Page 143 - Lindsey Philpott "The Ultimate Book of Decorative Knots"

covering knots 137

The ideal finish on coachwhipping is to have the each set, remember to keep the individual strands
individual crossings be in a straight line from top to in their same location relative to each other, with
bottom of the finished piece. If your finished piece no twisting of the set as you progress. Below is a
is not that straight, try twisting it by hand into a set of coachwhipping I made on one of the vertical
neat line. If you have more than two sets, remember rails (I did complete both of them, of course!) of a
to go over, under, over, under, etc., with each set. companionway stair on a fishing trawler.
To cover the base, you need enough cords around The small gaps were deliberately left, so that the
the top to fill all available space on the perimeter of owner could check the condition of the underlying
the piece you are covering, remembering to leave aluminium rails from time to time. The ends, which
space for the angle that the cords make with each were originally held in place with a Constrictor
other to prevent bunching or overlap. You can also Knot, are covered with a Turk’s Head, worked tight,
start with alternating colours on each side. The to hide them. See Chapter 9 for Turk’s Head Knots.
great joy of coachwhipping is that you can achieve
a covering with fairly minimal effort. You do have CoCkSComBing
to remember to keep each side separate and to Any person who has seen one of the more radical
alternate the passing of the set or bundle of cords or extreme forms of the haircut known as a
each side each time. When using multiple strands in Mohawk, or perhaps even the crest of a Roman
soldier’s helmet, will understand the derivation of
cockscombing. It is a raised pattern on the top of a
curved surface, usually a rail, which stands out in
such a fashion that it resembles a cock’s comb or
wattle (but only if you squint at it really hard!). I find
it interesting to note how many terms for nautical
elements are so like the farming or agricultural
back ground from which the majority of pressed and
indentured sailors came. One of the favourite places
where I have seen cockscombing used is on a small
ring, used as a pull for a window shade. Be sure to
look in the projects chapter for other uses! Several
patterns of cockscombing exist and here I have
shown just five, including a sample with five strands,
instead of three, where three is the more usual
number. There is nothing to prevent cockscombing
being made with any number of strands, always
provided that the basic premise of forming a pattern
using half hitches still holds true. Try using two
strands to make alternating square knots or to
make Carrick Bends on the surface! All the types of
cockscombing shown here are made with coloured
cords for ease of identifying which strand is which.
If you are using the same colour for all strands,
try numbering or lettering the strands for ease of
identification.
The cord ends should preferably be made up
into small bundles, known as knittles or nettles,
which are easier to control. See Chapter 2 for