Why had Ashley missed this bend ?

[xarax]

  Sometimes Ashley comes so close to a knot, he almost ties it, and then he suddenly turns away, towards something else...
  See the ABoK#1422 "decorative bend", which he does tie, and its reverse, which he does not : the elegant, most simple, secure and easy to tie and untie "Violin bend". ( See the attached pictures )
  ABoK can be considered as book about decorative knots mainly, and not practical knots ( at least as we define "practicality" nowadays), if we judge it by the amount and the details of decorative knots presented in it - but I do not believe that this can explain those "near-ties". Perhaps he uses very rough laid ropes - or he does not wish to discuss knots where the handedness of those laid ropes would play a significant role. In this bent, in particular, the strands twist around each other and around themselves quite a lot, so tying it on laid rope would depend on the handedness of the laid rope too much ?

[xarax]

  I believe I should use this opportunity to engage in this thread another knot which was not tied by Ashley ( although it may be even easier to tie than the Violin bend ), and perhaps for the same reasons. See the attached pictures for the double Granny bend, where any handedness of the material will also play a significant role - as it will in the Violin bend.

[SS369]

I too believe that the laid ropes of yesteryear influenced the knots that were designed. Mr. Ashley lived, tied  and had drawn his book during this time, so I feel he did his thing with what he had at hand.
I can and have seen where the lay opens up in parts of a knot that we have tied in recent days. We should consider this and make the appropriate comments to that effect when it is potentially influencing.

And sometimes a person just doesn't think of something else or can't remember it to put it to paper, when he has.
I can relate. 

SS