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Here is a quick present that I created over the weekend for someone. They wanted a large monkey fist to keep one of their doors ajar. When I created this one I decided that it should have a long loop … Continue reading
Ditty Bag Noun: a small bag used especially by sailors to hold sewing implements, toiletries, etc. These days the ditty bag is very common among knot tyers for keeping their tools and cordage in. Origin: 1855–60; of obscure origin I … Continue reading
Learning How to Knot When I first became interested in knotting, I searched the Internet for different books on the subject. To be quite honest, I had gathered quite a few books on knotting, but many of these books lacked … Continue reading
Fiador Knot On Tuesday 11 February 2014 we had another interesting meeting at the IGKT Solent branch. As a part of the meeting, the homework set was the Fiador Knot, also known as the Theodore Knot, ABOK pg 201. Examples … Continue reading
Ships Bell Needing a Bell Rope I have always wanted to make a bell rope, but in my mind the biggest setback was not having a bell to hang the rope from. For many months, leading to years, I had … Continue reading
IGKT-Solent Branch Meeting On Tuesday 8 October we had another excellent branch meeting. As usual we were assigned homework, this time the knot to learn was the Long Foot-Rope Knot. This particular knot did cause some confusion as it depended … Continue reading
How wonderful it was to have a weekend break on the canal near Bath. The weather was glorious and ‘Leah’ was a beautiful 54ft long narrow boat. We sailed from Bradford on Avon and headed towards Bath. The first thing … Continue reading
Sailors Swab or Whisk In Des Pawson’s Knot Craft, Des mentions that Sailors would swab the decks using giant swabs made from old rope. Also scaled down versions were made to wash dishes and also used as hand sweepers to … Continue reading
Here is a little something that I made over the weekend. This Monkey Fist keyring was made from para-cord, covering a small cork ball. The pink para-cord is a Portuguese Sennit. This is a rather useful addition to a boaters … Continue reading
How to Make a Cat of Nine Tails I have already made two cat o nine tails in the past, but I thought this time I would record my progress of making one. In this particular case I used polished … Continue reading
Knot Tying on HMS Victory Every Wednesday in August the IGKT Solent Branch have a display and workshop on the Lower Gun Deck of HMS Victory. It is a very busy day for the … Continue reading
Last night was a superb evening for a BBQ, there was warm glow from the setting sun over waters at Fareham, and the smell of the BBQ filled the air. Members and friends gathered for the annual BBQ. There was … Continue reading
It was a garden party where the theme was Victorian Games, as Knot Tyers we made it games with string. We recruted a Cat’s Cradle enthusist Ali, Ali was able to show folks a blast from the past, many Grans … Continue reading
Solent Branch on their second show of this summer season have had a good start. Priscilla turned up with a knotted Prawn from Brunei ,at the first day of the Model engineers show, just to whet our Knot Tyers appetite. … Continue reading
Last weekend the IGKT – Solent Branch had a stall at the Armed Forces Day in Portsmouth Dockyard. I have to say that it was a very enjoyable event. It was a glorious day and there were a lot of … Continue reading
I love my tools!!! So what tools do you need for knot tying? Well the simple answer is two………your hands. Eventually though you find yourself picking up something to poke, prod or pull the cord into the right position. Tools … Continue reading
During the sorting out of my father’s house I also came across the Ashley Book of Knots, this used to belonged to Rory Bell. This particular copy was actually leather bound (another skill that Rory had) Wow, I had the … Continue reading
I thought that for my first post I would like to explain how I got into knotting. Many years ago (early 1960’s) my father was stationed in Aden. We would often go to the beach in the afternoons, as the … Continue reading