Page 362 - The Complete Rigger’s Apprentice

tripled, which is the usual procedure with Turk’s
Heads. The knot can now be drawn up around a
suitable object and the ends trimmed flush after
having been led under the same part.
Next trick: Although passing the end four times
while forming the knot gave us a mess, passing it
five times gives us a 3L 5 8B knot; making the braid
longer gives us Turk’s Heads with more and more
bights, the exact size of each finished knot being dic-
tated by the Law of the Common Divisor.
Ah, but wait, you say, we skipped 3L 5 7B—
that fits the Law. And so it does, which brings up
another wrinkle: The Law of You Can’t Get There
from Here. In order to make a knot of three leads
and seven bights, one must have a different “start”
than three leads and five bights. In this case it’s a
knot of three leads and four bights, shown being
made in Figure 10-19. As you can see, the technique
is a slight variation on the 3L 5 5B knot.
So, whenever we want to build up to a knot of
a particular size, we must know what the correct
starting knot is. There are relatively few starts, and
you’ve already learned two of them, which puts you
ahead of most of the world. Learn a couple more
and you’ll be an expert.

Four Leads by Three Bights
This is a simple knot, but rare. Notice that it is pro-
portionately wider than the previous examples (Fig-
ure 10-20), an attribute that looks especially pleas-

Figure 10-19. A 3L 5 4B knot is made by first moving
the end under the left turn, then proceeding as with
the 3L 5 5B knot by moving the middle turn to the
right, passing the end, etc.

Figure 10-20. A 4L 5 3B knot. Begin with a Clove
Hitch and tuck the end under the right-hand turn
from right to left (A). Pass the end behind the hand,
bring it up on the left side of the standing part, and
tuck it under, over, and under as shown (B). Lead the
end back into the knot alongside the standing part.
Double and triple to finish (C).

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