Oh, What a Tangled Web

March 13, 2006 11:00 AM

Knots to the Left of Me,Knots to the Right. No, not the recently departed Knotts, Knots!
posted by fenriq (20 comments total)

And some fancy knots.
posted by youarenothere at 11:15 AM on March 13, 2006

Oooh, nice! Thanks fenriq. The animated knots site is especially good and useful too. I always wanted to know how those amazing knots were done and, like origami, it's so much easier to see the steps in action.

The beautiful visuals on the third interesting knots site you mentioned are great.
posted by nickyskye at 11:25 AM on March 13, 2006

Go nuts.
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane at 11:26 AM on March 13, 2006

Suprisingly, there is but one comprehensive guide to the art of knot-tying: The Ashley Book Of Knots. Other ancient arts such as cooking and hunting seem to have produced substantially more literature over the years. Fortunately, Ashley was thorough.
posted by ryanrs at 11:26 AM on March 13, 2006

When I was a kid my older brother had a neat book with a handful of knot tying pics, called How to do nothing with nobody, all alone by yourself, by Robert Paul Smith.
posted by nickyskye at 11:41 AM on March 13, 2006

I've found accessory cord is ideal for learning knots. Get at least 15 feet so you can form "large print" layouts on a table. It's much easier to study a flat two-dimensional knot than a tight 3-D lump.

Everyone should learn a half dozen basic knots. Otherwise we'll be completely helpless when the dolphins invade.
posted by ryanrs at 12:04 PM on March 13, 2006

Knotts
posted by Pollomacho at 12:04 PM on March 13, 2006

I'd be lost without the Rolling Hitch.

Most useful knot for me.
Usefull back onto the line for a slip/lock loop or onto another object.
posted by HTuttle at 12:21 PM on March 13, 2006

The rabbit comes out of the hole, runs around the tree, and goes back into the hole.
posted by leapfrog at 12:25 PM on March 13, 2006

I've got a zillion knot links but my favorite "practical" one is Ian's Shoelace Site. A magnificent obsession. I'm an Ian Knot convert. (And let me tell you, it makes a great conversation starter.)
posted by Wolfdog at 12:30 PM on March 13, 2006

Heh, I said "knot links."
posted by Wolfdog at 1:14 PM on March 13, 2006

Wolfdog, great shoelace site!
posted by nickyskye at 1:15 PM on March 13, 2006

But not a very good link. Better link.
posted by Wolfdog at 1:18 PM on March 13, 2006

Oh Johnny, you're so naughty!
posted by zarah at 2:12 PM on March 13, 2006

Cool! But I can't believe there was no Boa Knot. Or Highwayman's Hitch. Or Turk's Head. Or Monkey's Fist. OK, I'm done.
posted by ObscureReferenceMan at 5:08 PM on March 13, 2006

Oh, and related meta-post here.
posted by ObscureReferenceMan at 5:11 PM on March 13, 2006

Suprisingly, there is but one comprehensive guide to the art of knot-tying: The Ashley Book Of Knots.

I used to teach knots at my local Scouts Group, and so i was always practising and experimenting with different knots. So one day I came up with this cool looking decorative knot, and I was so proud, thinking I'd invented a new knot. A couple of weeks later I came across the Ashley book of knots in a local library and was quite crushed to find out that it was not a new knot at all.
posted by dhruva at 6:13 PM on March 13, 2006

dhruva, quite crushed to find out that it was not a new knot at all

I think the geometry of knots is primordial somehow, part of our neurological, and even social/psychological, make-up and fundamental creativity. It would make sense to me that playing with flexible, interweaving 3-D planes, i.e. knots, human beings would tend towards recreating the same knots throughout the centuries.
posted by nickyskye at 10:26 PM on March 13, 2006

aww dhruva, I was trying to comfort you. Oh well.
posted by nickyskye at 6:25 AM on March 14, 2006

Nevermind, nickyskye, I'm over it now...though even today, if I'm showing someone that knot, I tend to use my own name for it :)

Ps that last link was fascinating, for some odd reason.

I wonder if someone who's good with knots will also be good with the chinese board game of GO. A bit like the mathematics and music connection...
posted by dhruva at 5:53 PM on March 14, 2006