I notice the S&P500 dropped 0.8% last night after my post. I hope I didn't scare the market with the prospect of incorrect Gleipnir knots in the wild.
In fact it was just a wardrobe malfunction: i.e. I didn't dress my knot properly. It was the same knot.
When you make a mistake, I find it can be helpful to blame someone else. In this case I was following, slavishly, instruction No.8 on this page:
https://www.southee.com/Knots/Knots_Miscellaneous.htmAnd in case that page/illustration disappears, I will describe it:
It shows rope that has made a round turn horizontally around a vertical object.
- The middle part of the rope, with the loop, runs along the bottom.
- Above that is the left-hand free end, emerging from the back at the left and entering the loop from the left.
- Above that (at the top) is the right-hand free end, emerging from the back at the right and entering the loop from the right.
This arrangement is then shown in the next picture drawn up without disturbing any of these positions.
Thus: trapped right-hand end at top, trapped left-hand end in middle, trapping loop emerging from the bottom left, rising in the loop to trap both ends and falling back to the bottom to disappear around the back at bottom right. Three parallel lines of cordage.
So, in my simple-minded way, that's exactly what I did. And it worked well enough, even though it's not quite symmetrical, both ends are barely trapped (by compression alone), and there's a cross-over at the back.
Enter our "gone" friend Inkanyezi. I have tied and untied what I believe to be his method, and loosened and tightened it many times, and I see that not only does it provide an easier method, but one that enforces the correct orientation. I think I can actually refine his description to make it clearer. I'll add pictures later, but they may not survive future disk space recovery.
Arrange the bundle horizontally, e.g. on your lap if possible. You may find that binding them with something temporary like a cam-lock strap or rubber band will ease the learning process since you will have both hands free.
Method:
- Do a round turn starting with the cordage in your left-hand, on top of the bundle, free end pointing up (or away from the body), going under at the bottom of the bundle, around and back, and coming down from the top, held in your right hand and the right free end pointing down.
- Now, do a half hitch with your left hand, going over the middle strand, then under and holding it again pointing up. [at time of writing, this is the first pic in the original post]
- Now do the opposite with your right hand: make a half hitch over then under the middle strand, finishing up pointing down.
- So, now both half hitches can apply pressure to the middle strand.
- Experimentally pull your hands apart a little and you'll see that the middle strand now comes down, takes a right 90 degree turn and a down 90 degree turn to continue down, but kinked in the middle. And it looks like you now have only two strands with a ladder step in the middle.
- Bring the two half hitches fairly close together and whole arrangement under a mild amount of pressure (not too much).
- Here's the cool part ... all you have to do is: describe a counter-clockwise wheel with your two hands, as if turning left in a car; keep going and swap hands when necessary without losing all tension until each side no longer has a half hitch and in fact the two strands you are holding are nearly straight, parallel, and are trapped beneath the loop your wheeling has created. Now just pull your hands apart: left hand down, right hand up.
Voila!
Both ends are trapped, and slightly kinked - i.e. they have a slight tendency to sit at right angles to the the round turn, rather than staying in line with it.
