Page 192 - Lindsey Philpott "The Ultimate Book of Decorative Knots"

186 tHe ultiMate Book oF decorative knots

tudor rose knot
The Tudor Rose was noted in Issue #100 of the
International Guild of Knot Tyers’ journal Knotting
Matters as a reprint. It was originally printed in the
magazine in April 1993 with instructions from
Stuart Grainger. Grainger devised the knot, as far as
I can tell, and others have reproduced it since then. I
have done so here with a single colour cord.
I also wanted to make a knot to give some more
colour to the Tudor Rose Knot, because the rose is a
traditional heraldic emblem of England, the land of
my birth. The rose was devised by King Henry VII,
otherwise known as Henry Tudor. King Henry won
the war against Richard in the Wars of the Roses
(only later termed this, being known at the time only
as a series of battles) when civil uprisings coalesced
under the houses of the Duke of York and the Duke
of Lancaster. The Lancastrians took the red rose as
part of the symbol of their House and the followers
of York took the white rose as part of the house of Tudor under Henry would be the Tudor Rose, a
emblem. King Henry melded the two house roses combination of the Red Rose and the White Rose.
in what is sometimes known as the Rose of Union Later Henry VIII, famed for having married six
by decreeing that the symbol of the winning house times, had the Round Table painted with the Tudor
Rose in the middle to symbolise the unity of the
state. Here is my interpretation of the Tudor Rose
Knot.
To make this coloured knot, first make a White
Star Knot and Wall/Crown Rose in the centre,
leaving the centre a little loose. Cast five red
strands into the star and tie a Matthew Walker
Knot around the centre of the star, tucking the
ends down into the start of the star. Then cast
in five green strands and tie the Lark’s Head
Knots separately around the outside. All
strands may then be gathered in, faired,
and the whole tightened and incorporated
into further knotting or simply cut off
and the whole rose glued to the piece you
are decorating. I made this one in less than
thirty minutes, so it does not take an enormous
amount of your time!

The magnificent Tudor Rose Knot –
symbol of England.