So you want to know how to tie the Trucker's Hitch...

Mama's Christmas Present: Monkey Fist Doorstop

Just a half of a red brick from Home Depot and about 20 feet of 3/4" manila rope, which ran about $.67/ft.

Mom had admired a similar decorative piece I did for my wife with smaller stuff wrapped around a block of wood. So I thought something like this would go over well, and it did. My parent's house has wood floors and white walls, and several rooms have palettes that favor this piece. I like this one, but I'm also finding that I am enjoying the look of thick, natural ropes. I've taken the leftover pieces, whipped the ends, and created a couple of decorative knot pieces with which I plan to decorate my office walls. There are 3 pieces: A square knot, a true love knot, and a stopper knot. They're large enough that it makes more sense to mount them directly on the wall, like a picture, rather than on a knot board. Eventually, the wall itself will become the knot board. It will be unique for the companies I normally work for, and provide a nice way to ease into conversation with new people. I'll photograph and update as I go along.

Back to knotting

Took a break from knotting during June while working with a couple of companies that wanted to hire me. I am very fortunate to have choices; many people are not so lucky. I made my decision and have now moved on, so a new company with new company colors demands a new lanyard, right?

This was my first time working with 325 paracord. Felt the same as the utility cord I buy at Walmart - sorry, that's how I see it. Did a 4-strand round braid, brought both ends together into an 8-strand braid, and buttoned up the bottom with a Turk's Head collar.

Company colors are black and tan; I used desert camo as my tan.

Crappy decorative ropework at Gaylord Palms in Orlando

My wife (aka "Knotty Old Lady"?) won a weekend trip to Gaylord Palms Resort in Orlando, so we made the short trek over from Melbourne on Memorial Day weekend because we're gluttons for crowds and punishment.

If you've never been, the interior is a huge lobby atrium with shopws and restaurants, and indoor streams and plantings. In some areas, it is patterned to be like St. Augustine; in others, I think it's supposed to be like the Everglades.

Anyway, I saw many cases where it appeared there was once an attempt to have decorative ropework. I don't know if it was originally tied in a "real" knot, but today it's just a mass of coils that in some cases is nailed or bolted in place.

It was driving the OCD knot tie-r in me crazy. How freaking hard is it to tie a hitch? And don't even get me started on what I think were attempts at coxcombing some vertical  deck rails...

Anyway, the pictures are below. How much better would these look with some simple hitches, or maybe a Turk's Head if you wanted to get fancy? What about adding some coxcombing to some of the rails, like in the WIP photos I have below?

Did it used to be a clove hitch?

Tighten up those lines, guys!

What about hosting a Boy Scout troop for a day at the pool in exchange for cleaning up these knots?

Coxcomb Work-in-Progress (WIP)

All coxcombs are being tied on 1" dowels, 12" in length, with Turk's Heads at either end. Plan to frame in a shadow box for display. I've been using the Coxcomb tutorials at Frayed Knot Arts to learn.

Simple coxcomb on the right, French coxcomb on the left

Another angle for both. I am not satisfied with the French. uneven number of wraps between each half-hitch when you count them vertically. 

Turk's head on the French coxcomb

Turk's head on the simple coxcomb

Just laying them together in a carefully staged "Oh so casual" manner ;-)

Handmade Dog Leash in Use

As an update to the post regarding the dog leash I made with utility cord, my coworker sent the following email & photos:

As a thank you for the gift this morning, I decided to provide you with some photos which could be used for ads,  guaranteed to sell ice to the coldest Eskimo. One is a clearer shot but one is unarguably more adorable. As always, I'll leave the tough decisions up to you...

Dog leash for a larger dog

One of the guys I work with adopted a dog a few months ago, and I've been meaning to make a leash and finally got around to it this weekend. It was underfed when he adopted it, but he's gotten the dog's weight up over 50 lbs finally.

I didn't use paracord or nice nylon dock line for this one. I picked up some cheap-ass 1/4" utility cord at Tractor Supply a few months ago for $5 for 100 feet, and I bought 300' in red, black, and blue. It's nothing special, and in fact is very difficult to work with, but I figured a dog leash for a large dog would be the perfect application.

I kept it simple: a 4-strand round braid with an eye splice. Aboout 6 feet long. Used a Turk's Head as a decorative cover where the ends of the strands were, but honestly, this is the first time I felt like I did a good enough job of finishing that I could have done without the "dressing". I finally figured out that the trick to splicing with these synthetic-type cords is to remove the inner core - go "gutted" for the strands at the point you start splicing. Lays much neater that way.

Finished dog leash using red and black 1/4" utility cord. About 6 feet long, using a 4-strand round braid finished with an eye splice.

Started the braid by hanging it from a hurricane post on the patio so I could get good leverage  for tight starting knots.

Spot the mistake: I was 3 feet into the braid when I looked back and saw it. In every project, I call this the "Motherfuncker!" point.

Eye splice with a Turk's Head to cover the finished ends of rope.

Alabama Crimson Tide Monkey Fist

A guy I've worked with at two companies over the past 5 years decided to take a new job back in Huntsville, AL. As a parting gift, I fashioned a Monkey Fist in red, white, and gray paracord. I thought I could whip it out in a single night, but it turned into a multi-night marathon of false starts and blind alleys.

Probably because Nick Saban is the devil.

Anyway, I probably gave myself scabies or herpes or something, just from handling this thing. Certainly, I've earned another football season in purgatory after I die, before I make it to heaven.

Two-color Monkey Fist, with a multi-color diamond knot (I think?). Core is a rubber ball.

Top view. Two-color Monkey Fist, diamond knot, 4-strand round  braid, snake knot, turk's head, another 4-strand round braid, another turk's head, ending in a cobra knot finger loop.

"Made by the rum-soaked fingers of a middle-aged American man, not the tear-stained fingers of a third-world 9 yr old."

Four-strand round braid, transitioned to a red/gray Snake knot. Snake knot used in honor of Nick Saban, the serpent

Turk's head used as transition to a small Cobra knot finger loop. Cobra knot used in honor of Nick Saban, the serpent

Good man, despite his rooting for a football team coached by the devil himself. Parting gift given at Meg O'Malley's in Melbourne, which I noticed has Trefoil knot decorations all around the bar (See upper right of photo)