Wednesday, March 26, 2008

 

Lacing knot.

I was taught to make a lacing knot by a blond woman at Sun 'n Fun one year in a workshop.

Since I have never seen it written elsewhere, I will try and explain it here. I hope this photo sequence helps if you are interested. A point to note is that I made 90% of the knot without letting go of the camera which is completely occupying my other hand. (I have only two.) The fact that you can make the knot in hard to get to places is extremely helpful with just one hand. For the last bit you have to find a way to pull on the two ends, but this could be with a pair of long nose pliers for example, if space is tight.


Step 1. Pull a loop of lacing thread off the role, don't cut it, and pass it behind the bundle you want to lace. In this picture, the left hand end goes to the role, and the right hand end is a 3" loose end. (You can use a shorter loose end with two hands.)

Step 2. Now pass a loop from the end coming off the role up through the first loop you made. At this point you can let go of the first loop you made as long as you hang on to the second. One thing I don't like about this picture is that I have twisted the loop. It doesn't matter but it is not quite so neat.
Step 3. Now pass the free end up through this second loop. At this stage I don't know how you can go further without using two hands, though in hard to reach places it can be extremely beneficial to have got this far with just one hand.

Step 4. Once it is through, pull tight on the two ends.

Step 5. Now it is tight, to lock it, just do a left over right to finish, like the second half of an ordinary reef knot.

Step 6. Then clip the ends off with side cutters.

The good news is the head stands up a little so if you want to add another wire, it is very easy to clip the head off the first. The knot disintegrates at that point.

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