ISSUE 72 SEPTEMBER 2001 ISSN 0959-2881 Guild Supplies Price List 2001 Item Price Knot Charts Full Set of 100 charts £10.00 Individual Charts £0.20 Rubber Stamp IGKT - Member, with logo £4.00 (excludes stamp pad) Guild Tye Long, dark blue polyester, with knot motif £8.95 Long, dark blue tie with Guild Logo in gold £8.95 Badges - all with Gold Logo Blazer Badge £1.00 Enamel brooch £2.00 Windscreen Sticker £1.00 Certificate of Membership £2.50 parchment scroll signed by President and Hon sec for mounting and hanging Cheques payable to IGKT, or simply send your credit card details PS Dont forget to allow for Postage Supplies Secretary:- Bruce Turley 19 Windmill Avenue, Rubery, Birmingham B45 9SP email [email protected] Telephone: 0121 453 4124 Knotting Matters Relaxing after the knot tyer’s Newsletter of the supper International Guild of Knot Tyers IN THIS ISSUE Issue No. 72 Letter from a President 5 President: Brian Field T. S. Swiftsure - The AGM 6 Secretary: Nigel Harding Editor: Colin Grundy Chas. L. Spencer 10 Website: www.igkt.craft.org Spanish Bowline 11 How to - Untie Knots 12 Submission dates for articles KM 73 07 OCT 2001 Knotmaster 14 KM 74 07 JAN 2002 The Monkey’s Fist 16 Early Cord Making Tools 20 Knot Gallery 22 The IGKT is a UK Registered Charity No. 802153 The Three Lead by Six Bight Turk’s Head 28 Except as otherwise indicated, copyright in Knotting Matters is reserved to the Captain Kai Lund 32 International Guild of Knot Tyers IGKT Portrait of a Branch 36 2001. Copyright of members articles published in Knotting Matters is reserved More on the History to the authors and permission to reprint should be sought from the author and of Knotboards 38 editor. All sources of quotations printed The Origin of Nylon 40 in Knotting Matters are acknowledged. Branch Lines 41 Cover design by Stuart Grainger Postbag 44 Notes from the Secretary's Blotter he sun is shining at last. It seems there was the computer. That has been to have been raining here since last slowing down for some time, but with the T October, when the town centre of volume ofemails waiting for me, it simply Uckfield was under four feet of water. died. That happened two days before our The computer has now been replaced, October meeting in Beverwijk, and it has and I have caught up with the backlog (I taken all this time for the town to recover, think), but some of you may have had to the last of the shops reopening in the last wait quite a long time for any response few days. from me for about a three-month period, What with that, and the fact that Sylvia earlier this year. My apologies to those and I have been forced by circumstance who were affected, but hopefully all is to live apart for nearly two years, Ijumped now back to normal. at the chance to go to Botswana with my I did manage to get to the AGM at son for a couple of weeks earlier this year. Fareham, or was it Farnham? I get the two What a wonderful experience, - we stayed mixed up. Here the retiring members of with some friends in Francistown, near the the Council, including myself, were all Zimbabwe border, and we camped out in returned for a further three-year tour of the bush for seven nights. Naturally, no duty. This was not because they were visit to Africa is complete without being thought to be so outstanding in their chased by elephants fortunately our aged performance as Trustees, but simply truck managed to outrun it, - but you never because there were no other names put know 4uite what's around the corner. forward. Since the Constitution was What fascinated me was our bushman altered, by asking for two weeks notice guide, who, having washed his clothes in for a nomination, the election process at the river, promptly made himself a the AGM has been simplified. It is now washing line by picking the leaves of a so simple, that there hasn't been an convenient plant, and tying them together, election for several years. Them means using what looked like a sheet bend. This that you appear to be stuck with the was pulled tight around two suitable trees, Council you have got, for better or worse, and made off with a round turn and two apparently indefinitely. We would like to or three half hitches. think that we are doing the best for the The snag with any holiday is that when Guild, but without the stimulation of an you come home, there is a mountain of election (and here in the UK we have been correspondence to deal with. And then stimulated by the General Election), the 2 Council could stagnate. What I have been asked to do, is give Col's Comment notice that of those council members due to retire in 2002, at least two wil1 not be ecently I attended a camp with my standing for re election, hence we are local Scout Group on a site near looking for at least two replacements, and R Binningham, as a helper. I had in order to achieve an election, we must been asked to run a pioneering session, the make at least three, preferably four remainder ofmy time was spent generally nominations. How about it? assisting the leaders and camp statf. As for the secretary's role, I am Early on I was approached with the looking to devolve some ofthe more time request, "Can you find some way to hang consuming duties, and so you may well this up in the kitchen tent?" The object in see a change in the distribution of KM, question was a roll of paper towel similar and possibly the collection of to a large toilet roll, but the requirement subscriptions. Watch this space. was to draw the towel from the centre of Incidentally, I now havc an electronic the roll. A fairly straightforward task credit card machine (until now I have achieved with the aid of a Jury Masthead hand-written every credit card voucher). knot, much to the surprise of the chef, an This machine allows me to accept a much ex-navy man. wider range ofcredit cards, and also debit Later, I was asked if I could repair a cards, including, Mastercard, Visa, pair of spectacles belonging to one of the Switch, Delta, JOB, Electron, and Solo. boys. The screw had been lost from the That reminds me, when I ask for the 'name frames and the lens had fallen out. A on the card', I mean the name of the temporary repair was effected with account, not Visa etc. I have a number of whipping twine and a Surgeon's knot, credit card details that I am unable to use, enough to enable the lad to use his glasses as I am unable to identify who has sent it until the end of the camp. to me, and all I joined for was to learn a "Is there nothing you can't do with few knots, and now I am knot allowed to knots?" they asked. "Yes, plenty, but pick up a piece of string. knowing a few knots certainly helps." Nigel Harding Growing up with knots has helped me over the years with an immense amount of tasks and having a piece of string or rope handy has often got me out ofa tricky situation even ifonly on a temporary basis. I wonder how other members ofthe public would fare in this day and age of gadgets and fastenings? A new feature appears with this issue of Knotting Matters, it is a Portrait of a 3 Branch. The aim of these articles are for immediately following their submission. the branches of the Guild to say a little The bulk of Knotting Mattcrs is made up about how they were first founded, what well before the deadline dates that appear they get up to and who are the on page one. This leaves me with a few personalities within the branch. I have pages to finish of letters, branch news and asked the Pacific-Americas Branch to kick the Secretary's Blotter etc. I have to do it off this feature with a bit about this way to keep up with the production themselves. There is no particular reason schedule and get it to the printers in the behind this; it's just that I was writing to week following the deadline. Joe Schmidbauer when the idea crossed In addition, I attempt to have a broad my mind. So please don't be offended if selection of articles within the 48 pages, your branch was started earlier, I don't so there is something to interest everyone. know when particular branches were I hope I am successful in this, and I do founded anyway. Before you decide to put not plan to do bumper editions. All pen to paper and write in about your submissions are acknowledged and nearly branch, to keep the article current I shall everyone is used. 1fT cannot use it, I will be dropping a line to the branch contact tell you. So if you have submitted a piece or Secretary, as I require it. I hope you and it has been acknowledged and not enjoy this feature. appeared in print yet, please be patient. If I was asked recently why some articles you have taken the trouble to write it, then had not appeared in the edition I will take the trouble to print it.