Single Strand Matthew Walker Knots.

[Barry]

How Do All 

Below is a copy of a page from my site, concerning Single Strand Matthew Walker Knots and their making.
Forgive me if this is old hat to you now, but maybe some newbie artisans might find it interesting if they have not come across them before.

Here is a picture of a 21 bight Single Strand Matthew Walker knot made with 3mm Bitumee; a tarred nylon solid braid.
This knot was made using the same method described below.
Essentially this knot is nothing more than a collection of carefully interlinked overhand knots in a single line, the trick is in the dressing.
The knot pictured has not been painted or stiffened it is pretty much self-supporting if you handle it with care.

I hope this article sheds a little light on the making of this very handsome and practical knot.

Single Strand Mathew Walker Knots.

(Edited from an article published in Knotting Matters 102)

How Do All ;-)
With reference to an article by Mr John Halifax in KM #95, page 16 "The Single Strand Matthew Walker Ring Knot" and also an addendum to the afore mentioned article in KM #96 page 8 in which John asks; " if anyone has knowledge of this concept of ring knots, please speak up."

I am very sorry for my very late reply to this question (too busy getting side tracked with other things).
I had asked a similar question a few years back when I submitted what I thought could be a new knot (a single strand Matthew Walker) to Nigel Harding as I could not find any other reference to this type of knot in any of the available material at the time.
I had also browsed the Knotting Matters index published eons ago and found a reference to a single strand Matthew Walker knot in KM # 42, published in early 1993 so I also asked Nigel if he could check this issue for me to see if the knot I had ended up with was the same as the one mentioned.

Nigel was very kind and made me a copy of KM 42 so I could take a look and decide for myself, on page 27 was a large heading at the top of the page "Single Strand Matthew Walker" The article was written by Neil Hood and his diagrams are dated April 1991.
This was the very same type of knot I had made and tried to submit to Nigel. This type of Single Strand Matthew Walker knot can be made with as many passes as is required, so making a full tucked Matthew Walker knot with anything from One to a Hundred or more Spiralling strands is possible with just one single strand, no need to find somewhere to hide all those ends so making for a very useful knot to decorate bell ropes, lanyards and the like.

Also worth noting is the fact that when braiding some Turk's-Head knots the first few passes made can be a single strand Matthew Walker knot in their own right; like the 3 pass Headhunter's knot for instance, (see Bruce Grant's, Encyclopedia of Rawhide and Leather Braiding, Page 413, figure.1) this figure is actually depicting a 3 pass single strand Matthew Walker knot, if you continue this knot by going over all at the front (going down) and under all at the back (going up) you can enlarge this single strand Matthew Walker to any size you like.

Here is a diagram I made in 2005, using Bruce Grant's drawings of a Headhunter's knot of two passes as my base drawings.
My drawing shows how to tie a full-tucked 6 pass, single strand Mattthew Walker knot.
If you decide try this knot for yourself please let me know what you think and if possible please send me a photo ;-)

Note: I make these knots over a plain tube or mandrel, I do not use pins or any other method to guide the knot other than holding the bights with my hands, alternatively you can use a pinned tube or mandrel if you prefer.

Take care,
Barry 

[KnotMe]

Thanks for sharing the cool tutorial!

Essentially this knot is nothing more than a collection of carefully interlinked overhand knots in a single line, the trick is in the dressing.

My first thought is if you're not using pins then using (probably) 2 strips of light card to serve as spacers (or one if it was not going to be removed) would those of us who need help with tension...

The knot pictured has not been painted or stiffened it is pretty much self-supporting if you handle it with care.

How much care?  Would it work as, say, a scarf woggle?  Napkin ring?  Decorative sphere stand?

[Olegan67]

Barry      -Thanks  for instruction.Always this knot was pleasant.

[Barry]

Thanks for sharing the cool tutorial!

Thank you! It's a little old now, but I guess for some it maybe new.

Essentially this knot is nothing more than a collection of carefully interlinked overhand knots in a single line, the trick is in the dressing.

My first thought is if you're not using pins then using (probably) 2 strips of light card to serve as spacers (or one if it was not going to be removed) would those of us who need help with tension...

When I am tying Turk's-Head knots, including pineapple's, gaucho's and the like, I just like to use a plain plastic or card tube rubbed lightly with some wax, the combination of the wax gripping, and using the fingers of my left hand to keep all the bights in place is all I need, I also like to just tie around one or more fingers of my left hand depending on the size of the knot.

The knot pictured has not been painted or stiffened it is pretty much self-supporting if you handle it with care.

How much care?  Would it work as, say, a scarf woggle?  Napkin ring?  Decorative sphere stand?

It depends on the cord used, and how rough you might like to handle it.
The pictured knot was tied in bitume?, a tarred nylon so it has some stiffness and a sticky feel so it kinda holds its own. Tied as a sliding knot in cotton or fkax, on a dirty bag for instance, you may need to stiffen the knot with shellac, PVA or other to stop it loosing it's shape. But in stiff grippy? type cords it may holds its own as mine does.
Just as a side note, the knot in the picture still looks as good as the day it was made.

Take care,
Barry 

[Barry]

Barry      -Thanks  for instruction.Always this knot was pleasant.

Thank you 

[Olegan67]

Hi, everybody! I have decided to try this knot with two strands. Here what at me has turned out.

[Olegan67]

One more.

[Barry]

Very nice Olegan!