Page 266 - Lindsey Philpott "The Ultimate Book of Decorative Knots"

260 the ultimate book of decorative knots
adding texture as a Feature
Here we have taken the 5L8B TH Knot as a cylinder,
made it flat in one colour, doubled the knot, and
then inserted a new strand adding a second colour
and texture between the two parts of the doubled
primary colour.
Next, here is a photograph of a 14B5L TH Flat
Knot made as a wreath for hanging on a front door.
See the door knocker? Note also the florist’s wire
frame, used for placing the knot (sewn in place to
the wire) and keeping its shape, both of which are
essential. Note that the outer bights have been
extended away from the others – a nice feature!
sPHerIcal sIngle-strand
tH Knots
A TH Knot that was first formed as a cylinder can
be shaped into a sphere instead of a flat mat. As with
forming the flat knot, bring the top row of bights
closer together (gathering the top), but instead of
spreading the bottom bights, bring them together as
well to form the sphere. Do you recall that we spoke
of the effect of gathering several bights together and
the crowding that can occur with those multiple
crossings of cord? This is especially true of spherical
TH Knots, where the ‘ends’ of the cylindrical knot
have three, four, or at the most five bights only.
Without that restriction, the TH Knot as a sphere
can become very bulky and ‘bumpy’ at its poles. You
should also be aware that if you use too few leads,
the knot’s centre or equator will be insufficient to
cover the core of the sphere.
Here are a few spherical TH Knots with few
bights at the top and bottom but lots of ‘belly’ leads
that help cover the sphere.
NOTE: Although many think of this style of TH
Knot as a Globe Knot, I think of it a little differently.
For me, the pattern of the TH Knot is different than the
Globe Knot, which comprises a series of circles, rather
than the weave that is visible and ever-present in the TH
Knot.
The following single-cord, spherical TH
Knot has four bights at top and bottom, and four
additional interior bights to thicken up the middle.
Each of those inside and outside sets of four bights
have three leads each; hence a 3L4B (or 6L8B). The
knot ends up having 24 facets, which are hard to
count unless you mark them with tape or something
else you can later remove from your finished piece.
Here is the knot.
1
Wrap the spherical centre twice.