Im getting better!!

[Capt.GL Chiles]

I know this sounds a bit amateurish, but I tied my first successful Turkshead without prompting from anything! I feel like Im knot retarded, It literally took me a couple of days to get the hang of it! I am getting better at the cockscombing but i feel it will take some time to get proficient. I love this stuff!! My real goal is to be able to make custom grips for various types of fishing poles and railings for yachts, ships, etc. Not too many people out here San Diego way that does this thing anymore, I really do beieve that this is a dying art and will do my best to preserve it. Still being "wet behind the ears"as they say is ok, I think Ill just stick with it until I get it..A little different tying the turks head on a board as opposed to a rail or a round surface, any suggestions ?? Thanks all, Gary Chiles.

[Mrs Glenys Chew]

That's not amateurish - that's enthusiasm!

I remember my post the night I "... got reckless and did a monkey's fist ..." 

Go for it.  Don't stop for anything but a bewildering tangle.

Have you tried tying a 5-bight TH on your hand yet?  I figured it out from the diagram of how to tie a flat one in one of Geoffrey Budworth's books: I just 'put' the diagram onto my hand.  The 4-bight works well too.  Then you just follow it round as many leads as you want.  Lay it flat for a mat, or mill it round both your forefingers for a bracelet/tube.

Tim sends his regards and says "when the wind blows in from the west, a fireman won't get any rest, be warned if it's a blustery day, plenty of work is on the way ".

We hope you get plenty of east winds, therefore

He's very happy right now (well chuffed as they say around here) as the fire brigade have moved into their new station on the other side of the river from us, about 10 minutes away, on his school route, and visible in winter when the intervening trees are bare   He's already had a tour and met some of the District and Station brass.

Glenys

[Capt.GL Chiles]

 
Hello Glenys,
                      The best to you and yours! My apologies for not replying sooner for a list of fire services "deadly knots " that are a must know for our job. basically they start with the simple clove hitch, half hitch, Bowline, personally, I think it is still one of the most important knots in the fire service because it is good for forming a single loop that will not constrict the object it is placed around. The entire family of figure eight knots, valuable in rescues and rigs,Becket bend, and then perhaps the good water knot (for webbing). well chuffed is a good thing for a young guy to be that is that enthused about the fire service. Perhaps over there they will let him do a ride along ( as we call it) with Parents permission. We are truly a family, more like brothers, at least we carry on like real ones. sometimes Glenys,as thier Capt ,I swear I could strangle them, but on the other hand , I truly trust each and every one on my crew to risk thier lives to save me and would give mine to save them. These knots that we have to know are not just for fun, they are truly functional  and sometimes our lives depend on them. Tim MUST know them to be in the fire service. As for the 5 bight th, I dont know if Ive ever seen one, I will definitely look it up!!  By the way, On the West coast of the U.S. the dangerous winds we call the devil winds,(Santa Anas) blow out of the East TOWARDS the ocean, I know it sounds strange, but true! Happy tying, chat soon!!! Gary

[kg2v]

I know this sounds a bit amateurish, but I tied my first successful Turkshead without prompting from anything! I feel like Im knot retarded, It literally took me a couple of days to get the hang of it! I am getting better at the cockscombing but i feel it will take some time to get proficient. I love this stuff!! My real goal is to be able to make custom grips for various types of fishing poles and railings for yachts, ships, etc. Not too many people out here San Diego way that does this thing anymore, I really do beieve that this is a dying art and will do my best to preserve it. Still being "wet behind the ears"as they say is ok, I think Ill just stick with it until I get it..A little different tying the turks head on a board as opposed to a rail or a round surface, any suggestions ?? Thanks all, Gary Chiles.

Sounds just like me!  The Turkshead was my bane for years.  Practical knots, no problem, cockscombs, angain, NP, but the turkshead KILLED me, untill about two weeks ago

BTW - Just joined both the forum, and guild today

[Mrs Glenys Chew]

Hi there Gary + Kg2v (welcome to the Guild )

I've been away, but as regards Turks' Heads, this is the mnemonic I use for the way I tie them in hand:

On hand, number fingers thumb=1-little=5.  Lay cord from centre of wrist to lay between 2 and 3.  All loops are made clockwise on the left hand.  I've never tried reversing them on the right hand, but it should work.  Just a number means that you loop the finger indicated.  The Overs and Unders run fairly close to the insides of the knuckles, not directly across the palm.

TH5Bx'n'L:
3; 1; 4; O-U-O; 2; U-O-U-O; 5 = x2+

TH4Bx'n'L:
O3;O2;U1;D2, O-U-O-U, 4 = x2+

I got this method because of two circumstances:

I'd seen a method of illustrating tying Chinese Knots using a hand cut out of cardboard.  I think it was on http://chineseknotting.org/button/howto1/ which is one of KnotMe's sites - the images have been updated now using a jointed wooden mannequin hand.  Anyway, not long after that I saw an ordinary 5-bight TH in one of Geoffrey Budworth's photo-illustrated books, and the thought occurred to me that if I reproduced the flat loops on my fingers, I'd find it easier to tie.  So I did.

I've never done any photos of it, and I'm having problems uploading photos to my Flickr site at present, but I'll post if I get them done before the end of August

Regards,
Glenys

[Mrs Glenys Chew]

Ok, my phone won't paste into a topic reply, so here's the link:


www.flickr.com/photos/11285160@N04/sets/721576308330402330


I hope I've got that right   www.flickr.com - glenys_chew - tags: Turks Head TH 5 Bights


Uploading works from a mobile when you find the old version and don't do 6 at a time


Regards
Glenys

[Lasse_C]

Hi, Gary!
Just keep on going and do not - I repeat: NOT! - feel like an amateur if you need to look up a few things now and then. The field of knot tying is, if not onfinite, so at least a lot more vast than any normal human mind can store. Not a chance to keep it all in there.

I have been doing knotwork for over 40 years (yep, started as a kid of 12-13) and like to flatter myself of having aquired a certain skill and hopefully risen a bit from the basic level. I still have to look up a lot of things, and the 5LX4B TH is one of those who simply will not "stick" in my memory. If I make several it may stay there for a while, but that?s it. It may look as if experienced knot tyers are working magic with their fingers - but trust me: We (after 40 years I dare to consider myself "experienced") still have need for our books of spells from time to time... 

Besides: There is nothing wrong about being an amateur! Quite the opposite! If I remember correctly "amateur" is derived from the Latin "amare", meaning "to love". An "amateur", in other words, is a person who loves what he/she is doing. In that aspect, being a knot amateur is something to aim for, not trying to get away from.

Lasse C
http://www.lassec.pixbox.se

[firebight]

Besides: There is nothing wrong about being an amateur! Quite the opposite! If I remember correctly "amateur" is derived from the Latin "amare", meaning "to love". An "amateur", in other words, is a person who loves what he/she is doing. In that aspect, being a knot amateur is something to aim for, not trying to get away from.

I like that. Very well said.
My wife says I often have an over obsession with ropes. I have to keep reminding her, that I am knot crazy. 

[Capt.GL Chiles]

  Thanks everyone for the help and sound advice from the "rookie"! Just got back from vacation, finally saved up enough to got to Maui, what a great place! went fishing , more fishing and then some diving, a few larger sharks that I wasnt too crazy about but they evidently have enough to eat and left us alone! Saw some lashing work on really old outrigger canoes that I thought were ingenious, They took strips of palm leaves, twisted them into small line and weaved  and knotted them into lashings with some types of knots I have never seen before. A little above my head!!I can finally do a Turks head around a rail or round surface without too much prompting, looking forward  to learning a crown knot next, this stuff has gotten into my blood, im afraid.. Again, thanks for the help everyone, if anyone comes San Diego way, be glad to take them fishing!! Gary Chiles. 

[firebight]

I am in San Diego, not much into fishing, but if ya wanna do some rappelling I am game

We can talk fire, I could share what the non municipal side of fire is like.  Me and a few guys from work are gonna do some LARRO training at Presidio Park this Monday if ya wanna join us.
Nothing formal, just keep the skills practice up.

[Lasse_C]

this stuff has gotten into my blood, im afraid.. 

So, you have been infected by the Knotting Virus.
At least so far, medical science stands helpless against this chronic condition. Meeting other infected people will often lead to cross infection by other strains of the virus, making the condition worse (sometimes temporarily, but more often not). As long as the infected person has access to cordage he/she will be (fairly) rational and function adequately. Apart from consuming large amounts of time the condition seems to have no dangerous effects.
 

Lasse C

[firebight]

I just don't have the talent to make things out of rope as I have seen posted here. Quite extraordinary some of the things you guys and gals can do. I am relegated to just using knots and rope for work and other tool type functions. But I still like working with rope.

[Mrs Glenys Chew]

Hi Firebight,


Maybe it isn't talent that's the difficulty. I couldn't knot when I first encountered knotting because it was Scoubidou (I think you know it as Boondoggle? Plastic cord.)  I couldn't get over the inappropriateness of the cord for the craft.  Then I met Dave Walker (at that time Guild Secretary), and he showed my then 6 year old son how to do a Solomon Bar in softish cord.  I still have that on my car keys.  _Then_ I got interested.  It was a combination of purpose and components.


But my limit is time: I don't get enough time to practice unless I burn the midnight candle, or unless I'm a passenger on a long journey, which doesn't happen often.  So my knots are limited to what's fast-learned and tied easily without looking at it (to avoid car-sickness).


There was something else I did, though, which helped.   I think you've got more knot-tying experience than I had before I started, so please forgive me if this seems basic.


I was blessed by finding Stewart Grainger's Creative Ropecraft in my local library, and doubly blessed that nobody else wanted it for 13 months!  I photocopied pages at high magnification and worked on following the lines through the illustrations.  Then I got some 5mm haberdashery ribbon and marked arrows on it, and mounted it on sheets of paper so I could see in reproducing the knot in ribbon exactly how it flowed through.  I think that's how I learned to "see" knot structures.


What I'm trying to explain is that I found myself able to tackle dfferent knots according to how I learn things, and what needs or projects I had.  I never got round to doing a Turks' Head on a bottle until this month, for instance.


See what fits your situation, and just build it up from there


Regards
Glenys