Knot (tying)

“ For tying such knots one does not become liable for a sin-offering, but he must not make them to commence with (because at times the knot is left on the nose-ring or on the ship for some time) , and there are other knots which may be tied in the first place, such as the slit of a woman's chemise, etc.; what would he inform us? Is it not self-evident, that a woman must tie the slit in her chemise. ”

“ ROPE FORMATION.
Knotting is an ancient device with which very early inhabitants of this earth must have been acquainted. From the beginning, mankind must always have used some kind of knot to join animal sinews, plant fibres, or hide strips which, in ancient days, were the prototypes of the varieties of cordage now employed.
A large number of knots has been invented by the skill of man, and on their strength and correct tying depend the lives of thousands and thousands of workmen—seamen, building trade operatives, etc., day by day. ”

“ There are knots on account of which one does not become culpable, as in the case of a camel-driver's or seaman's knot. A woman may tie the slit of her chemise, the bands of her hood, the bands of her girdle, the straps of her shoes and sandals ”

“ It is so secure that it is impossible to remove it by pulling either end of the knot. This differs from the domestic method in which the pile is merely drawn between the warp threads without tying or fastening. In the finer fabrics of the East the knots are so close that it requires careful examination to discover them except in very old rugs where the pile is worn down, then the knot is distinctly seen.
In some parts of Persia the best artisans are men but in most other sections the weavers are mostly women and children. ”

“ The “knot” is formed to make a knob on a rope, generally at the extremity, and by untwisting the strands at the end and weaving them together. But it may be made by turning the rope on itself through a loop, as for instance, the “overhand knot” (fig. 1) . A “bend” (from the same root as “bind”) , and a “hitch” (an O.E. word) , are ways of fastening or tying ropes together, as in the “Carrick bend” (fig. 21) , or round spars as the Studding Sail Halyard Bend (fig. 19) , and the Timber Hitch (fig. 20) . ”

“ It is also used to form collars around stanchions or spars, and, placed around a rope close beneath a man-rope knot, it gives a beautiful finish. When made of small line sailors often use the Turk's Head as a neckerchief fastener. Although so elaborate in effect, it is really an easy knot to make, and while you may have difficulty in getting it right at first a little patience and practice will enable you to become proficient and capable of tying it rapidly and easily in any place or position. ”

“ Knot′tiness.—adj. Knot′ty, containing knots: hard, rugged: difficult: intricate.—n. Knot′work, ornamental work made with knots.—Bowline knot (see Bow) ; Granny knot (see Granny) ; Porters' knot, a pad for supporting burdens on the head; Square knot, a knot used in tying reef-points so that the ends come out alongside the standing parts; Surgeons' knot, a square or reef knot used in tying a ligature round a cut artery; True lovers' knot, a kind of double knot with two bows and two ends, an emblem of interwoven affections.—Cut the knot, to solve a problem slap-dash (cf. Gordian) . ”

“ Make a bight. Put your thumb and finger through it and pull up a loop of the free end of the rope.
Reef or Square Knot
The square knot (or reef knot) is the best simple all round knot, as it will not slip or jam and is easily untied. It is the safest knot to tie your parcels with when mailing them. It is also used to join two ropes, mend the clothes line, and for a hundred other uses. It is called a reef knot because it is used to reduce the size of a sail on a boat. As it is flat it is much used in First Aid, for tying a sling or triangular bandage. ”

“ Release by pulling other rope. Can also be used from the ground for releasing hoisting tackle which has been used on a flag pole or other tall object.
Fig. 24. The Boat knot is formed by the aid of a toggle on a rope whose ends are not free, and is used for shortening or for stopping a ring on a taut line.
Fig. 25. The Surgeon’s knot is a modified form of the square knot, and if used with smooth cord, as in tying bundles, it holds very securely. The object of the double twist is to make the knot easy to tie without holding with the end of the finger. [17]
Fig. ”

“ With the left hand pass d over c down through the loop, after which you will have the knot represented in Fig. 17, which can be at once drawn apart by the ends e and f.
Fig. 18.
Fig. 19.
A breastknot is only an ornament. It can be tied with ribbon, and makes a very pretty bow, or can be used by the ladies as a frog for a sacque. It consists, first, of three half-hitches overlapping each other as in Fig. 18. Interweave the part a under b and over c; b over a and under d. Then draw out the bight a over e, and the bight b over f, when we will have the knot as in Fig. 19. ”

“ Make a single wall knot with the other three strands round the said bights and shroud; haul the knot taut first and stretch the whole; then heave down the bights close: it will look like the ordinary shroud knot. It is very liable to slip. If the ends by which the wall knot is made after being hove were passed through the bights, it would make the knot stronger. The ends would be tapered and served.
Flemish Eye (fig. 38) .—Secure a spar or toggle twice the circumference of the rope intended to be rove through the eye ”

“ These knots or knotted stitches range from the small, tightly-worked French knots which, when closely massed, produce a sufficiently realistic imitation of a fleece, to the long bullion knots formed by twisting the silk thread ten or twelve times round the needle before drawing the latter through the loops. The sheep (enlarged from Fig. 64) in Fig. 67 shows very clearly the effect of the massed French knots. The longer knot-stitches are found to be arranged in even loops sewn closely together, or [Pg 152] are worked loosely and placed irregularly to meet the requirements of the design. ”

“ Such knots are (were) made e.g. a) on a so-called “wrestin-tread” [‘thread’] which is (was) bound round a sprained or dislocated limb and is (was) accompanied by a magic formula, b) on a fishing hand-line or long-line when the end of it chances (chanced) to stick fast to the sea-bottom (Un) , c) on a rope which is tied round the body of a sick animal (esp. that of a sick cow) (comm.) . Sometimes “de a. knot” was employed also of the eagle-knot, de ern’s knot (hitches which were made on a string after an eagle had flown away, to get it to let go its prey) , aba [āba] -knot (U. occas., Fe.) ”

“ When all the knots are loosed, the woman is his wife, and he shews the cord to her father, and generally presents his wife with a golden or silver necklace instead of the cord.1112 The meaning of this custom is not clear, but we may conjecture that the nine knots refer to the nine months of pregnancy, and that miscarriage would be the supposed result of leaving a single knot untied.
Knots may be used to inflict disease. The maleficent power of knots may also be manifested in the infliction of sickness, disease, and all kinds of misfortune. ”

“ To make a square knot, take the ends of the rope and pass the left end over and under the right end, then the right over and under the left.
If you once learn the simple formula of "Left over," "Right over," you will never make a mistake and form the despised "Granny," a most useless, bothersome, and deceptive makeshift for any purpose (Fig. 13) . The true "Reef Knot" is merely the square knot with the bight of the left or right end used instead of the end itself. This enables the knot to be "cast off" more readily than the regular square knot (A, Fig. 12) . ”

“ In the scientific sense a knot is an endless physical line which cannot be deformed into a circle. A physical line is flexible and inextensible, and cannot be cut—so that no lap of it can be drawn through another. ”

“ If the ends are not passed correctly, a granny, lubber’s, or calf knot results. This is shown in Fig. 6. Though at first sight this seems to be a good knot, yet it is not so in reality, and when any strain comes upon it, it slips and becomes useless. Fig. 7 is a granny knot, as it appears when hauled upon. It is considered a very lubberly thing to make a granny knot, and readers should practise until they can make a true knot rapidly and with certainty in any position. ”

“ A simple centre piece in eyelets
The next stitch to claim our attention is French knots. In France they are known as the English knot. They are used to fill in the centres of flowers. When working a piece of golden rod the natural effect is best produced by using French knots very close to each other. A [164] row worked on each side of a row of feather stitching makes a pretty decoration on babies' dresses, caps or even on yokes of dresses for yourself.
Fig. 146. An eyelet design for a pillow
A heavy thread is good to practise making the knot. ”

“ The rows of knots are not closely pressed down. Warp, wool. Each of the two threads encircled by a knot is equally prominent at back, or one is slightly depressed below the other. Weft, wool of medium diameter and generally dyed red. A thread of weft crosses twice between every two rows of knots. Pile, wool, clipped long. Border, usually of three stripes. Sides, generally a double overcasting, occasionally a selvage. Both ends, generally a web coloured red and a warp fringe. Texture, very loose. Weave at back is of moderately coarse grain. ”

“ The number of knots, ties, bends, hitches, splices, and shortenings in use is almost unlimited and they are most confusing and bewildering to the uninitiated. The most useful and ornamental, as well as the most reliable, are comparatively few in number, and in reality each knot learned leads readily to another ”

“ These ring knots take the place, in macramé, of bead drops, in gimp trimmings; when they are made of a double chain, you cut away 3 threads, when of a single, 1 thread, conceal the ends carefully inside the knot, make a loop with the 4th or 2nd thread, fig. 608, and lastly, fasten off all the ends with two or three invisible stitches. ”

“ KNOT. A large knob formed on the extremity of a rope, generally by untwisting its ends, and interweaving them regularly among each other; of these there are several sorts, differing in form, size, and name, as [426] diamond knot, kop knot, overhand knot, reef knot, shroud knot, stopper knot, single wall knot, double wall knot. The bowline knot is so firmly made, and fastened to the cringles of the sails, that they must break, or the sails split, before it will slip. (See Running Bowline.) The sheepshank knot serves to shorten a rope without cutting it, and may be presently loosened. ”

“ Except in the Soumak and the Khilim, which have the flat stitch, there are only two kinds of knotting used in Oriental rugs. These knots are called the Persian or Sinna, and the Turkish or Ghiordes.
In the Persian manner of knotting there are more knots to the square inch than in the Turkish, and the result is a finer surface. Often the Persian knotting is so fine that the surface of the fabric is like velvet. The Persian knot is tied in such a manner that one end of the pile yarn extends from every spacing that separates the warp threads. ”

“ But sometimes I've mistrusted something like what I discovered very indignantly one day when I was four years old, and fancied I was making a petticoat, sewing through and through a bit of flannel. The thread hadn't any knot in it!"
"That was very well, too, until you knew just where to put the stitches that should stay."
"Which brings us to our subject of the morning, as the sermons say sometimes, when they're half through, or ought to be. There are all kinds of stitches,—embroidery, and plain over-and-over, and whippings, and darns! When are we to make our knot and begin? ”

“ A soft material such as Coton à tricoter D.M.C, can also be used where it suits the purpose better.
First position of the hands (fig. 486) .—The construction of the knots or stitches, appears at first sight to present great difficulties but will be easily mastered by attention to the indications here given. One thing, to be constantly borne in mind is, that when the right hand has passed the shuttle through the loop, it must stop with a sudden jerk and hold the thread tightly extended until the left hand has drawn up the knot. ”

“ The knot is the universal “fisherman’s knot” or becket hitch made in the usual manner. The method of using the mesh stick, however, is rather peculiar, and somewhat clumsy compared with that used by civilized net-makers, as it serves only to measure the mesh and not also to hold the successive meshes as they are made. It is a long flat piece of bone or antler, shaped like a case knife, with a blade square at heel and point. There is often also a little blunt hook (as in Fig. 316, No. 56581 [1021] ) at the point, bending upward or toward the back of the blade. ”

“ Still the statement was so determinedly repeated by successive authors that Linnaeus followed them in calling the species Tringa canutus, and so it remains with nearly all modern ornithologists. [3] Rather larger than a snipe, but with a shorter bill and legs, the knot visits the coasts of some parts of Europe, Asia and North America at times in vast flocks ”

“ The best end-man knot can be made with a single continuous movement of the hand. The methods of roping and knotting are dealt with elsewhere; but we must remember to re-examine waist-knots frequently, for ourselves and the inexperienced. The noose sometimes slips down or becomes dangerously loose amid the confused disarrangement of garments which stiff rocks excite. Cases have occurred where men, slipping on rock or into a crevasse, have all but fallen out of their careless waist-nooses, and have remained suspended by one armpit. Theoretically we always rope round the chest ”