Page 205 - Mario Bigon "The Morrow Guide to Knots"

4
This is aflat knot of a
characteristic oval shape. It is
highly decorative and finds
thousands of applications in
all types of situations. It
makes a fine door mat, but it
can also be used whenever
you want to protect an object
from wear by rubbing, for
example between mooring
cables and the sides of a boat,
It looks highly complex at
first, but if you follow the
photo sequence carefully, you
will see that it really presents
no difficulties at all. The
matting illustrated in figure 7,
is made with four crossing
diagonals. The number of
diagonals determines the total
size of the mat. Once this
number is established. the
mat can only be made thicker,
5 not larger. Of course if you
increase the number of
diagonals. you can make the
mat larger. but it is advisable
to have a pattern to follow
before attempting this
variation.

Method
Begin by making a loop at the
center of the rope (1).
Leaving a bight in the line,
make a second loop with the
right end. crossing it in the
opposite direction (2).
Complete one side of the knot
by making a bight with the
left end (3). Note that so far
the rope has not been
interwoven at all. Continue
working with the left end and
begin interweaving the loops
that were made previously (4,
5,6,7). Take care not to alter