Page 570 - The Ashley Book of Knots

DECORATIVE J\1ARLINGSPIKE SEA;\lA~SHTP (:\PPLIFD K'-:OTS)

t(]ge of the hems. The width of material required lIlust be ascertained

and the canvas marked precisely with a pencil. If well done, this

makes the neatest manrope, as the seam will scarcely shO\v.

3542. The round-turn stitch is the simplest of the co't'ering stitcbcs

employed by the sailor. It is worked either to the left or to the right,

and frequently sections of left and right are worked in altern;ltiol1.

The same stitch presents two different aspects, according to whether

it is drawn taut in the direction of the needle's progress, or c()ntrar~-

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to It.

•
; 43

3543. Muffled oars were generally muffled rowlocks. In the whal-

ing service the covering was of marline hitched over with needk -

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stitch 'II: 3 344. Frequently leather bushings were added, or else the •
•
•
marline \vas thrummed with a needle and rope yarns.

35-\4. N e..:dle hitching is the nallle for the commonest of the sail-

or's covering stitches. It is also called half hitching and hitching 0'1:,;)".

Admiral Luce speaks of it as "loop stitch." At sea it is often referred

to merely as hitching. I should repeat here that at sea the verb to

hitch does not apply to knots.

A single knot that is designated "a hitch" is ahvays "made fast" or

"put on." Needle hitchings arc commonly started with two or three

turns around the thickest part of the object to be covered. If the

object tapers much it is worked in both directions away from the

fattest part.

This particular object is a sailor's needle case, shaped from the solid

wood. The center is bored out, the outside is turned on a lathe and 3544

a shoulder is left for the cover to fit against. The round turns already

mentioned are taken at the edges of the cover and body, and are

worked both ways toward the two round ends. As the ends are

reached, hitches are omitted at regular intervals to allow the cover-

ing to close at the center. Gimlet holes are made at the two ends and . ,

a light lanyard is rove through and knotted on the inside of the box. • • •
•

• •
•
The illust"rations show that the hitches have been alternated at ..... .
•

regular intervals from right-hand to left-hand hitches, which gives

a "herringbone pattern." Needle boxes are from six to ten inches

long, generally of soft wood but also of tin, albatross wing, bone, •

•
· . ,
•
" .
beef marrO\v bone and bamboo. .. ~~,,~ • ~ . • •
..
• •
•. . . ,
,. "'-,._:" ... . ,." ..
... ... . '
• • <1. •
.... "" ..
.' .
3543. The knife sheath that is pictured here is covered with needle 3S4S" .. . .. : .- . .'
· .'
" .. ' ..
hitching'll: 3 54+ The pattern is made by -..vorking some sections hori- • •

zontally, some vertically and others diagonally. To taper a section to

a point, make each line \vith one less stitch than the preceding one.

3546. This stitch is similar to #3544 but an extra turn of the line

is taken around the object after each row of hitches is added. This

line is encompassed by the next row of hitches. The illustration

shows the covering of a baseball.

3547. The rib stitch, when finished, clos~ly resembles knitting,

particularly if the stitches are kept well together. If they are \\'idely

separated the ribs generally helix in one direction or the other.

At sea many bottles were covered with hitching (generally

#3544). Loops, through which a lanyard was rove, were added at

the sides and on the bottom. As the bottle narrows toward the neck, 35"41

hitches were omitted at regular intervals. These bottles were taken o ••

o • /I
ashore by the sailor when watering, wooding and recruiting. Along- o " • 0

,
side is pictured a sailor's thimble. • 0 " •
-"' .....
.....

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