Knot work

[Barret]

I was wondering if anyone has incorporated knot work into their garb for fair? I used a very simple spliced loop and monkey's paw combination to give me an easy way to attach my mug to my belt. I studied under a boson while I was sailing for a little bit and learned some neat rope things and am thinking about picking it back up again and perhaps using it to add to my garb. I am not particularly a pirate but it seems like it would certainly be fitting for their garb, the most common items they would have had access to to make themselves things were scraps of sailcloth and line used for making chafe gear and the like.

[Gwen aka Punstergal]

ME ME ME!! (punstergal aka KNOTTYNYMPH, hehe)

You can see my knotwork on knottynymph.deviantart.com (don't worry, if you look as a guest, everything is work-safe-all mature content requires creating and account and logging in).  Some examples of things I've done for garb are:

[Barret]

Cool stuff, I particularly like the dress, as my girlfriend will tell you, I have a weak spot for backless dresses. As for the DeviantArt, sounds like I need to create an accoun =P

[Butch]

Me too!  I covered a tin cup with square knotwork for my RenFaire mug.  My ren knife is done with halfhitches around the handle, beginning and ending in a turks head (I stole the idea from those paddles we Marines like to give away).  I tie my ren shoes with a double carrick bend.  My photo is in the Show Us Your Hats thread.  I will try to post it here, so you can see my cup.

[Butch]

Me as a 16th century mariner.  I am wearing my thrum cap.  I am holding my tin cup covered in square knot work.  You can see my knife sheath under my doublet, but you cannot see the handle.

[ArielCallista]

Gwen: deviantart! no way! me too! cavy.deviantart.com! I absolutely love the peacock feather hair piece!

I've never done any knotwork before but i love it to death!

[Gwen aka Punstergal]

Butch-- Your cup looks great! I've thought of trying to do something kind of like that to hide water bottles, but hadn't actually tried it yet.

ArielCallista-- awesome!! I LOVE your "Tree of Life" design- I'm sure it will look great when you get it done. This forum is just full of wonderful artistic types, huh? It never ceases to amaze me how much interesting stuff is floating around in this group.

[Barret]

Butch, nice work man. Did you learn your knotwork skills in the service? If I didn't like the wood of mu cup so much I might try to copy you.

[Butch]

Gwen and Barret (hey, that sounds good together!), thank-you for the compliments!

Barret, I learned the knot work when I was still a kid, in the scouts!  It still holds my interest.

Regarding the cup, I did a bit of research, and it is plausible that a tin cup would be used in that time period, as England started making things from sheet tin in the late 16th century.  I'm not sure if the tin cups were popular yet aboard ships, but historically, mariners covered EVERYTHING with knotwork!  And seeing that my character is a mariner, well obviously, I had to have a knot covered cup!  I like the tin, it's light and durable.  The knotwork around it keeps my mead cold.  I covered the knots with wax to make it a bit more dirt resistant.

The whole thing was pretty easy, just time consuming.

Good luck!

[Leneas Distara]

Wonderful work everyone!

Butch, I think you have inspired me to wrap the handle of my mug now!

I am currently playing a Tudor fisherman and have began working on a cast net, which has turned out to to be quite time consuming. I would be willing to show resources to anyone looking to do some research on historical net making and fly tying.

[Butch]

Oh, man Leneas, I covered my knife handle with half-hitches going around, and a turks head at both ends!  I learned this application during my service with the Marines.  We commonly give a gift of a paddle, and the handle is wrapped that way.  Here is a link to show you what I mean:
http://www.frayedknotarts.com/images/Mark/paddles5L.jpg

I'd recommend you consider this for your mug handle!

Good luck!

[amy]

That wrapping is beautiful.  I am imagining how it could work with much finer yarns or cording for small craft applications.  Would make a pretty fan handle and give you something onto which you could stitch jewels and beading.  Really neat. Thank you!

[Butch]

OK, so here's my sailor knife I wear at the RenFest.  It is also done up with cotton cord, and coated with wax.  Not really hard to do, just half hitches that make the raised portion, and a turks head at both ends.

[Kean the light-fingered]

Excuse me if I'm asking a stupid question, but how would I go about actually doing that wrap method?  It looks great, and I have a few dagger blanks I made that are in dire need of some sort of handle.  My normal method of wrapping is alright, but I like the way the half hitch/turk's head looks.

[Butch]

First, for the measurement, wrap the cord around whatever it is you are going to cover (that is, wind the cord all the way around your work until is completely and neatly covered).  Then, take it off, unwind it, measure it, and add about half again as much.  Starting in the middle of the cord, and the middle of the piece, wrap the cord once around, and when you get to the starting point, draw the end of the cord UNDER the single cord where you just started.  Go around again, and again draw the end under the single cord beside it.  After you've done three or four wraps, you will see the pattern develop.  Be sure to keep your tucks tight!  After you've done one half, turn your piece over (left to right), and do the other half.  
To finish the ends with a turks head, you're best off googling "tying a turks head knot".  Here's one way:  http://www.troop54.com/knots/TurksHeadKnot/TurksHeadKnot.htm .  Usually, you do 3 layers of the turks head.  Be sure that your turks head isn't loose before you start the second layer!  Straighten the first layer to make it symmetrical.  The first layer should have JUST ENOUGH space to allow a second layer, so that the third layer will tighten the whole piece up!
Good luck!