Page 47 - Randy Penn Everything Knots Book

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THE EVER YTHING KNOTS BOOK

the rope is delivered where the directions say, whether it is over
or under another rope, or through a loop of some kind. The other
end of the rope—the leading part that is not manipulated in the
knot tying—is called the “standing part.”

FIGURE 3-1: Standing part, bight, and running end

The term “bight” is the middle part of the rope that is not the
running end or standing part. Just as a running end can be
directed in many ways in the construction of a knot, a bight can
be made out of any part of the rope, and directed the same way.
If an arrow in an illustration seems to come from the standing part
and not from the running end, it usually means that a bight should
be formed and taken in the direction the arrow shows. It may help
with some knots to fold the bight over very tight, thus forming a
narrow doubled piece that can pass more easily where needed.

The Crossing Turn
Another important structure in knot tying is the crossing turn,
used in many of the knots you’ll learn in this book. You can quickly
create a crossing turn by grabbing a part of the bight and giving it
a half twist that forms a loop, as seen in FIGURE 3-2. When making
a crossing turn, it is very important that the orientation of the over-
under section of the crossing is correct for the knot you are tying.
In practice, you will quickly get the crossing orientation correct
each time by associating it with a twist in a certain direction, which

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