SIMPLE AND USEFUL KNOTS.
[Illustration: Fig. 1.—Overhand Knot.]
[Illustration: Fig. 2.—Fourfold Overhand Knot, Loose and Taut.]
The simplest knot that is made is the overhand knot (Fig. 1). It is
very useful, and forms a part of many other knots. To make it, the
standing part of the rope—that is, the main part in opposition to
the end—is held in the left hand, and the end of the rope is passed
back over it (whence its name) and put through the loop thus formed.
It is used at the end of a rope to prevent the strands unlaying, and
sometimes in the middle of a rope as a stopper knot. If the end of
the rope is passed through the “bight” or loop two, three, or more
times before hauling it taut, the double, treble, or fourfold knot, A
(Fig. 2), is obtained. This is a larger knot than Fig. 1, and is often
used on the thongs of whips, being then termed a blood knot. B (Fig.
2) shows the knot hauled taut. Fig. 1 also goes by the name of the
Staffordshire knot, as it forms the insignia of the county. A Flemish
or figure-of-eight knot is shown by Fig. 3. To make it, pass the end of
the rope back, over, and round the standing part, and up through the
first bight. The Flemish knot is used for much the same purposes as the
preceding knots, but is rather more ornamental.
[Illustration: Fig. 3.—Figure-of-eight Knot.]
The bight of a rope is the loop formed when a rope is bent back on
itself, in contradistinction to the ends.
[Illustration: Fig. 4.—Sailor’s Knots or Reef Knots.]
The conditions under which the ends of two pieces of cordage have to
be joined together are various, and several methods are brought into
requisition; but it is always of considerable importance that the
most suitable knot be employed in each case. The value of some knots
consists in the rapidity with which they can be made, of others in the
readiness with which they can be undone; but it is an essential that
the knot holds firmly and does not slip when once hauled taut.
[Illustration: Fig. 5.—Reef Knot, Half-made.]
The commonest knot for joining the ends of two ropes, and probably
the knot that is most often made, is the sailor’s, true, or reef knot
(Figs. 4 and 5). When correctly made it is as perfect as a knot can
be. It can be made and undone with equal rapidity, and is very secure
when taut. Its one disadvantage is that it will not answer when made
with ropes of different sizes, as it then slips and comes adrift, but
where the two pieces of cordage are of the same size it is most secure
and reliable, the strain being equally distributed on every part. It
requires a little practice to make it properly. To do this, take an end
in each hand and lay one over the other, the right end being undermost;
bring the left-hand end under the standing part of the right end, as
shown at A (Fig. 5), and over the end at B, round it, and up through
the bight at C. The key to the knot is the putting of the right end
under the left when the two ends are crossed at the beginning of the
knot, as the left-hand end then comes naturally first over and then
round the other rope, and the ends lie parallel with the standing
parts, as at A (Fig. 4).
[Illustration: Fig. 6.—Granny or Lubber’s Knot.]
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.
The sailor’s knot is invariably used for reefing sails, the ease with
which it can be undone making it very valuable for this purpose. It is
only necessary to take hold of the two parts on each side just outside
the knot and bring the hands together, and the loops slip over one
another, as in Fig. 4, and the knot can be opened at once.
[Illustration: Fig. 7.—Granny Knot, Taut.]
This knot has a curious peculiarity which is not generally known. If
the end of one of the ropes is taken in one hand and the standing
part of the same rope in the other, and both are hauled until the
rope is straight, the knot becomes dislocated, so to speak, and the
rope not hauled upon forms a hitch, B (Fig. 4), round the other part.
This property was the secret of Hermann’s celebrated trick, “the
knotted handkerchiefs.” After the handkerchiefs, knotted together at
the corners, were returned to him by the audience, under pretence
of tightening the knots still more, he treated each knot as has been
described. The knots seemed firm, but really were loosened so that a
touch with his wand separated them easily.
The common bow or rosette knot is a modification of the sailor’s knot.
The first part of the process of making it is the same, but instead of
passing one end singly over and under the other, as in the sailor’s
knot, both ends are bent back on themselves, and the double parts
worked as before. Care must be taken to pass these doubled ends exactly
as those described in the sailor’s knot, or a granny bow will result.
Some persons’ shoes always come untied, the reason being that they are
tied with granny instead of true bows.
[Illustration: Fig. 8.—Overhand Rosette Knot or Bow.]
Another way of joining the ends of two pieces of cordage is shown in
Fig. 8. This is merely an overhand knot, made with two ropes instead
of one. Sometimes it is called an openhand knot. It can be made very
quickly, and there is no fear of its slipping, but if there is much
strain put upon it the rope is very apt to part at the knot, in
consequence of the short “nip,” or turn, that it makes just as it
enters the knot.
Fig. 9 shows the weaver’s knot partly made, and Fig. 10 the same knot
completed, but not hauled taut. Weavers call this the “thumb knot,”
as it is made over the thumb of the left hand, and is used by them in
joining their “ends” as they break. The rapidity with which they make
the knot, snip off the ends, and set the loom going again is wonderful.
Netters use this knot to join their twine, and it also forms the mesh
of the netting itself, though, of course, it is then made in a very
different way. In making the weaver’s knot, the two ends to be joined
are crossed in the same way as in the sailor’s knot, placing the right
end under, and holding them with the thumb and finger of the left hand
at the place where they cross. The standing part of the right-hand rope
is then brought back over the thumb and between the two ends, as shown
in Fig. 9. The end A is then bent down over it, and held with the left
thumb, while the knot is completed by hauling on B.
[Illustration: Fig. 9.—Weaver’s Knot, Half-made.]
An excellent way of joining two ropes is illustrated by Fig. 11. The
ends are laid alongside one another, overlapping each sufficiently to
give room for the knot to be made. The double parts are then grasped in
each hand and an overhand knot is formed, which is made taut by hauling
on both parts at once, as if the knot were single.
[Illustration: Fig. 10.—Weaver’s Knot, Closed.]
Though the above is the easiest way to make the knot, it is not
available where the ropes are fast. In this case a simple knot is made
on the end of one rope, but not drawn taut. The end of the other rope
is passed through the bight of the first, and a second loop formed with
it alongside the first. The knot is closed by drawing the two ropes as
before. This is in every way an excellent knot, and very secure.
[Illustration: Fig. 11.—Overhand Knot Joining Two Ropes.]
Fig. 12 shows the ends of two ropes joined by means of a Flemish knot.
It does not require much description, and is made after the manner of
the knot last described.
[Illustration: Fig. 12.—Flemish Knot Joining Two Ropes.]
[Illustration: Fig. 13.—Fisherman’s Knot.]
The fisherman’s knot (Fig. 13) derives its name from the fact that it
is always used for joining silkworm gut for fishing purposes. In making
it, the strands are made to overlap one another, and an overhand knot
is made with one end round the other strand. The strands are turned
round, and another overhand knot made with the other end round the
first strand. When the knot is tightened by hauling on the standing
parts, one knot jams against the other and holds securely. The knot is
improved by putting the ends twice through their respective loops, as
at A (Fig. 2, p. 15). The size of the knot is increased by this means,
but it will stand a much heavier strain, so that it is advisable to do
this whenever the size of the knot is not of paramount importance.
The whipcord knot (Fig. 14) is used to fasten the lash to a whip. The
lash B is laid across the ends of the thong A which are turned up over
it. The lash is brought completely round the thong and through the loop
it makes, which secures the ends of the thong firmly. If a silk lash
is used, the short end is cut off, but if whipcord, the two ends are
generally twisted together for a few inches, as at B, and an overhand
knot made with one end round the other, to secure them. The remaining
part is left somewhat longer, and another overhand knot at the end
prevents it from unravelling.
[Illustration: Fig. 14.—Whipcord Knot.]