Page 91 - Lindsey Philpott "The Ultimate Book of Decorative Knots"

5 sinnets

Sinnets – what exactly are they? To paraphrase a three-, four-, five-, up to twenty-five- or thirty-part
statement about the bo’sun on an old-fashioned twisting or braiding of separate cords into a sinnet.
sailing vessel, they are neither fish nor fowl. What So – why do I let you know this? Simply put, it
is meant by that, in the case of the bo’sun, is that he allows you to gather more information if you need it
is neither an officer nor a seaman, but rather that concerning the origins of the terms and to possibly
he sits somewhere between. Sinnets, similarly, are reference other written material that has reference
somewhere between braids and plaits. A sinnet is to those terms. If you don’t need it, no harm done.
a woven structure, frequently having several cords What seems important to me to understand is
or strands, and usually adaptable to incorporating that sinnet (also spelled sennit, cinnet, or sinnate) is
several colours and patterns. Sinnet is variously woven by making alternating passes of one cord (or
defined elsewhere as braided cord, plaited cord, or several cords as part of a bundle) over and under the
simply cords woven over and under each other – I remaining cords in the bundle to form a flat, round,
like the latter definition much better and I hope that or other-shaped cross-section rope or long piece of
I can clarify it for you as we progress. The term was ropework that is decorative, especially if made with
used in written language as early as the 17th century several colours. A sinnet is therefore a structure
(Oxford English Dictionary entry: a nautical term that lends itself to multiple strands being woven
of obscure origin: 1611 Contgr. Trene: a three-fold together into multiple patterns and shapes, with
rope, cord, string or twist, called by Marriners a a relatively simple repetitive activity of over and
Sinnet) and includes, variously, descriptions as two-, under. As with all seemingly simple pieces however,