My First Book of Nautical Knots: A Guide to Sailing and Decorative Knots
GUIDELINES AND MATERIALS Do you know what ropework is It's the art of knowing how to make knots Aboard sailing vessels many types of knots exist all of them different Some are used to raise sails others to lengthen ropes some are tied in the blink of an eye others require greater concentration And some are even so pretty that you can use them to make a necklace or to propose to your beloved Sailors have perfected the art of tying knots and passed on this knowledge from generation to generation And today young sailor you will learn how to tie these knots All you'll need to do is have some materials ready and follow the instructions step by step To make these knots you can use any kind of thread string or rope You can start practicing with cooking twine or laces The key is to have strands long enough that you can complete the knot To make bracelets you can use cotton or elastic threads if you want to add beads or small charms Of course for gimp stitching you'll need plastic lacing You'll find all these supplies in various colors and with different diameters in a haberdashery or a hobby crafts store Once you become a seasoned sailor you can try to tie knots with ropes made of textile hemp or synthetic fiber This kind of rope is sold in stores specializing in sports equipment do it yourself or at maritime cooperatives
THE BENEFITS OF ROPE WORK To learn to make a knot you'll have to be methodical and always pay attention to the direction in which you're making a loop or whether you're passing one strand under or over another You must respect each step and keep calm You'll see your concentration greatly improve thanks to making knots Once you've memorized the different steps for a knot you'll find you can make it more and more quickly and maybe even with just one hand like the old salts Your fingers will become more and more agile But that's not all Getting the knots down will enable you to make many objects key chains bracelets and necklaces pendants small rugs Let your imagination and creativity run free Some Vocabulary First things first you need to know some essential words in order to make knots A knot consists of two or more strands The strand that you move with which you make loops or turns it's called the running end The strand that's not moving is called the standing end When we talk about firmly tightening a knot we sometimes call that making something fast
boats shrouds
SLIP KNOT Here we have a very simple very effective and very handy knot It will be really useful for all the jewelry that you'll discover how to make in this book What's it for It's mainly for tightening a thread or rope around an object The more you pull it the more it tightens It's therefore used to hang things or to attach objects such as carabiners But it can also be a decorative knot For those who like to crochet it's also very useful to make in the yarn as a start to a length of slip stitches stern lines Did you know The slip knot is also used for the hangman's knot At sea we never say the word rope itself because a rope was used to hang mutineers This is why sailors invented many different words for ropes on boats and ships ends shrouds sheets halyards hawsers stern lines spring lines but never ropes spring lines
