Page 34 - Lindsey Philpott "The Ultimate Book of Decorative Knots"

28 the ultimate book of decorative knots

tHuMp Mat
This round mat is seen in The Ashley Book of Knots,
number 2360, which he refers to as a Thump Mat.
It is used on ships, with blocks through which
lines are passed to change the direction of the line,
fastened near the deck. It is made as a mat around a
deck fitting in such a way that the block may ‘thump’
against the mat instead of thumping the deck, which
could mark and/or damage it and the block. One of
the features about its style that I like is that it forms
a pleasing round mat but has half the number of – bringing it over itself to complete a second
bights in the centre that one would see in a Turk’s 3 round turn, and then make one tuck under the
Head flat mat of the same size. The Turk’s Head bottom of the original turn.
mat would have the same number of outside bights
as inside bights. The thump mat uses a less lumpy
centre, which makes it ideal for coasters or other
uses in which you need outer ring support.

1 In the centre of

your cord, make
an anti-clockwise
turn over (a loop),
4 pass the working end over, over, under to upper
forming bight #1.

right.

2 Bring the working end over the round turn,

c/w…
5 then move up the ladder over, under, over,

under, over, under to rejoin the standing end.