Page 87 - Des Pawson "Des Pawson's Knot Craft" 2 edit.

KNOTCRAFT 2009:Layout 1 23/10/09 12:17 Page 86

MONKEY’S FIS T/DOORS T O P

B knot so that all is neat, although
a little loose. Now work it
properly tight. For this I use a big
Swedish fid to lever out a loop
which I take in one hand and
with a hammer in the other
hand, give a few glancing blows
to force through the last of any
slack. Working the monkey’s fist
tight in this way should give you
a tight hard knot. When you are
satisfied that you have the knot
as tight and even as you wish, the
two tails can be heaved even
tighter using a heaving mallet or
heaver (see Tips of the Trade,
Make the loop before making
the final passes page 6) before trimming off
flush. When all this has been
done I hammer the knot into
When you are happy with shape making it slightly flat at
your knot, cut the ends off the bottom. You now have a
leaving about 15mm and tuck handsome piece of sculpture
them into the knot. When you that will act as a fine door stop.
have mastered this, you can
tackle 18mm rope to make a C
doorstop. Heavy rope needs a
slightly different approach. You
will need to build it up loosely
in your hand, using the stiffness
of the rope to give some shape
to the passes. Put your yarn-
covered weight in the middle
and complete the final set of
passes. I have allowed plenty of
material but, even so, you may be
slightly short on the first loose
tying of the knot. You should
gently tighten the knot from the
beginning, bringing the slack
right through the knot to give
you enough rope to complete all Put centre ‘ball’ in before completing
4 of your last passes. Adjust the final passes

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