept us fed andwatered all day, with catering of thehighest standard. As others haveprepared their own reports on theevent, I shan't say any more about it,other than, I am looking forward tothe next one.

On to more mundane administrativematters. Here in the UK we are all alittle reserved about ourselves, and socorrespondence is usually addressedrather formally to Mr or MrsWhatsizname, however, I suspect that

other nationalities may be much morelaid back, as I have on numerousoccasions been specifically asked tochange an individuals address label,not only to remove the title, but toreplace it with their Christian name. Ishall continue the practice of theformal address unless an individualobjects, in which case, if I am advisedI will make the appropriateal terations.

Whilst on the subject ofcorrespondence, I have been asked byMargaret Machado in Oregon, ifthere is anyone who would beinterested in corresponding with heron the subject of Tatting. She hasstarted creating jewellery andaccessories using a modified tattingtechnique. Other enquiries I havereceived, range from the covering ofthe sheaths of Japanese swords, to asimplified introduction to theSchaake mathematics. Incidentally.the Jug Knot is often referred to ashaving been in regular use by theRomans, can anyone confirm whetherthis is fact or fiction.

A question raised at the AGM waswhether we should be organising amajor event to coincide with theMillennium celebrations, or whetherwe should wait until our twentiethbirthday, in 2002. There was anoverwhelming majority in favour ofthe latter, however, that does not stopus from having a lesser event for theformer. Ideas put forward were quitediverse, however the one which

KNOTTING MATTERS - JULY 1996 3

caught my fancy, was to tie a Turk'sHead around two thousand wellknown objects from.. all over theworld. This struck the as being auseful public relations exercise,achievable, and amusing. I mustadmit that I was in a substantialminority, but the thought of a Turk'sHead stuck on the top of the EiffelTower did rather catch myimagination. Must go now, it is nowSunday afternoon, and I have run outof time.

To all of our northern hemispheremenlbers, do have a good summer,best wishes.Nigel Harding

Our esteemed secretary - NigelHarding

ERIC FRANKLINFOUNDER MEMBER & SECOND

PRESIDENT

We are sorry to have to record thedeath of Eric Franklin, but arethankful for his long and busy lifeand particularly for his love of andskill in knotting, to the benefit of theGuild. He was a founder memberand our second president, and veryactive in putting the Guild on its feet.More recent merrlbers will not havemet Eric because he was kept frommeetings by a prolonged illness, butthose members from earlier days willhave happy memories of hisknowledge, skill and ability toentertain.

My connections with Eric go back atleast to early post war years inScouting. I first knew him when bothof us were contributing to the boys'magazine 'The Scout' and the adultmagazines 'Scouter' and 'Scouting'.We have both been life long membersof the Scout Association and both,more recently, commissioners.

By coincidence, and possibly to beregarded as a fitting tribute to Eric,our AGM has just been held in a newbuilding on the spot at Gilwell wherea few of us Guild members ran aknotting base at the annual ScoutGilwell Reunion when our Guild wasnot much more than one year old. Onhis own initiative Eric produced afew knot charts to sell there and theyhave developed into our series of one

4 KNOTTING MATTERS· JULY 1996

hundred. Also around then we hadbeen toying with the design of ourGuild badge and Eric producedseveral specimens mape of fine cordand mounted on backings with pins.

Eric had an ability to draw anddescribe knots, as seen in his manybooks and articles. He preparedseveral Guild publications; the mostrecent one only just published.

He was a man of many skills, asseen by his early athletic prowess anda career that spanned manyprofessions. An unexpected skill waswith a banjo, which he played in anorchestra for upwards of thirty years.

Eric was a member of the MagicCircle and quite high up in itsorganisation. Guild nlembers fronlearlier days will remember how heentertained us with rope magic atmany meetings.

Eric led a full, active and useful lifefor most of his 89 years. We aresorry at his going, buJ thankful for allhe has done for others and inparticular our, and his IGKT. Weextend our sympathy to his wife andfamily.Percy Blandford - Long time friendof Eric Franklin

From Nylon Novelties byEric Franklin (his last book)

THE FENDER BOOKby

COLIN R JONES

The DIY book of Fenders. ISBN 0952838702Reviewed by Stuart Grainger.

There is a big readership waiting forthis book, which has been some eightyears in preparation and I do notthink that potential readers will bedisappointed. If you are a boat owner,who wants to know how to makepractical ropework fenders in atraditional style, this book willprovide the guidance required, fromstart to finish, in well illustrateddetail.

Anyone who has published orhandled books about knots will knowthat there is a demand for a bookspecifically about making fenders andhere, at last, is the response.

Colin lones has been a Guildmember since 1985 and has beenworking professionally with ropesince he was a boy. He is not aprofessional writer and, here andthere, it shows, but he writes clearly,


R

HOW ABOUT STARTING ASWAP SHOP

OLINC/~, __

-.sf- . 0

'.~ >~

" "

traditional methods have been tried.Telling a reader to cut the side wallsoff an old car tyre is not as helpful asit might have been with the additionof the vital necessity of lubricatingthe knife with washing-up liquid. Itwould have helped many readers alsoto have given them some adviceabout sources of supply for therecommended cordage. Althoughreal enough, these are minorcriticisms, of which a reviewer isexpected to find some. My overallopinion is that this is a mostworthwhile book and one that will bearound for many years to come.

67 A4 pages wire bound, cardcovers. £9.95 P&P £1.25, publishedby and available from the author,Colin R. lones, 51 Ashmead Rise,Cotton Haekett, Birmingham B458AE, England. Telephone 0121 4455436

by Richard M PhelanAn idea that has worked in trying to

raise interest in the Guild is thepromotion of a swap shop. Thisenables members of the Guild to notonly collect their own style of workand what they specialise in, but lots

KNOTTING MATTERS - JULY 1996

concisely and didactically, as befitsan experienced teacher of the craft.Colin is not a trained artist either, buthis drawings, and they are his own,are of a high standard, clearlyillustrating what is intended. Theyshow that much care and thought hasbeen used in their preparation andthat most difficult of subjects, thehuman hand, has been treatedadmirably.

6

I am insufficient!y qualified tocriticise the methods,. recommended inthe book, indeed there are few whoare. The number of Colin's satisfiedcustomers and pupils testifies to thequality of his advice on this subject,which he knows far better than most.I confess to a minor disappointmentthat he has not said more about thegenerality of fender-making. Havingtold us in his introduction that, in hisquest for the 'traditional' fender, hehas found that "Each river or sea areahave their own idea on what is'traditional'." Very little appears inthe body of the book about designvariations, although to be fair, hedoes exhort his readers to experimentand try new ideas, it would have beeninteresting to know what other

I Tugs'em

Birdy Brain

NAMEWill Knot

U R NutsBrain Hurts

SPECIALITYSplicing, Fenders,KnotboardsCoasters,TurksheadsLanyards, KeyringsChest Beckets &Handles, ButtonsMacrame, WallHangings

It may at this point be good tomention that materials cost money,therefore if members require, theycan either send the cord/rope etc tothe expert and ask them to makewhatever, or if you send in work,perhaps state how much material, ofwhat kind was used and the persontaking it could replace the material.then cost should not be a problem.This way you are making the swapthe expertise of the person, i.e. youwish to own a Chest Becket in yourcollection, so you contact the experton Chest Handles, he/she tells you ittakes 500m of 3mm white cord, yousend himlher the material and theymake it for you.

I am willing to open a 'Swap Shop',and will accept any work for passingon, and will try to find what anymember is looking for. Anyone withany other ideas please let me know,especially any members abroad whomay require help, and cannot get tomeetings.

Perhaps after a time we could have alist of members with really goodcollections showing a variety of

of samples of other Guild memberswork. For example, fenders do nothave to be full size, but can be madejust 6" long or whate~r, just to showwhat can be done and the finishedresult, almost like a knotboard! Ifeveryone was to do something toswap and do for example a dozen ofeach, then when we have the nextmeeting we can all bring along ourswap pieces for exchange. This way,we will build up a very good knotcollection and if we were to bepromoting the Guild, for example inour local libraries or any other venue,we would then have good examplesof what Guild members can do, andjust what can be done with knots.We are normally limited to our ownspeciality, this would also promotenew ideas, and encourage us all tomove from a favourite pieces to trysomething new.How would the Swap Shop work? Iam prepared to buitd up a list andsend it in each month to KM, this listwould consist of the members names,addresses, phone numbers etc. alongwith information of what they havesent in for swap. If you then seesomething you would like, you couldsend in and swap something of yoursfor the desired piece. First of all Iwould like to collect all names ofmernbers that would be interested andalso what they are good at. Le.:


work, and list these members in theback of KM (only if they agree ofcourse), when you have a local event,these members could then be calledon to show their collections. I havealready started a collection and anymember is welcome to visit, just popalong and ring the doorbell with yourelbow, (well you are not going tocome empty handed are you)Happy KnottingRichard Phelan, 8 Teesdale Road,Slough, Berks SL2 1DD Tel: 01753714841.

lliiiliiiiiiiPLiiiAiiiSTiiiIiiiiC'iiiWiiii-HiiiiIPiiiiPIiiiiNGiiiiiiiiiiiil~Jack Bell - Southampton, England.I would like to share with other

members an idea I had to stop theends of cordage fraying while beingworked, (I find heat sealing leaves aknob, and whipping time consuming.)

The idea was to acquire some'HEAT SHRINK', (Maplin or someother electronic outlet,) this is plasticsleeving which reduces down to halfits diameter when heated, (I use apaint stripper.)

Select a diameter to suit yourcordage, cut off short lengths, slidethe sleeves halfway over the ends ofyour cordage (see sketches below,)heat and you are ready to go.

p!"'\. 'C,-"-'--'-TIt t~__~J~ofIslttYlls.

~'---'-' """',",-"'\.\"'~SlideCMlrIlllllway

~'-><:'''''''''""l-.".~

Heat shrink

CJACI(B8l., HlrntilL..eFice.

PUNCTURED SPHERECOVERING KNOTS

Peiter van de Griend - HollandBellpull makers often end theirproduct with a blob. There are anumber of knots which areexcellently suited for this purpose,e.g. Star Knots, Crown and Wallknots. Here I want to introduce aclass of covering which may form achallenging alternative to theaforementioned classical knots.The ball at the end of a bellpull canbe covered with a spherical coveringsuch as shown in (1,#2216), an S4Cfrom (2), or an adapted RegularNested knot fronl (4). The problemwith these sphere covers is that theyare completely closed and leave noroom for emerging parts such as thestem or a tassel of the bellpull. In theliterature there are a nunlber ofsolutions to this problem. MarioLopez Osornio gives a method (3,pp219-223) with an interweave.


Clifford Ashley (1, #2224) showshow to make a useful cover.Unfortunately, it is multi- stranded.The problem can alsQ be solved bycutting a hole in a Spherical Coveringknot. This leaves one with a spherewith a hole, whence the namepunctured sphere. Here we give foursingle cycled examples of theresulting kind of knot. Two stringruns have not been given a coding. Itis left as an exercise to implement anice coding. Should lack ofimagination be one's fate, a simpleover 1 under 1 crossing sequence canalways be applied!

REFERENCES1 C W Ashley, The Ashley Book of Knots,Doubleday, New York 19442 P A v d Griend: S4C, Privately publ ished,Arthus Denmark 19913 M A Lopez Osornio: Trenzas Gauchos, BuenosAires 1934, Editorial Hemisferio Sur S A andLibros de Hispanoamerica, Pasteur 743, t028Buenos Aires, Argentina. ISBN 950504-355-4,32nd edition 1986.4 A G Schaake, J C Turner and D A Sedgwick:Braiding - Standard Herringbone Pineapple Knots.Book 4/1 series of books on braiding. Departmentof Mathematics and Statistics, University ofWaikato, Hamilton, New Zealand 1991. ISBN 0909930-07-6

CORRECTION KM 52 (noticed byGeoffrey Budworth)The editors wish to sincerelyapologise to KANAT for thegroundless slur implied by thisunfortunate misprint. The sentenceshould read: ...and now, I ant told.Not. ...and not I am told.

CAPTAIN JACK CLARKEMASTER MARINER

by Janet Flack - CornwallGeoff and I made the decision to

visit our son in Cape Town, SouthAfrica. It was about time, as he hadbeen living there for nearly nineyears. Although he has returned tothis country once during that time therate of exchange has been very muchagain him revisiting England.

Before leaving this country lastNovember, I noted that on checkingwith the membership list we had oneIGKT member living in Cape Town.Unfortunately, although I tried tocontact Nigel and Des, both wereintent on other business. I wasunable to glean any infonnationabout Captain Jack Clarke before ourleaving this country.

It was at least two weeks into ourstay that I finally found time toscrutinise the Cape Town phonedirectory. To our delight we foundJack listed and not too far away fromour son's abode~

When we first arrived in Cape Townand had made our way to theWaterfront, we chose to have a cup oftea in the Harbour Master's Cafe, andthere tucked away at the end of thebar was a knot board. Of course Iwent to inspect it while waiting thearrival of the tea, and yes you'veguessed it there in the corner was thename of the originator, Captain JackClarke. All knots were well known


to me except one, a corned beef knot(what is that?). After enquiring aboutthe board I was introduced to theowner of the cafe whet informed methat Jack had demonstrated knot tyingon the Waterfront during the summerand gave one of his boards to thecafe. (I managed to make a drawingof the corned beef knot butsomewhere between then and nowhave lost the piece of paper).

During the next four weeks Jack'sknot board kept popping up out of theblue. I was pleased to see theMaritime Nautical shop displayedinformation about the Guild for all tosee. The Maritime Museum also hadone of Jack's knot boards ready to bepart of the display. The children'sdisplay section had a large 'hands on'knot tying displaying of the mostuseful knots, good thinking bysomeone.

Three weeks into our holiday Iplucked up courage and rang thenumber at Athlone, the phone wasanswered by a lady, Jack was out butcould she give him a message, justmy luck! Jack contacted us the nextday and we agreed to meet in aboutten days time on return from ourtravels east.

The owners of a B&B at Knysnawere most interested in craft workand 1 have promised to send themsome literature about the IGKT. Thehusband, a sailing man, said therewere several retired people whom hethought would be interested.

On our return to Cape Town wecontacted Jack again and agreed tomeet him for lunch at the Royal CapeTown Yacht Club where he is amember.

A quick visit to see Cape Townfrom the Table Mountain Road andour son drove us to the Yacht Club,what a swelter of a day, 30°+C. Jackwas there to meet us at the door andsign us in as temporary members, andthere round the corner was another ofthose now famous knotboards.

We were then introduced to Maryhis wife, I was relieved to see he hadone as I find it difficult to speak tostrange men in strange countries, butone soon forgets oneself andconversation flowed. After a littleliquid refreshment we tucked intolunch; the waiter reminded us that ifwe were eating would we like toorder.

Jack had been a navigator in theMerchant Navy before reaching theheights of Master Mariner. His wife,Mary, joined him in South Africafronl England years ago and they hadtwo sons. Jack had become interestedin knotting over the years and wasgiven membership to the IGKT onretirement some 6 years ago. He wasintroduced to the Guild by CaptainGordon Stockley who visited theEarls Court Boat Show and on seeingthe IGKT stand and being aware ofJack's interest in knotting, enrolledhim in the Guild. He has spent mostof his retirement making knotboards

10 KNOTTING MATIERS - JULY 1996

and he has been commissioned by hisyoung grandson to make him one forChristmas, a potential recruit forIGKT?

The only contact Jack has had withthe Guild, apart from the quarterlymagazine, was with Des Pawson on avisit to the UK. Jack's work is beingcommissioned throughout SouthAfrica/AmericaIRussia yet he is stillthe only member of the IGKT inSouth Africa (Cape Province).

Time has passed veryquickly and it is a shame wewere returning to the UK onthe following Thursday. Onreflection there were so manythings we would have liked tohave asked, but now we havemade contact I hope Jack willput pen to paper and write tothe Guild giving us an updateon his rope work etc. A tipJack gave me was to use aknitting machine' n~edle tohelp pull cords through, whendoing splicing and similarwork.

Jack and Mary are adelightful couple and wewere very pleased to have made theeffort to make contact with them.They made us feel very welcome~ andwhen we left, it was like leaving oldfriends. May I suggest that membersdo what we did when visiting aforeign country, look up the Guildmembers, you may be their onlycontact in a growing organisation.

Apart from needle hitching andknotted beadwork we saw very littleknotwork in the Cape Province. Oneother knotboard was found at Delairewhile wine tasting, and signed toRuth and Storm, Arniston Oct 1980from the Colonel (Rtd twice). TheColonel as I understand has sincepassed away, and Ruth and Stormnow live at a nearby farm.

Finally what is a corned beef knot?On returning home I found it in

Ashley under the occupational knots.I have since learned that Jack firstcame across it in Charles Warner'sFresh Approach to Knotting. Wehave recently had a letter from Jackand Mary part of which I amenclosing for inclusion in themagazine.

A quote from Jack's letter:


I would appreciate it if you wouldconvey nlY very best wishes to theIGKT, perhaps I will be able to attenda meeting as we are.. thinking ofmaking a trip home next year (allbeing well). I have no dates yet buttowards the end of the year we shallbe more definite.My boards are still in great demand

. and I have just delivered a huge oneto the Cape Town Training Schoolfor Seamen. Our young grandsonwas thrilled with the one he wantedfor Christmas, of course, it was anextra special one, and a little moreelaborate, he has mastered one or twowhile (knots) while sitting with me,which is a start.Ed: Well done Janet, you are rightwe should all look up our membersin foreign surrounds, with suchwidely dispersed membership it hasto be the best way to promotefriendship and togetherness. Howmuch richer a spe~ial holiday likeyours was made by taking your coutrage in both hands.

Janet Flack - Cornwall taken atIGKT AGM - Gilwell Park

May 1996

From Ralph Lia - Queens - NY USA....

Can anybody tell Ralph if thefollowing two knots could possiblybe original, he cannot find them inAshley's, Cyrus Day, Budworth orAsher. Can anyone throw any lighton them? Ralph feels they are sosimple, surely they cannot beoriginal.


BOOKLET REVIEWCONCERNING CROSSES

BY BR/AN FIELD

Review by Geoffrey BUdworthPrice UK £1.50 (plus 25p p&p)

US $3.00 (inclusive)This booklet is simply five A4 paper

pages, centre-stapled in two placesand folded; nevertheless, a neatlyhand-written text and workingdrawings go to make it the sort ofcraft publication many of usappreciate. The author is thatbearded and besmocked Englishmanwho (when the weather is right) canbe found on the quayside at Maldon,in Essex, demonstrating and sellinghis knotwork..

In this booklet he shows andexplains how to tie 'in the hand'seven interwoven crosses of theCeltic idiom; a Sailor's Cross, LatinCross (2), Greek Cross (2) andCarrick Mat Crosses (2). This is thelatest publication from the inventivefingers and sharp mind of an avowedflat knot freak. Previous ones werehis popular Breastplate Pendants toMake and Wear and A Single StrandCeltic Cross.Concerning Crosses can be obtained from theIGKT Secretary (Supplies) but Brian has arrangedfor North American members to have their ownsupplier, John Burke at 4417 Academy,Derebourn Heights, Michigan 48125-2205, (Tel:3135624393)

FIADOR KNOTSTom Hall - Texas - USA

In Owen Nuttal's letter in KM51 heshows an Indian Bridle Knot. Thenhe tells that in Graumont's'Handbook of Knots' (1945) it says:"frontier men enhanced the Jug SlingKnot to form the Hackamore orTheodore Bridle." Whenever I hearor read about this I wonder if theyknow how a Fiador rope is used on aHackamore. Also, all the ways youcan tie a Fiador Knot. Let me tellyou a little about the Hackamore, theFiador Rope and the tying of theFiador Knots.

On a fully rigged breakinghackamore there is a rope tied to theframe of the bosal, just in front of theheel knot. This rope goes up andfastens to the headstall. Where it isused as a throat latch. This rope is~alled a fiador rope. The fiador ropeIS what makes the difference betweena breaking hackamore and a reininghackamore.In figure 1 there is a drawing of abreaking hackamore and a reininghackamore. The main purpose of thefiador rope is to keep the hackamorefrom coming off a horse's head.

KNOTTING MATIERS - JULY 1996 13

/.Leo.J rlJf.tieJ to ;'0110",.

'OD" or F:i).do,.,R"f e .

Reinin9 HackamoreFigure

The fiador rope allows the breakinghackamore t~ be uses! to break horsesto lead. Where the lead rope is tied tothe bottom loops of the fiador rope,the pull of the lead rope is on thefiador rope, which pulls on the backof the horse's heaa. The reininghackamore does not have a fiadorrope. The reining hackamore is usedon horses that are already broke toride. Where the hackamore wouldnot be pulled in a way or hard enoughto pul) it off the horse's head.The reigning hackamore is the typemost used today. Therefore not manypeople have hackamores with a fiadorrope. So there aren't many peoplethat know how to tie the knots thatmake up a fiador rope. There justisn't a demand for fiador ropesanymore. So the tying of the knots

I.that make up a fiador rope arebecoming lost art. The purpose ofthis article is to help keep the art oftying these knots alive. Or, at leastthe main knot that makes a fiadorrope what it is; and, that knot is theFiador Knot.

The Fiador knot is tied so that twoloops come out of the bottom of theknot. At the top of the Fiador knot isone loop and the two loose ends ofthe rope. This is really all there is tothe fiador rope. The other knotsassociated with the fiador rope areused to either secure it to the bodal orthe horse.

These knots are the DoubleHackamore Knot and the BecketI-litch. The Double Hackamore Knotis used to secure the fiador rope to thebodal. The Becket Hitch is used to


secure the two loose ends of thefiador rope around the horse's neckas a throat latch. For the rest of thisarticle we will only deal with theFiador Knot, because both of theseother knots are better known.

In 1984 I did an article on the FiadorKnot for the 'Rawhide and LeatherBraider's Association'. That articlegenerated many responses from themembers. Through their commentsyou could tell if they had learnt to tiethe Fiador Knot from an old timebraider, from Bruce Grant's books orbraiding or both.The braider that learnt the 'Ole'Fiador Knot from Grant's booksthought it was the only Fiador Knotthere was. The braider that had learntGrant's 'Ole' Fiador Knot, but had

Figure 2.

seen Fiador Knots on old hackamoresor from old time braiders, knew the'Ole' Fiador Khot was not the best.Because of the way the strand of ropecame out of the top of the 'Ole'Fiador Knot, the knot will spread. Sothese braiders were looking for theway to tie this other Fiador Knot.

This other Fiador Knot is the'Theodore' Fiador Knot. It's theFiador Knot all the old timers saidthey had been tying for years. Theydid not all agree that the way I hadshown it was the best, but they allagreed that it was the best FiadorKnot to use. So I did another articleshowing the way my dad had taughtme how to tie the 'Theodore' FiadorKnot. Some of the old braiders thenwrote back to say "That is how they


had tied that knot for 50 years" .Through all of this there were twoFiador Knots brought up. The 'Ole'Fiador Knot and the 'Theodore'Fiador Knot. It was pointed out thateach of these knots was the reverse ofthe other. If you could tie one ofthem, you could then turn it insideout to have the other. Something thatI thought more interesting was theway the old time braiders used themethod of tying the Fiador Knot thatwas the easiest to remember. Not themethod that was the easiest to tie.Because, when they learnt to tie theFiador Knot, there were no drawingsof it. If you have a book or a drawingof how to tie a knot all you need toremember is where you put the book.That way you can get it out next timeyou want to tie the knot. When theinformation was passed by word ofmouth and by demonstration fromone braider to another, it had to beremembered. Which is not hard ifyou are tying the knot all of the time.But with the Fiador Knot, you mayonly tie it two or three times a year.Then again it might be two or threeyears before you tie it again. So, howdid the old timers remember how totie the Fiador Knot? They tied it thesame way as dad taught me how to tieit. My dad taught me to tie the'Theodore' Fiador Knot by relating itto the way you tie the open endedknot that is like it. Dad said that ifyou tie it this way, you will alwaysremember it. That was around 1965

when I was ten years old and I stillremember it. So, he must have beenright.The first thing you need to know ishow to tie the open ended knot that islike the 'Theodore' Fiador Knot. Dadalways called this knot a Turk's HeadTerminal Knot. As I started studyingknots more, I saw that a lot ofdifferent types of knots were calledTurk's Head Knots. When I saw thisopen ended knot called a WalledCrown Knot insome knot tying book, I thought itwas a good name for it.

Because when you tie it, you make aCrown Knot. Then you tie a WallKnot up through the centre of theCrown Knot. Therefore you 'walled'the Crown Knot. Since that time, oneof the old time braiders thatcommented on my Fiador article, toldme that he had always heard this knotcalled a 'Rosebud'. Whatever youwant to call it, the knot is tied by firsttying a Crown Knot. Then take eachstrand under the next strand, as if totie a Wall Knot, then up through thecentre of the Crown Knot. This isshown in figure 2.

Figure 3 shows the method my dadtaught me how to tie the 'Thoedore'Fiador Knot. As with the WalledCrown Knot, you first nlake a CrownKnot. Then starting with the strandsin the loop, you take each strandunder the strand next to it. Then upthrough the centre of the CrownKnot. To do thi~ with the strands in

16 KNOTTING MATTERS· JULY 1996

31'- '+B \'Theodor/ Rad.or knot

f;,.3

the loop you have to pull the looseend of the rope out of the CrownKnot.Then put the strand that is part of theloop in the centre of the Crown Knot.Now put the loose end of the ropeback in place. The subfigures 4 and 5show this in figure 3. The two looseends are worked the same way as inthe Walled Crown Knot as you cansee in the last figure in each drawing.The next example is an easier orfaster way to tie the "Theodore"Fiador Knot. Here we set up the knota little differently. That way we donot have to untie part of the knot toget the strands of the loop in the

Figure 3.

centre of the Crown Knot. Thismethod of tying the "Theodore"Fiador Knot is in Fig 4. You mightneed to remember where you put thisdrawing, so you can tie it next timebecause it is not easy to remember thefirst method.


f;,. I

f:, ./-1

3P ~ 'fB

Figure 4.

Figure 5

f:,. '1

18 KNOTIING MATTERS - JULY 1996

· 3P - 48 \\0 le U Fiador knot

h',. I

Figure 6.

RopeHa Iter

Hnat

Figure 7.

KNOTTING MATTERS - JULY 1996

\\."

"'\, \

19

The "ale" Fiador Knot can also betied by relating it to how you tie theopen ended knot it resembles. Thatway it is easy to rem~mber. Thisnlethod is also an easy way to tie the"ale" Fiador Knot. It is shown inFigure 5. This method is a lot likethe one Grant shows in his book.Only we are tying it in the handinstead of on a board with nails tohold the loops of the rope.Our next example is another way totie the "ale" Fiador Knot. It is tiedflat on a table or a board as shown inFig 6. It is a very good way to tie aFiador Knot for the heel knot on arope halter. This brings us to what Ithink is going to keep the FiadorKnot alive, which are its uses on therope halter. There just haven't beenenough people using hackamoreswith fiador ropes to keep an interestin the Fiador Knot. Now that therope halter, like the one shown in Fig7 has become pdpl!lar, more peoplewill want to learn how to tie theFiador Knot.The demand for better looking orunique looking rope halters will getpeople to tie more elaborate FiadorKnots.The two we have shown here: the"ale" Fiador Knot and the"Theodore" Fiador Knot are thesimplest of all Fiador Knots. Thereare many more that can be tied.

In the book BRAIDING - RegularFiador Knots by Schaake, Turner andSedgwick there are around 60

different Fiador Knots. Then inPamphlet N03 Braiding ApplicationsHorse Halter by Schaake, Turner andSedgwick there are some NestedFiador Knots that are not in the book.Pamphlet N03 tells all about theconstruction methods of a rope halter.In the book BRAIDING -Regular Fiador Knots is a wholenew way to tie the Fiador Knots. It ison a Fiador Knot mandrel.

It is a very easy way to tie a verycomplicated Fiador Knot. The mostimportant thing I got out of thisFiador book is that you can calculatehow to tie any Fiador Knot. Soinstead of learning how to tie a knotin a way that you can remember it.You can learn how to draw griddiagrams and how to calculate thealgori thms to tie any knot. Then, aslong as you remember this (or wherethe book is!), you will not only beable to tie knots that have been tiedbefore, you will also be able to tieknots that have never been tiedbefore. The method of tying FiadorKnots on a Fiador Knot mandrel ismuch easier to hold the rope than thehand method of tying. It will be wellworth your time to learn it. I will letGeorge Schaake lead you through it.Just to get your interest up and makeyou appreciate how much easier it isto hold the rope on the Fiador Knotmandrel, here are some drawings ofsome different Fiador Knots tied withthe hand method. This method iswhat most braiders use so it will look

20 KNOTTING MATTERS - JULY ]90 (i

familiar to them. These pictorialdrawings also look better on paper.Have fun holding th~ese. Then trythem on a Fiador Kno{ mandrel. Youwill be delighted

7P-1.I8, .z P&l.1' Hl!d.dhU1lierFiador k,.ot

(i,. ~

Fig 8

LIP - ,., 8 C"-OWJJed M"tthew WGlk~,..

Fiad-or kno~


~'fp,~ JIB IItyesed C"-OWlltd.-Mattl.,w W4lhcr Fiodor Hn"t

'I P~ '18 Tu. rh'$ ·Hcdd.FiAd"r knot


SP~~8 R~versed Impr~Ve4

T~rh's-U~4d Fia.d.or knot

5P - ...... 8. .2.. P6.J-' D.~""""€7""d..

F'd.d~,- H,...~"'-


f:,. t.

6"",- If e MattheW' WalkerFiador khot

24

KNOTTiNG MATTERS - JuLY \99fi

REPORT OF AGMAT

GILWELL PARK11 MAY 1996

Arriving on a new campsite is always 'food for SALE', in a walk aroundconfusing until you find your friends. the whole sight of Gilwell includingEven across the huge field and under the tents of the CAMPEX exhibitionhis 'Ranger Smith' hat, I could see where we were told to leave by theCharlie Smith busily showing. people guards. The food was 30 feet on thewhere to bunk up or put their tents left. Well, we wanted to see the sight,and caravans. maybe not just now though. After the

After saying hello to the other early meal it was back to the corner untilbirds and pitching our tent, Margaret bed, eventually. Cubs never get toand I went over to the brand new, bed early the first night of camp and Inever before 'used in anger', training can see how the excitement can dobuilding. Some stalls were already set that.up and we plonked ourselves in a Who says you can only get greatcorner of the lounge with a big sign breakfasts up north? After limitlesssaying "EDITOR'S CORNER". It cups of tea and coffee, a breakfast ofwas made by Terry Barns who eggs, bacon, sausages, baked beanspointed out, cheeky soldier, that he and tomatoes was consumed in largemanaged to spell both words amounts. After a lot of larking aboutcorrectly and in the right order !! Its we all went over to the hall to startgoing to be one of those weekends. the day. Most of the stalls were up byMany people did sit down with their now. Next to the fire door was thecoffees to have a chat and give us Essex Branch display of knot plaquesmuch very good advise and from Terry Barns. Don Woodssuggestions on how to improve the displayed a beautiful knot board, amagazine, other than 'Find another head band and a hammock clew (Ihobby.' didn't know what it was called

Because of the CAMPEX going on before), that's the bit at each end of athis weekend, we were able to have hammock where all the cords areour evening meal in the cafeteria, gathered together and attached to theopened for their exhibitors, at a very ring. I knew what it was but not whatgood cost. Of course~ we were slow it was called. Bruce Turley also hadgetting up to follow Charlie out and some earrings and key fobs. The nextwent out of the right door but then stall around the left was Jeff Wyatttwice went passed the small sign and the IGKT Library and loads of


his most excellent and interesting bellpulls, flat knots, fenders, knot boardsof turks heads and mats. This space,and Des and Liz's staB. at the otherend of the hall, were always busyboth days, so many people looking,asking and doing. Once again 1 sawJeffs practice piece, six cords ofdifferent colours, each about a metrelong, seized together at one end andused to demonstrate and practicedoing multi-strand knots; walling,crowning and Matthew Walkers etc.It seemed so practical and obviousthat 1 immediately made myself one.Going out through the doors and intothe entrance hall was Sylvia, signingpeople in and giving them a nametag. Sylvia also had the Guildsupplies. So people could buy backcopies of KM and any number ofIGKT publications. Opposite Sylviawas Shirley Berlin and Europa Changwith a Lace Makers tabledemonstrating braidjng of differenttypes. Very interesting and manysaid they hoped that this wouldbecome a regular display at IGKTmeetings. 1 can't always take it all inthe first time 1 see something new, so1 have to go away for a chew, readingup and having a go on my own beforegetting the full benefit of talking toan expert. 1 look forward to seeingthem again next year at Bridgewater(1 can't be at the Half AG'M inHolland).

Going back into the hall and aroundto the left again, there was a stall

filled by work from Denis Murphy,Liz Pawson, Fred Carrington andHarold Scott. 1 am constantly amazedat the knot boards of Fred and Denis,such precise and delicate work underglass. Liz had a large bottle coveredin knots, made of cord from Russia ofunusually bright colours, a real eyegrabber. Harold's wire work andsphere coverings are always good tosee. (I hate working with wire.) Onthe next table Janet Flack, of the LaceGuild, was demonstrating how tomake friendship bands and bottlecovers. Willeke's stall wasdemonstrating how to make netsusing a netting needle and a bar. Theother side of the second hall door,behind which the Editors Corner washiding, was Brian Fields display ofbreast plates and his wonderfuljewellery was for sale. The lovelyman went home to fetch them onlybecause Margaret was disappointedthat he hadn't brought them. Nextwas Lester Copestake'sdemonstration of basic bends andloops, splicing of linen clock ropesand why Poldo tackle need to havefriction, all tackles, not just Poldo.The great thing about the Poldotackle is that it has no loose ends tolook unsightly.

The raffle table was groaning againwith extremely desirable items;books, tools, spools of cord, abeautiful needle lace flower, bottlesof drink and a big bar of chocolate.The over thirty items, were provided


by members from their own exquisitework and supplies and raised £180 tocover the cost of the venue for theweekend. I think I will have to makesomething simple but pretty for theraffle next year. Geoffrey Budworthon the next stall was selling anddemonstrating lariat twirling! Thiswas also one of the subjects on whichhe spoke during the meeting. Nextwas Maurice Smith selling his knotpuzzle, a 'get the ring off withoutcutting the cord or losing yourtemper' type. I bought one and took itto a christening on Sunday afternoonand most people had an entertaininggo at working it. Next was DaveWilliam's displaying his beautifulknot boards.

Des and Liz Pawson's shop cornerfilled up the next two tables andgoing around the corner, drippingwith goods, oooh. Hanks, balls andspools of cord string and rope, booksand pamphlets new Clnd old, tools likefid's (several styles), pull loops andsheath knives were all tempting andfamiliar after looking at the raffletable. I'm glad I'm not the only onethat kept hearing the words "Buy me"every time I went near that corner ofthe room.

The next stall was RichardPhelem's display of 'SWAPS'. It'shard to describe the beauty andcraftsmanship that can be found on atrunk handle, oh, sorry, a becket. Hehad bell pulls, covered bottles and histrunk was full of swaps. The next

stall was Dave Pusill, showing hisknot boards and a good cut-away toshow how to put a shadow boxtogether to get the depth you needwhen turning a picture frame into aknot board under glass. Perhapssomeone can write an article or comealong next year and demonstrate howto do this with the simple sort of toolsthat I might have to work with? Heshared this table with MauriceMcPartlan and a grand display of his'ALPHABET' letters, as explained inhis article (KM52 page 20), invarious sizes and materials. He wasshowing the completed draft of hisnew book describing and givingpatterns for making them. We willreview this book when published,hopefully, by or in the new year.After the space left for the top table,John Halifax from 'ENDEAV0URROPECRAFf'. The eye is assaultedby the beauty in this whole room, noless so from John's knot boards,demonstrating and discussing tyingand knotting. he has a tool which noone could put a name or purpose to. Ithink it looks like it could be used tohold a thimble of seizing twine underconsistent pressure for an evenlooking job. The thumb screw wouldbe used to tighten the fixed rolleragainst the lip of the thimble as thetwine is pulled off, as it goes aroundthe rope being seized. But this is onlya guess, do you know anything aboutthis intriguing tool?

KNOTTING MATTERS -JULY 1996 27

This screws in and out. moving the armcloser to the spindle

~

So. what is it? Does anyone know?

The last stall, coming around theroom to the fire door where westarted, is a fine display of pagestaken from the Internet, showingwhat knot knowledge is already onthe net and the IGI\T Home page ataddress; email: gordon@gcisc.demon.co.uk being run byGordon Perry for the Guild. Gordonis controlling this home page for theG'uild at no cost to the Guild becausehe believes, as in fact I do, that yourEmail address will soon become asimportant, if not more so, as yourtelephone number is now.

The room, a big one, was full ofpeople, voices, movement and regularoutbursts of hearty laughter as a jokeor some self deprecating story of"Oh, what a fool I was to do that"

was told. The items to see, touch and

learn how to make, are a long day'sstudy. Ken Yalden, superbly dressedin his trade mark a bow tie, pulledeveryone together to begin thebusiness meeting.

After welcoming everyone, Kenintroduced Des Pawson, the Presidentof the Guild. Des had the sad duty ofannouncing the recent deaths of GusEricson and Eric Franklin. Des spokeabout Gus Ericson's life andconnection with the Guild. PercyBlandford came forward to tell ussome of what Eric did in his life andhow important he was as a foundingmember of the Guild and a guidinghand in its early days. There thenfollowed a two minutes silence inrespect of these two men.

Ken Yalden then called GladFindley, former president andfounding member and presented herwith a pair of crystal goblets with theGuild logo on them. Glad collectscrystal and she said these wouldmake a wonderful addition.

After acceptance of the minutes anda reading, with comments, of theSecretary's report (printed at the endof this report), it was announced thatFred Carrington and Denis Murphy(regular and long time tnembers ofyour council) were retiring fronl thecounci l. Elections were held afternominations and introduction ofcandidates. Your new council is:Terry Barns, the new ArtefactsOfficer; Lonnie Boggs, Editor of

28 KNOTTING MATTERS - JUL Y 1996

KM; Brian Field, north AmericanRepresentative and full time knotter;Charlie Smith, knotter, demonstratorand Scouter; Bruce T-urley, AssistantTreasurer; leff Wyatt, GuildLibrarian, Editor of Calendar ofEvents and knotter of note; KenYalden, speaker and organiser; andthe president Des Pawson who's postis now into its second and final year.

Conlment was nlade that the Guildis now on the Internet. The HomePage is held by Gordon Perry and wehave already gained two newmembers from the Internet.

Richard Hopkins reported that wewon't have our own stand at theFestival of the Sea on May BankHoliday (24-27 May '96) at BristolHistoric Docks, but we are welcometo space on another stand if anyonewould like to come along and help.We now have, three new branches;North America, Sweden andWeaverly.

This short discussion period wasfollowed by the Treasurers Report,given by Linda Turley. Commentwas made about the rise in the auditfee's by Phil Cook. Linda reportedthat a new auditor had been appointedand this was the proper charge for aprofessional job, even with a slightdiscount. It is necessary to be seen tobe doing the job properly under thenew Charities Commissionregulations. It was agreed thatMalcom Willcox is to audit again.

The next meeting is the Half AGM,12/13 October in Rotterdam. Willekevan der Ham gave a short talk onRotterdam and some of the scenictours that could be arranged tomuseums or whatever people wanted.Ken Yalden asked if anyone waswilling to organise a coach, do so andwe will try to help to fill it. Theferries offered good deals fromEngland and so best to go in filledcars rather than only one or two ineach car.

The next AGM will be on 10/11May 1997 at Bridgwater, Somerset(South of Bristol off the MS).

There was then much discussionabout what the Guild would do tonlark the coming Millenniumcelebrations. The subject was put onthe agenda by Frank Harris but manypeople had much to say and suggest,so what follows I hope is an accuratesummation of the points made. Frankopened the discussion by supportingthe idea of the Guild doing somethingspecific or spectacular for themillennium, perhaps similar to thevery successful KNOT YEAR 90.We could try tying every knot in theEncyclopaedia of Knots, as wasattempted with the knots in Ashley's.We could, all on the same day, tie2000 turks heads all around the worldor go for the most knots tied at onetime world wide. Perhaps we couldthink about getting an HQ for theGuild.


Willeke said that wherever orwhatever it is, it should definitely be'International' not just the UK.

Europa Chang. liked an'International' knot tying day like thevery successful LACE makers Day,where we could still get together totie knots at some local public displayvenue during the same 24 hour day,say from 9an1 in England, six hourslater in New York, at 9am and fromfive hours later in Los Angles at 9am,etc. around the world.

Janet Flack; If we have aninternational day, perhaps eachcountry could produce a turks headfor display all together.

Charlie Smith suggests that locallibraries are always happy to put ondisplays of craft work free of charge.

Des Pawson agrees that it should beorganised to happen on the same dayin every country .

Ken Yalden reminds us that KnotYear 90 was very similar to what issuggested and went very well.

By far the longest and loudestdiscussion concerned the suggestionthat the Guild get it's ownheadquarters of some sort.

Lester Copestake suggested buyingspace in a museum, warehouse or theColchester Docks, where it would belooked after when open by the regularstaff and not need a member there allthe time.

John Halifax suggested a redundantlight house or light ship which aregoing cheap.

Ken Yalden did agree that we needsomewhere central to store our stuff,and stores. The use of a lightship is agood idea.

Glad Findley also agrees that weneed a building or whatever as acentral place where all over seasvisitors could visit. All our knotscould be in one place, house or boat.

Colin Smith however thinks that aheadquarters would be against theinternational spirit of our Guild.

Fred Carrington said, this comes upall the time, what we need iscommitment from all our members,not just from those on the council.We could easily find 20 places, butwhat we really need is help from themembers to actually do the work ofrunning and organising the activitiesof the Guild.

Ken Higgs simply asked, Whowould pay?

Bill Meakin reports that aNottingham Motor Bike club have amuseum above a shop and the shoppays for the running of the museumwhich brings in customers to theshop.

Frank Harris Reminds us that wehave plenty of money, we could worktowards an HQ, perhaps form a subcommittee to study the right placeand the financial implications on theGuild. He would be willing to offerhis services for this.

Bruce Turley pointed out that theGuild is not making mega-bucks. theapparent surplus income is going


down and supplies will needreprinting and re-resourcing(recovery of costs is over time), costsof postage and printing, especiallyKM at three time the page count, aregoing up. In a couple of years wemay very well be asking for a rise insubs and then the surplus income willagain appear to be high.

Percy Blandford. This is pie in thesky, all this talk . Anything that floatsis a money pit. If we have a house,who is going to run it, live in or nearit, look after it? We all know howexpensive a little plumbing or a littlewood work or painting costs. Weshould concentrate on what we dobest.

John Briggs. A permanent display,owned by the Guild would be apermanent drain. We should lookcloser at public buildings, in mostcases we would not have to pay. Doesanyone else support this view?

Bernard Cutbush 'suggests buying alottery ticket for the Guild each week.Everyone laughed but RichardHopkins thinks this is not a silly idea,other organisations have done thisand won bits and pieces of money.

Geoffrey Budworth thinks weshould apply to the Lottery directlyfor funding, not for the millenniumbut for our 20th birthday.

Jan Hoefnegel asks if we could sellshares to pay for an HQ?

Nigel Harding thinks that thiswould have to be checked with thecharities commission first.

Willeke pointed out that we weretalking about many things here,storage, millennium, HQ, lottery.Any big shed would do for storage,can we get back to the question.

David Pearson thinks theMillennium would be a goodoccasion to publicise the Guild butwe should really concentrate all ourefforts on our birthday not themillennium. Perhaps more publicityaimed at the general public.

Ken Yalden, as the chairman, put itto the vote as to whether the membersassembled would rather put all ourefforts into doing an event for themillennium or for our birthday later.The overwhelming vote was for thebirthday.

Peter Goldstone closed thediscussion with a laugh by pointingout that there is a substantialargument for the millennium notactually starting until 2001!!

What followed could only be calledan appetiser just before lunch. DavidWalker demonstrated the butchersskill and technique in tying sausages.David has been tying knots for yearswith out realising it. His fid is acocktail stick. Tied in links of threesausages, four links weigh one poundor very nearly that. Several of ouryounger members had a go at tyingsome. Very well received item.

Lunch was a lovely cold chickenand salad plate. Everyone had anotherchance to sit around and chat.


After lunch Geoffrey Budworthgave a talk and demonstration onRope Twirling. Twirling his ropearound, he explained how the loop iscounter balanced by the bellying ofthe rope going from hand to loop. Onhis stall were ropes, an instructionsheet and help to get going for apound. I got one and practised thetrick. What is the trick? Oh, I thinkI'll wait for an article from the expert.

Europa Chang then explained anddemonstrated how to do the verydelicate NEEDLE LACE or HALFHITCH LACE, an exquisite exampleof which was in the raffle. Thebacking cloth is folded over, theflower was stitched on one side andwhen finished, a very sharp edge (arazor etc.) is used to cut between thelayers of cloth to allow the flower tobe lifted off the cloth to leave the laceflower free standing and verydelicate.

Shirley Berlih then gave a talkabout Braiding and demonstratingsome of the methods and tools. Knottyers and the Braiders Craft covereach others interests and havemembers who belong to weavers,Knot Tyers and Braiders. At lastyears Knitting and Stitching Show,85,000 people were spoken to andnlany had a go. They have membersin many countries. Japanese Braidcame from Korea over 800 years ago.The braid is made, sitting on thefloor, on a stool with a hole in themiddle and tensioned with weights. It

is very relaxing and makes beautifulbraid. You can make a start using acard made from a cornflakes packetwith slots cut around the edge and ahole in the middle. I have done this atScout and Cub camps and seen kidssitting against a wall with a can ofCoke or Pepsi between their foldedlegs and 'locked' into not loosing therhythm. Ankle Braiding is done on afranle, more like a small weavingloom, made of half inch dowels. Thisis also a very old technique. TABLETor CARD weaving is the sametechnique but done on a stiff cardwith slots at either end. So, what canyou do with braid? The utility usesare endless; belts, buckles, ties, strapsfor watches and sun glasses, handlesfor baskets and bags. As jewellery itmakes necklaces, bracelets,ecclesiastical stoles and book marks.

Next was perhaps one of the morecontroversial speakers of the day.Peter Goldstone, Surrey Branch,raised the question of theappropriateness of the original s'ixtenderfoot knots for today's uses.This is particularly appropriate hereat Gilwell Park, the home and worldwide centre of Scouting. First a lookat the knots of questionable use.

REEF KNOT- used by tradition asthe Hercules knot for good luck, usedin first aid for slings. Rarely usedtoday except for shoes and then itsthe BOW REEF or more likely theBOW GRANNY.


CLOVE HITCH- Used to be usedfor pioneering but the new, cheap BTplastic rope slips too easily whenused to tie most knot&.•

ROUND TURN AND TWO HALFHITCHES- is really a round turn anda collapsed granny knot or clovehitch which also slips in new rope.

SHEEPSHANK- has no use todaywhere lines are replaced long beforethey can become frayed or weakened.

BOWLINE- perhaps still has a useto form a loop but a fishermans bendis more appropriate for joining tworopes of equal size.

FIGURE OF EIGHT-is a mucheasier knot to form a safe loop in theend of a line, or a double figure ofeight for a non-slip loop and a figureof eight formed on the standing partmakes a slip loop. The double figureof eight is clumsy and unequal in themiddle of the rope but is safe andeasy to learn and use.

STOPPER KNOTS- are bettermade from the parcel knot. Peter isorganising a survey of themembership for your best six knotsfor practical uses, to be taught to allusers of knots. What would you useto do ·a square lashing, a middleman's loop or the way to join up twolines of equal or unequal size, or astopper knot. Please send in yourideas and your reasons for preferringthem to PETER GOLDSTONE, 23 StJOHNS RISE, WOKING, GU21IPN. We will publish the results ofyour opinions.

Geoffrey Budworth was back totalk about DRAW LOOPS. That isusing a loop rather than an end to tiemany knots to make them'SLIPPERY' and thus easier to undo.Using a loop to make a FIGURE OFEIGHT CLOVE HITCH,BOWLINE AND SHEET BEND allare just as secure but simpler to undo.The HIGHWAYMAN'S HITCH isafter all just a series of loops, eachlocking the last on.

This brought to a close the officialand unofficial presentations for the1996 AGM of the IGKT. Theknotting and talking and laughing andintense attention went on until wewandered off to dinner, where itcontinued, all the way back to the hallto continue into the wee hours.Margaret and I finally went to thecamp site to find the party had simplymoved outdoors. We found n10st ofthe sausages made in thedemonstration had been bar-b-quedand eaten around the camp fire withvarious forms of flammable liquids.Its a good night when you can siteating hot sausages and listening toDavid Pearson, Charlie Smith andGraham Smith giving animated androusing renditions of humorous'NORTHERN' monologues andshanty songs. Eventually we allwandered of in ones and two leavingonly the three or four working onfinishing the bottle. Sleep was easy, Ijust put my head down!


The morning caressed me with thesmell of fresh coffee and woodsmoke, excellent. After anotherwonderful and animatedJime eating acooked breakfast, we packed up ourtent and belongings ready to go. Wevisited the CAMPEX exhibition, bothof us being Cub leaders and havingan interest in camping and tentage, itwas a must and spent even moremoney. So many tents and bargains,wow. What a wonderful weekend. Iwish you could all have been there. Itwas so good to put faces to the nameswe had only seen on letters or talk toon the phone. Well there is Rotterdamin October or Bridgwater in May nextyear.

r--TRYTHISONEFOR-sfzIT--]How about this word puzzle fromGeoffry Budworth. Can you convertthe word REEF into the wordKNOT, changing just one letter at atime to make anoth~r word and usingonly six other words. The sixth wordis just a triffle vulgar. Can anyonedream up another one or a crosswordpuzzle even loosly bassed on knottingor rope craft.

REEF

KNOT(Answer in next issue)

Model Tug Boat Manoeuvringby Matthew Walker

Members of the North West Branchattended this event. Bob Mitchell, avolunteer at the Museum, invitedmembers along , promising free entryproviding we tied a few knots and puton a good 'show' for the visitors.

Dave Walker ( no relation toMatthew! ) busied hin1self makinglarge side fenders, two feet long andeight inches in diameter, for use byriver barges. Bob enlisted the help ofyoungsters to make a normal six halfhitched side fender. Bob;s chainsinnet light pull cords were indemand as towing ropes for themodel tugs! The tug bost ownersexpressed an interest in fenders fortheir vessels. I think 1.2mm sisalmight be the order of the day forthese.

The North West Branch meets foran informal chat and drink at theAlbion Inn, Park Street, Chester. Themeetings start at 7pm and are held onthe second Sunday of every othermonth. The meeting dates for the restof the year are the 14th July, 8thSeptember and 10th November.Members of the north West Branchwere also in attendance at awaterways display at the ChesterBasin on the 22th/23rd June and willbe at the next Model Tug BoatManoeuvring Competition atEllesmere again on, 25th/26thAugust.


STUART GRAINGER, CUCKAMUS END, CUCKAMUS LANENORTH LEIGH J WITNEY, OXON OX8 6RR, ENGLAND,

TELEPHONE:- 01993 881453.

Front

SEALED KNOT SOLUTION

Back

a.K. so it's acon! But you were warned. As aheraldic device it only has tolook pretty and this is only acceptable anyway if it is agreed that the changefrom left handed tassels to right handed loops is amistake or artist's licence.Nobody has explained the possible symbolism •if any.


SECRETARY'S ANNUAL REPORT

1225The Guild has enjoyed.another good

year, having had two successful andwell attended public meeting anddisplays, both of which were held inthe UK. In addition membershiplevels have increased by over 12%, toa figure of nearly 700, with merrlbersboth at home, and in 24 countriesoutside the UK, including 38 states ofthe USA. Ultimately the future of theGuild will be through thedevelopment of local groups, or'branches' which are now evolving,there being 14 within the UK, andnine overseas groups.

Individual members themselveshave attended many displays andevents, both private and public,throughout the year. At these theyhave been demonstrating andteaching various aspects of theancient skills and traditions ofknotting, to a multityde of audiencesat a variety of locations, withparticular emphasis having beengiven to youth groups such as theGuides, Scouts and Sea Cadets.

This year has also seen a change ineditorship of the quarterly magazine,'Knotting Matters', of which foureditions, plus a full supplementaryindex of the first 46 issues werepublished. These were much largerand more regular than previouseditions, resulting in substantiallyhigher printing and postage chargeshaving been incurred.

In addition, the Guild published the1995/96 edition of the 'MembershipHandbook', and an instructional book'Nylon Novelties', by Eric Franklin,the latter proving so successful thatover half of the original print run hadbeen sold by the year end.

The nlanagement of the GuildSupplies has continued to improve,with this years Stock in Hand valuedat less than £1900. All of the oldslow moving stock has now beeneliminated, either by discounted sale,or scrap as appropriate, withmonitoring systems being introducedto measure the performance of theremaining stock items.

This year saw the first majorpurchase of equipment for the Guild,that of a PC, together with a printerand associated software, to assist withthe general administration of theorganisation. Although this cost,nearly £2000, there has been over100% return on capital, thusjustifying the expense. This isbecause it became possible toeffectively monitor belatedsubscriptions and hence maintainmembership levels by 'reminder',rather than losing members bydefault. Consequently this willgenerate much longer term benefits,as those retained members willcontinue to renew their subscriptionsin future years.

Financially, the Guild has continuedto grow, having increased its liquidassets by nearly .1 7%, to well over


£17000, with net current assetsincreased by 23% to over £18000.Despite the doubling of expenditure,the net surplus for the ~~ear has stillexceeded £3500, enabling thesubscription levels for the current,and forthcoming year, to remain attheir 1991 levels. Encouragementhas been given to members tocovenant their subscriptions, and withabout a quarter of the UKmembership taking up this option,nearly £400 has been returned to theGuild by the Inland Revenue.

IIence, following an exciting andfruitful year, all the indications arethat this success will be built uponduring 1996, leaving the organisationfinancially secure, with fundsavailable to promote the objectives ofthe Guild to a much greater degree.

D( .-.-------.,

A LETTER FROM FRANKHARRISThe Millenium I was a littledisappointed with the discussion atthe AGM. Despite my having raisedthe subject at the 1995 AGM and myremarks on pages 18-19 of KM 52 theduscussion was not worthy of such amomentous occasion. The little thatwas said seemed to centre aroundwhether we wanted to celebrate themillenium or whether we should saveout efforts for the 20th Anniversay ofour founding. I myself do not put

much store on 20th anniversaries.The present generation reckon oncoming of age at 18 whereas mygeneration was prepared to wait until21. But 18, 21 or the millenium wehave still to decide how and wherewe are going to celebrate. Putting offmaking a decision is procrastinationand we know that procrastination is atheif of time.

The next General nleeting has beenarranged for September in Rotterdam;so why not put on your thinking capNOW, and decided which you thinkmost suitable, the Milenium or our20th anniversary, and how you thinkwe should celebrate the occasion,then write and let the Secretary knowyour ideas, so that they can beconsidered whether you are able toattend the meeting or not.Furthermore, you might publish yourideas in the next issue of KnottingMatters. Let us get a discussiongoing as soon as possible.

Another suggestion voiced was 'Tomark the occasion could be possibleset up a Guild Headquarters whereour accumulation of work could bedisplayed?'. Your opinions would beappreciated on this subject too.Ed: As with all large meetingspeople tend to digress, with somany different ideas and so littletime to discuss them, weunfortunately do not always get aclear picture. So write to us let usput your ideas in print, for people'squiet contemplation.


PICTURES FROM THE AGM

Ranger Smith - NO Charlie Smith Dave Pearson - Monologue Master

38

Dave & Jane Doy our Chef de Cuisine

KNOTTING MATTERS -JULY 1996

Richard Hopkins - Bristol

Geoffrey Budworth

Your Editor Lonnie - Can he coach you to write

to KM

Liz P awson & friends

KNOTTING MATTERS -JULY 1996 39

Fred Carrington - Thanks Fred for all of you years on the committee.

Past & present

PresidentsGlad Findley

&Des Pawson

40 KNOTTING MATTERS -JULY 1996

DID DARCY LEVER GET ITWRONG?

IF SO, HAVE WE GOT IT WRONG?

by Des Pawson - Ipswich, EnglandI recently purchased a second

edition of The Young Sea OfficersSheet Anchor by Darcy Lever, 1819.This book has seen the world there issome staining by salt water and atsome time in the early parts of its lifeit was bound, trimming the edges ofthe pages. There is an inscription onthe front page that has partly beentrimming away, but leaves the factthat the book belonged to one EdwardA H - 15 March 1837. Throughoutthe book there are notes in penciladding to or changing the advisegiven on rigging procedures andhandling of the ship, but one set ofcorrections appears to reverse thenames and descriptions of theartificial eye and the Flemish eye, thishas been done in ink whilst all theother notes appear to be in pencil.

What does this signify? I think thatDarcy Lever was the first to illustrateand describe these two splices, andwould be the departure point for laterseamanship manuals and books ofknots.

Ashley #2745 and #2796 points outthat there was even as he was writing,some confusion as to which spliceshould be called which. If DarcyLever or his printers got the namestransposed would this mean that wehave all got the naming of these two

splices wrong, or did out friendEdward get mixed up? Does anyoneknow of an earlier reference that willconfirm the position?Another snippet from Des aboutthe 'Modern Monster SplicingTools'

One tool not usually carried in themodern day riggers tool box is theforklift truck, yet I know of timeswhen this is just the tool to help putin a splice. Bridon Ltd (used to beBritish Ropes) make up giantmooring ropes at their Charltonworks using a braid on braid rope thatmust be all of 200mm dia and to pullthe core through the outer they enlistin the help of a couple of fork lifttrucks. They are not the only ones touse the forklift truck, I was recentlytold of a major piece of wire workcarried out on the Macopari 7000lifting barge of Hanoi Island in theSouth China Seas by a group ofChinese and Chilean oil rig workersmaking up a pair of huge 30000 tonbreaking strain wire lifting slings.Making a long spliced continuouscable laid sling of about 450mm dia.They used a forklift truck to open thestrands and another to pull the strandsthrough, the twist factor from thewire was such that they had to takethe tyres and run the wheels between2H section girders rigged up to forma sort of rail gantry to stop the wheelsof the forklift being twisted off theground.

KNOTIING MATIERS - JULY 1996 41

I asked if there had been any photostaken, the answer was that everythingwas in such a rush that photographywas the last thing on their minds!

HOJO-JITSUTHE JAPANESE ART OF

RESTRAININGWITH ROPE

by Brian A Glennon - Massachusetts- USAHojo-Jitsu is the Japanese art of tyingand binding with rope.

It was a technique used by theFeudal Japanese Police and Saurai torestrain captives, without the use ofhandcuffs or leg irons.

The knots used by these 15thcentury Japanese police would easilybe recognised by today's Guildmembers as: Round Turns and HalfHitches, Clove Hitches, Figure ofEight knots, and the Handcuff knot.Yet it was the speed of applicationand ultimate purPose of these knotswhich was unique to this discipline.

The hand made rope used in HojoJitsu was woven from either naturalfibre, women's hair, or a blend ofboth, into a three strand flat sinnet(Ashley #2965) or eight strand squaresinnet (Ashley #3001). It varies inlength from 18 inches to over afathom depending on whether thefingers of a prisoner were to be tiedtogether, or the entire body to bebound for extended periods of time.The diameter ranged between 5 to12mm.

Even though the smaller diameterline might have easily been brokenunder other stressful circumstances,the method of binding was painful tothe subject and strategically placed tocut off the blood circulation to thelimbs. So imagine how you feel aftersitting in a chair for hours absorbed ina knotting project only to discoveryou cannot move your foot or legbecause they fell asleep. Thisnumbness contributed to theeffectiveness of Hojo-Jitsu. In thepreparation for use, a figure of eightloop (Ashley #1047) was made in theend of the line.The figure of eight loop was thenplaced over the thuITlb, and then asmall hank was made in hand!Coincidentally, Clifford W Ashleyhad illustrated and described theexact method of forming this hand asthe feudal Japanese Police (Ashley#3085) albeit for a different purpose.The hand, with a noose placedloosely about the wrist, was carriedup the sleeve of the constable's robeready to go into action.

Binding a prisoner usually tookplace after the individual wassubdued at the point of a weapon.Two man restraining teams were usedto bind multiple prisoners. Althougha skilled Jiu-Jitsu practitioner couldsimultaneously twist a culprit's armthen slide the loop from one wrist tothe other and immediately start thebinding process before the victimcould recover his wits.

42 KNOTTING MATTERS· Jl'LY 1996

A handcuff knot (Ashley #412) wasusually used to begin the bindingprocess on the captured subject. Thiswas followed by variations of roundturns, half hitches, and clove hitchesto the wrist, chest and limbs.

The applications varied dependingon the different schools of Hojo-Jitsu.Modern day enthusiasts of this artrecommend a mannequin or dummybe used to practice these bindingtechniques because of the potentialdanger involved. The feudalJapanese police or Samurai showedlittle concern for the comfort of theirprisoners as a captured felon might betrussed up in this manner for days ashe was being transported to his fate.

These binding techniques werespecifically designed to bedebilitating as part of their restrainingeffect. Numbness set in immediatelyand gangrene over a period of time.So modem practitioners use dummiesto practice speed tn binding andsecurity in knots without reducing themembership of Hojo-Jitsu.

PONA TIKANGAOR

NEWSLETTER FROM NEWZEALAND

by Roger Carter - Plinlmerton - NZWhile our parent body in shivering

in the Northern Hemisphere Iunderstand that we have just enjoyedthe hottest summer since records havebeen kept.

Further news of Richard Hodges'celebrated chess set. He not onlymade it on TVNZ and 'TheChristchurch Press', as I reported lasttime, but also in "The New Zealand

Herald", a copy of which found itsway to UK and into the hands of anacquaintance of our InternationalPresident, Des Pawson, who made acongratulatory phone call to Richard.Well done Richard!. He tells me thathe has embarked on another chess setin a thicker line. I look forward toseeing that.

This again in a "People Edition" andup at the top of my list I must tell youof our Associate Member, Susan deLange, wife of long time member,


Bill, who makes knot boards andother nauticalia, between sea trips formakers of Maritime Leisurewear'Action Down Under' <~hops. Susan,bless her, has offered to take overeditorship of this august broadsheet,and fact this is her first edition.Susan is adept at using the wordprocessor, which is technology wellover my sinlple head. I note with nota little puzzlement the comments in'Knotting Matters' editorials suchesoteric phrases as "pin dot matrix'and 40 meg hard drive etc. The rapidtransition from quill to steel nib toballpoint still has me traumatised so Iam very grateful for Susan's kindoffer, Very Many Thanks Susan.

I enjoyed a pleasant afternoon withRebecca Sass from Pittsburgh,Pennsylvania, USA. Rebecca, whohas blossomed since I saw her last,developed her taste for knotting herein Wellington while in NZ with herparents. They all us~d to come downto the boat harbour on Saturdayafternoons to discuss and practiceknotting, nice to see Rebecca again.. I had the pleasure of entertaining

the American Ambassador, JosiahBeman, in my workshop a couple oftimes last year. I did some minorrepairs to the rigging of a beautifulminiature Napoleonic Wars' boneship model that he bought at auctionhere, a real pleasure, the rigging ishuman hair. The Ambassador is anavid collector of beautiful handcraftsand has a fine collection of walking

sticks of all kinds, some of which willbe displayed at the Dowse ArtMuseum. We are arranging a displayof some of those of a nautical natureat our museum. . Mr Beman visitedme again recently and during thecourse of conversation I discoveredthat he does not own a fancyworkcovered stick! He is keen to pay afair price for prime examples, soanyone who is interested, getcracking. Let me know what youhave in mind and I'll be happy tonegotiate on your behalf.

In KMSO Gordon Perry described ause for chain shortening (Ashley#1144) and asked for other examplesand in KM51 Ian DeAth providedsome. I am probably exceeding thebrief, but chain shortening by anyother name is 'Drummer's Plait',Spencer and Irving name it so.Recently an avid militaria collectorfriend of mine acquired the entireuniform and drum of a drummer boyof the Honourable ArtillieryRegiment dating from the late lastcentury. He asked me to replace themissing plait which was traditionallymade of white cotton braided rope,reminiscent of sash cord. Onstudying several examples in Booksand Paintings, I found that thoughthere were always two loops hangingfrom the drum, they were secured tothe drum, suggesting the shoulderslings of a rucksack! I discovered(after half a century of knotting) thatthe plait was not merely for

44 KNOTTING MATTERS -JULY 1996

decoration, but also allowed thedrummer to sling his instrument onhis back (stowing it away) duringroute marches; and tlte plait spreadthe weight and didn't cut into thedrummer's shoulders, as a single linewould have done, one can learnsomething new every day, and oftenit's the obvious.

While on a few days R&R recently Icalled aboard the Lake Taupopassenger boat 'Ernest Kemp'. Youwill recall that I wrote about memberPat Cunningham going up there toteach the owner/skipper Jack Gricefancy work techniques. Sincer thenJack has plastered the guard rails, thewheel and most other projections,including the bollards on his wharf,with all kinds of keckling and turk'sheads etc. To complete the picture heneeds the plans for a covering knotfor the intersections where eachspoke protrudes from the outer rim ofthe wheel. The knot requires fouropenings top and bottom for thespoke and each side for the wheelrim. Anyone any ideas?

Recently I en~oyed several Sundaymornings in the company ofactor/playwright Malcolm Murray,from BATS theatre in Wellington.He was writing a one act play, thetheme of which was equating life toknot tying. Not a new idea, in factshades of the novel 'Shipping News'which Geoff Budworth reviewed inKM46, wherein each chapter headinghas a picture of a knot from Ashley,

which suggests the theme of thechapter, ie Truelove knotangle knot,Rolling hitch, Slippery hitch etc.Like Geoff I couldn't get into thenovel either, but I know a memberwho did, but I digress. I coachedMalcolm in bends and hitchesappropriate to the script andphilosophical needs, and went to thefirst night. It is fringe theatre (orshould it be Migramah Theatre?).Curtain up at 11pm, I report that Ithoroughly enjoyed it and it was wellreceived by the audience.

The highlight of the summer forChapter members, Jack Sheaman,Otto Schutte and myself was doingduty as Volunteer Guides aboard thebeautiful replica of Captain Cook'sBark "Endeavour" which you nodoubt know is doing the rounds ofNZ ports. One of my duties as aguide was explaining the Cat 0' NineTails to visitors and it occurred to meto wonder why the nine tails, why not8 or 10? I guess it's obvious whenyou thing about it. Three pieces ofthree strand hawser laid rope arecable laid up to create the handle andthen stranded out to make the tails,usually sennetted to give themsubstance! Incidentally, the BloodKnot (Ashley pp 82 & 84) was putinto each tail to create a 'ThievesCat'. Stealing from ones messmateswas the worst crime of all. I justthought I'd share that gem with you.

I had the pleasure of Rod Orrah'scompany yesterday afternoon. He


was passing through on a holiday tourof the North Island. He brought someexamples of his work to show me.Nice work Rod. It oCcurred to mewhile looking at his bellropes how weall seem to create a style that isrecognisably ones own, a sort ofautograph. On a number of occasionsI have been shown work and beentold I made it X years ago. Thoughhaving no recollections of the piece, Iknew it was my work.Till next time, yours in knottingRoger Carter - PresidentSusan de Lange - Editor.

000

From E-mail communication receivedby Gordon Perry our unofficial Webwanderer.Date: 6 June 1996To: [email protected](Gordon's E-mail address)From: Richard H Blackmer<easy@ wizvax.net>Subject: Ashley #1452 & #1453As part of a project to get recognitionof Clifford Ashley as a nationaltreasure, I am trying to select one ofhis 'original' knots to be named afterhim and to be placed on a US postagestamp. I am writing to IGKT to getnames of individuals and

organisations who might help me inthe selection and support of 'firstdocumentation,' if not 'originality'.

Because Ashley included #1452 inhis TABLE OF SECURITY (p273)as the most secure bend, I assume thathe must have preferred it to his earlier

#1453. My own preference is avariant of #1453, not Hunter's Bend#1425a. Before pursuing 'TheAshley Project' further, I would liketo have the concurrence and support

of recognised knot experts andorganisations such as IGKT.

As a user of knots, not a tyer ofknots, I have recently becomefascinated with the life-work ofClifford Ashley. As a result ofdeveloping and manufacturingouthaul and downhaul controls forone-hand operation on both tackswhile underway windsurfing and alevered uphaul hoist for getting bigsails out of the water, I use 16different knots (three being modifiedknown knots). In the course ofevaluating my products. the NewEngland Windsurfing Journal \vasimpressed with my instructionillustrations and asked me to write aknot column

In the course of writing six articles. Ihave become even more appreciativeof Ashley's work and wit.

The odd (and amusing) placement ofthe security table, its different fontand other mysteries are probably wellunderstood by Knot Tyerssomewhere. Perhaps the heavy handof the publisher's lawyer's is theexplanation. The more I learn aboutAshley, however, the more I thinkthat the explanation is his wit.

In my research, I havecommunicated with Ashley·sdaughters, Phoebe and lane, and \vith

46 KNOTrING MATTERS - JULY 1996

winning author of 'The ShippingNews.' I have met with Jane(through a mutual friend in showhorse competition) 'Yhile defendingmy National Senior WindsurfingChampion title in Florida, early April.These three, and everyone I've talkedto about 'The Project', have indicatedenthusiastic support. With a littleencouragement from IGKT (andhelp), I believe that we can helppreserve the appreciation forscholarship and skill that wasrecognised in his life-time byFranklyn D Roosevelt and manyother peers.Thanking you in advanceDick Blackmer, 109 Oakwood Drive,Scotia, NY12302.E.mail: [email protected]://www.wizvax.net/easy518 399 3799PS: Just this morning I talked toAlbert Trout in Baltimore, MD., Heindicated interest and will meet withme at the Wooden Boat Show inMystic eT June 28-30. When Almentioned 'tying the book', whilevisiting an IGKT meeting, Iremembered that Phoebe AshleyCharden suggested Des and LizPawson as a source of IGKTmenlbers in the US.

Ed: So come on you members,what can you do to help this cause,even if you have your disputes withAshley's, it must surely behonoured as a wonderful reference

to all knot tyers, especially of itsday. On a purely selfish note, theIGKT can only benefit from anyresultant publicity.

THE NENSTER'S KNOTS I............-.............-.by Rolf Kvicklund - Karlsborg SwedenHow to handle rope and knottingoutdoors when the temperature isbelow 50° centigrade?

It's an essential question for theNensters, a reindeer keeping people,living in Siberia at the mouth of theRiver Jenisej. Nomad life demandsrope and knots, but how to tie anduntie when the cold gets your handsfrost-bitten in a moment?Preferably the handling may be donewith your gloves on, or bymomentarily stretching your fingerout through a narrow gap in yourgloves. In the booklet ForntidaTeknitlAncient Technics #2/1990Tomas Johansson describes two knotshe learnt when he visited theNensters.

The first one is a type of a slippedFigure Eight Noose. The second oneis a slipped Loop Knot with anappearance like a Sheet Bend. Icannot find them in any bookavailable to me. I haven't used theknots enough to say anything abouttheir reliability, but they are used inreal life under hard conditions so theymust be secure. I think.

KNOTTING MATfERS - JULY 1996 47

underneath, between your thumb andyour fingers.

1

2 Put the standing part on yourforefinger and your thumb and makea turn around your fingers.

Here comes the troublesome passage.both to explain and to execute. TJohansson says that only theforefinger is to be used ~ but I preferusing my index and middle fingerstogether.

2 Turn your left hand to the top ofthe bight and grasp the end betweenyour index and middle fingers.

HOW TO TIE THE NOOSE1 Put the standing part in your leftpalm under the thumb, palnl up.Place the bight around the object andthe end one turn around your fingersof your left hand.-

3 Withdraw your left hand, bringingthe end back forming a loop for theslip function.

HOW TO TIE THE LOOP

1 Take the standing part in your lefthand, the bight around the object andthe end in your right hand, from

3 Keep control of the end with yourthumb and your ring finger. Turnyour forefinger and your middlefinger forward and out between the


A useful and decorative knot, making excellent coasters and table mats

strands that form the bight (the loopto be), over the strand, bringing thepart on the front side of your fingersalong, and catch the-end. Withdrawyour right hand, form the loop for theslip function and complete the knot.

From Edna Gibson - Plymouth Devon Re KM 52A Diamond Fibre: This articlereminded me of the Westem Indiancamel girths which are made from a4ply thread, either cotton, camel orgoat hair in the ply split techniquefrom which many geometric designscan be achieved according to thearrangement of the coloured threads.They can be 2ply light and 2ply darkon the same thread or light and dark4ply threads arranged in differentsequences. When I learnt split plytechnique we nlade a tight 4ply cordfrom belting wool.How to make rope sandals: I havebook entitled How to make RopeSoled Footwear by Alan Raddon;published by Aberath Publishing1982, Clifton, Aberath, Aberairon,Dyfed SA46 OL~ This excellentbook shows how to make the soles tofit your feet, work rope tops, or usewith leather or fabric tops. A veryinstructive publication.Definitions: When looking up thedefinitions of knot, bend hitch, braidin my dictionaries, I get the feelingthat they have been defined by aperson or persons other than knottyers. Has the Guild definitivedefinitions for these works and if theydon't agree with the majordictionaries perhaps a discussioncould be started.

2.

THUMP MAT KNOT

(Ashley #2360)

1.

I THUMP MAT KNOT I"'1 _

by Stuart Grainger - WitneyEnglandThe Ashley Book ofKnots only showsthis Thump Mat Knot in a veryrudimentary linear diagram, whichdoes not do justice to the beauty andvalue of the knot. In my opinion itdeserves to be better known.

3.

Lead Tripled

KNOTflNG MATTERS - JULY 1996 49

INTERNATIONAL GUILD OF KNOT TYERS

Ca/ender of events - 1996 (as at June 1996)

DATE IEVENT !LOCATION CONTACT TELEPHONE Additonal Info

July 4 - 8 West Cornwall Maritime Festival IPenzance IDennis Murphy 01752 568159 IJuly 8 Dia da Marinha (Navy Day) IPortugal (Please telephone for more info) 00351 1 3428105

July 13 - 21 International Sea Festival Brest, France Int" Rendevous for Boats & Mariners

July 14 North Western Branch IGKT Meeting Albion Inn, Park Street, Chester David Walkins 101244 682117

IJUly 14 Craft Festival Butser Hill. Hampshire Ken Yalden 01705 251230

IP~stone, Nr Leighton Buzzard, Beds Bany Darkins 01297 661115IJuly14-15 Pitstone Farm Open Day Disp,ays welcomeIJuly 16 W Yorkshire Branch Meeting Beulah Hotel Leeds Graham Smith 01484 846785 .I

July 17 Nonsuch Branch Meeting 44 Dundella Gdns, Worcester Pk, Surrey Frank Hams 0181 858 6728

August 25 - 26 Ellesmere Port Boat Museum Ellesmere Port Boat Museum David Watkins 01244 682117 Yes - displays

August 31 W Yorkshire Branch Meeting Beulah Hotel Leeds Graham Smith 01484 846785 IHuddersfield Canal Festival Huddersfteld, Yorkshire Davld Pearson 01532 572689

IAugust 31/Sept 1

Ii

I September 8 I North Western Branch IGKT Meeting Albion Inn, Park Street, Chester David Watkins 01244 682117 ISeptember 15-16 Pitstone Farm Open Day Pitstone, Nr Leighton Buzzard, Beds Barry Darkins 01297 661115 I Displays welcome

September 17 W Yorkshire Branch Meeting Beulah Hotel Leeds Graham Smith 01484 846785

1September 18 Nonsuch Branch Meeting 44 Dundella Gdns. Worcester Pk, Surrey Frank Hams 01818586728

October 12 I.G.K.T. Half-yearty A.G.M. Rotterdam

October 16 Nonsuch Branch Meeting 44 Dundella Gdns, Worcester Pk, Surrey Frank Hams 0181 858 6728

I November 10 North Western Branch IGKT Meeting Albion Inn, Park Street, Chester David Watkins 01244 682117I

W Yorkshire Branch Meeting IBeulah Hotel Leeds Graham Smith 01484 846785INovember 19I

November 20 Nonsuch Branch Meeting 44 Dundella Gdns, Worcester Pk, Surrey Frank Hams 01818586728I. .IOther events In Portugal (telephone for confirmation for all events)

100351 1 3620019

IAll year (except IMuseo da Marinha (Navy Museum) Mostiero dos Jeronimos,

i Mondays & holidays) (permanent museum with shop) Belem, Lisbon I

ISaturdays (alt year) IFeira da Ladra (a Lisbon Fair) near the Arch of S.Vicente Church, Lisbon Joachim Escudeiro 100351 1 9141222I

IAugust (7) Facint '96 (Handicraft Fair) Sintra Town Hall. Sintra (near Usbon) Joachim Escudeiro 00351 1 9141222 I

I

MORE EVENTS REQUIRED, PLEASElllllll

To those who have sent information on forthcoming events, many thanks. HOWEVER, the 'veritable flood of notifications'

is still only a trickle! There must be lots more going on Come on Guild Members and Branch Secretaries, please let me know Jeff Wyatt

about meetIngs and events in your area so that visrting knotters can meet like-minded souls. 91 Luton Road

AdVIce of overseas events would also be most welcome. Dunstable, BedsLU54LW

Tel: 01582664504 (Ansaphone)

Knots from Medireval PerthTim Field

46 Tivoli Place, Little Horton, Bradford, West Yorkshire BD5 OPG - UK

This sample was found amongst manyother scraps of leather and it is thoughtthat the archCEologists had uncovered acobbler's (shoemaker's) rubbish tip.Again I spent a happy hour or two in thelaboratory making notes and a sketch.

lOne

s. trandyarted

Frayed stra~~lends

Sample Number 1758

-~~.,~

~aYederldJMaterial: sheep's wool with fibre

diameter ranging from 19J.l to 67~1

Cord length: 150 mm

Cord diameter: 3 mm

Structure: 2strands laid left-handed (Stwist), pitch of 10 contlines in 50 mm;each strand consisting ofapproximately 40 fibres laid righthanded (Z-twist)

Knot: at one end, a simple (single)right-hand Overhand Loop.

Observations: The blot is a basic SlipLoop Knot, formed by tucking a smallbight (lllstead of a working end) in anOverhand Knot. There are so manypotential uses for this general purposeknot that it is not possible to suggestone application which is moreprobable than any other.

On Tuesday, 28th September 1993, I wasprivileged to be invited to the Departmen t of Archceological Sciences at theUniversity of Bradford in order to seehvo samples of textile cords. Each of thesamples included at least one knot andsomeone thought that one of the knotsmight be a Bowline - something to dowith a rabbit going around a tree andback down the hole!

The samples were found in 1992 duringexcavations in Perth High Street in Scotland (Excavation Reference PE12) andthey are thought to da te from the latemediEeval period. Many other fragmentsof textile cords were recovered from thesite, but these are the only ones involving knots.

Mr Paul Harrison, Cl Research Assistantin the Department, gave me a great dealof helpful information and allowed meto inspect the two knotted samples. Theyare fragile and must be treated withcare. I used large T-pins to investigatethe knots, some of which were distorted.After a fascinating couple ofhours, Ihadmade some notes and sketches and wasready to go and type the details.

Two months later, Mr Harrison invitedme back to his laboratory to look at aleather sample found in the sanle excavation. It was hard and dry but soonbecame supple when washed in alcohol.

KNOTTING MATrERS - JULY 1996 51

(Knots from Mediceval Perth ...)

Sample Number 18c=-..-=6'---=..-9__

LMed part-r{ .

Material: animal hair; probably horseor cow (to be confirmed in later tests)

Cord length: 354 mm

Cord diameter: 5 mmStructure: 3strands laid left-handed (S

twist), pitch of 10 contlines in 35 nun;each strand consisting of 2 yarns laidright-handed (Z-twist), each yarnconsisting of 20 to 30 fibres laid lefthanded (S-twist); at one end, the cordis unlaid and the strands plaited intoa 3-strand flat sinnet

Knots: in the plaited end, a left-handThumb Knot; in the laid part, a Gralu1YKnot of two right-hand OverhandKnots, leaving a bight.

Observations: It is likely that the plait isan attempt to repair the cord as itbegan to unlay and that the ThumbKnot (a common Stopper Knot) wasintended to prevent further fraying. Itis very unlikely that each OverhandKnot in the Granny Knot (a BindingKnot) would have been tied in midair. Probably, the cord was nuddledabout an object, possibly the neck of asack or net, or about a number ofobjects, possibly a bundle of tools,

and the knot made to close the neck ofthe sack or net or to bind the looseobjects together.

Sample Number 1216

Material: leather; unspecified animalhide; encrusted and degrading

Sample length: 115 mmSample diameter: 2-3 n1n1

Knots: at one end, a left-handThumb Knot with the \\'orking endvirtually unrove, but the shapemaintained; towards the other end, aleft-hand Thumb Knot \\'ith the freeend delaminated

Observations: the Thumb Knot is acommon Stopper Knot; the sanlple isprobably a single thong or lace, bu titis not possible to speculate abou t thelikely use of the sample.

Some questions -

(These questions first appeared ou t ofcontext in KM49, p22.)

Why are the cords left-hand laid (5twist)? Except for small stuff, most n1odern cordage is right-hand laid.

What machinery or methods might havebeen used in the production of the cords?

Is the direction of the final lay influenced by the machinery used in the production of the cords?


A comment-

(This comment first appeared out ofcontext in KM49, p34.).

Some researchers in the Arch~ological

Sciences Department refer to the lay ofcord samples with the letters Z and N,where the direction of the cross-piece ofthe letter is parallel to the direction of thecontlines in the sample.

In my opinion, this is ambiguous. Aright-hand laid cord is Z-twist whenheld vertically, but it is N-twist whenheld horizontally. Similarly, a left-handlaid cord is N-twist when vertical, but Ztwist when horizontal.

Charles Warner renunds me (KM50, p7)that the International Organisation forStandardisation (ISO) uses the letters Z(as above) and S (instead of N for lefthand lay). Well, I didn't know about theInternational Standard for Textiles No.2(1973) so I've learnt something, but Ishall still find it hard to give up myright- and left-hand terminology.

A letter from David Evans CwmbranI thought it worth while to get Intouch to let you know that recently Ihave done my bit and put the Guildwell and truly on the map here inSouth Wales.

On answering the telephone sometime back I was surprised to hear thevoice of Mr Chris Kneebone, he doesa radio programme on Radio Waleswhich goes out weekly. The series isabout people with unusual hobbies,he had read about IGKT in amagazine and got in touch with Nigelwho in turn gave him my particulars.

He came to the house for theinterview. He was very interested inthe subject, I don't know whether heis going out 'West' to join a posse,but he was more than interested in theHangman's Knot and the SlipperyHitch for horses.

The Ashley Book of Knots wetalked about, and thanks to myoidtutor Colin lones he was veryimpressed with my side fenders andbuttons.

When it came to the actual broadcasthe had thrown in lots of facts andfigures regarding the Guild and Icertainly hope we may gain somefurther members from the SouthWales area.Ed: Well done David • local radiois certainly a good cheap way toadvertise.

A NOTE FROM THE EDITORS:As you will have no doubt realised

this edition of Knotting Matters isvery late, we can only apologise, wehave many reasons for its lateappearance, cub camps, mine andMargaret's, family duties etc. All ofthese of course sound like paltryexcuses, and anyway I can hear yousaying that is not our problenl, youare right, and more effort will bemade to get the next edition out ontime.


RECORDING YOUR IDEAS FOR POSTERITYBY

JOHN HALIFAX

At last merrlbers, after years ofagonising about not being very goodat drawing knots and being frustratedat being unable to record your newlydiscovered knots - A Breakthrough Photocopying.NOW WE CAN ALL RE-CREATEOUR IDEAS WITHOUTDRAWING:

Use 2 pieces of ordinary corrugatedcardboard cut to A4 paper size andspot stick thenl together for extrathickness. Now spot stick a piece ofA4 paper to this board, depict yourideas in 2/3mm braided cord, colourmedium/light blue. If you cannotobtain the correct colour cord you canmake the knotting ideas in white cordand colour each piece withlight/medium blue paint. (DesPawson can supply the correct cord insmall reels).

Fix your knotting ideas in positionon the paper board with tiny 3/16th4mm length brass marine/model pinswith small hardly perceptible heads.Try and avoid using glue, particularlya shiny hard clear glue as this leavesa black mark on the photocopy.

Use a pair of thin nosed pliers toinsert the pin through the cord intothe paper & board. File/grind the tipof the pliers down to formapproximately a 1/8th diameter flat

tip to push the pin in with. Don'tforget to leave sufficient spacearound each progressive stage of yourknotting for the instructional textlater.

If you are displaying several itemson the same A4 board, forphotocopying remember, to lay themout as AS pages to correspond \viththe AS size Knotting Matters formatand remember to note on a separatepiece of paper where and \\'hat it isyou have done so the text formatmatches the graphic images relativeposition later.

I copied my new ideas on a modernRank Xerox copier at the local FEcollege. Set the contrast ink tonersetting to minimum. Place yourboard face down at the A4 setting andclose the lid. Additionally cover thewhole lid of the copier with a thickdense cloth material to blank out andexclude any light from filtering in atthe sides and causing black shado\vson the copying result. Press thebutton and should be delighted \viththe results. Make as many copies asyou require and can afford. I havefound from experience that you \villneed three copies to experiment \vithfor fornlatting text purposes.Ed: Material for KM is sent to printersin AS format, camera read)' COP)' in A4.format will lose some qualit)' inreduction.Thanks.


ROPEWORK MUSElTMNOW OPEN

KM's Suffolk 'stringer' reports ....Des and Liz Pawson opened theirsmall private museum to honour theropeworker's art and craft at 12 noonon Friday, 2 August 1996.

The accumulation in their Ipswichhome over many years of a rarecollection of knotted items and alliedtools had been for them a magnificentobsession. Then, growing aware thateven maritime museums lack suchtreasure (often not even displayingthe scant stuff that is in theirstorerooms), they grew keen to showthe world their abundance of practicaland decorative marlinespikehandiwork. Well, now they havedone so, at the bottom of their gardenin a purpose built shed with a tiledroof and exhibition lighting.

There you can' s~e: belaying pins,beckets and bellropes; deadeyes andother doo-hickies; fids and fenders;knives and knots; mats andmarlinspikes; photographs; sailhooks, needles and palms; servingboards and mallets; a carved ivoryCeltic cross and an Ashanti reefknotted gold weight; even a bespokepiece of commemorative Delftware(and a loaned fragment of ancientEgyptian netting) both courtesy ofPieter van de Griend. Ever seen aknife needle, which threads line

through pre-cut slits in a singlethrust? This museum has one.

A hundred of us heard, one way oranother, about the opening and turnedup over three days to inaugurate theventure. Des and Liz must have beenespecially pleased to see Floris Hin(Netherlands), Karl Bareuter(Germany) and Rod Orrah (NewZealand). I spotted Rina Prentice(National Maritime Museum) andDes no doubt talked earnestly to herabout better displays of ropework inmuseums generally. Some membersof the Tool & Trade History Societywere also there, enjoying thefriendship and comnlon interest.

My verdict: delightful eclectic(although I would like to see sonleexplanatory display labels for layvisitors who may be unsure what theyare looking at - but is there room?).Still, it is an experience not to bemissed. Next time you pick up thephone to seek advice or buysomething from Footrope Knots,arrange at the same time to visit Des& Liz's museum. They will bepleased to open up - free of charge and show you around this wonderfulplace, which is surely unique in theUK.

The ropework museum is at:501 Wherstead RoadIpswichSuffolk IP2 8LEnglandif +44 (0) 1473 690 090


PAGE224

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KNOTTING MATTERS - 53

CONTENTS

SUBJECTEd Bytes & PiecesNotes from the Secretary's BlotterEric Franklin - Founder Member and Second President by Percy BlandfordThe Fender Book - Colin R JonesHow About Starting a Swap Shop - by Richard PhelanPlastic Whipping - Jack BellPunctured Sphere Covering Knots - by Peiter van de GriendCorrection from KM52 - Geoffrey BudworthCaptain Jack Clarke - Master Mariner - by Janet FlackA New Knot? - by Ralph LiaConcerning Crosses - Brian Field - by Geoffrey BudworthFiador Knots - by Tom HallReport of the AGM at Gilwell Park - by Lonnie BoggsA Word Puzzle - by Geoffrey BudworthModel Tug Boat Manoeuvring - by Matthew WalkerSealed Knot Solution - by Stuart GraingerThe Secretary's Annual ReportThe MiIlenmium Celebration - A Letter from Frank HarrisPictures from the AGM - taken by Willeke van der HamDid Darcy Lever Get it Wrong? - by Des PawsonMonster Splicing Tools - by Des PawsonHojo Jitsu, The Japanese Art of Restraining with Rope -by Brian A Glennon

Pona Tikanga, Newsletter from New Zealand - by Roger CarterThe Nenster's Knot - by Rolk KvicklundThe Thump Mat Knot - by Stuart GraingerSome Notes on KM52 - by Edna GibsonThe Diary - by Jeff WyattKnots from Mediaeval Perth - by Tim FieldA Letter from David EvansAn Apology from the EditorsRecording Your Ideas for Posterity - by John Halifax

GUILD SUPPLIESI.G.K.T. BOOK PRICE LIST 1995

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MUCH ADO ABOUT KNOTfING (The 1st 10 years)Geoffrey Budworth

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TURKSHEADS THE TRADITIONAL WAYEric Franklin

NYLON NOVELTIESEric Franklin

KNOTCRAFTStuart Grainger

ROPEFOLKStuart Grainger

TURKSHEAD ALTERNATIVESStuart Grainger

SOMETHING DIFFERENT Over 50 Button knotsJohn HALIFAX

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ISSUE 53 SUMMER-JULY1996 ISSN 0959-2881 · 2015-01-25 · Set of8 Single Strand Ornamental Knots (White on Blue) RUBBER STAMP "IGKT -Member" (excludes stamp pad) TIES Polyster (Dark