Page 571 - The Ashley Book of Knots

THE ASHLEY BOOK OF KNOTS

3548. A fishlinc basket was stretched over the bottom of a bowl

or bottle and soaked and then allowed to dry. When dry it was

shellacked and painted. Similar baskets of crocheting were made

ashore, but whatever their origin, their destination was the same:

they always stood on the whatnot in the corner of the parlor and

held souvenirs. The one shown here is sailor's work; it was started

with a small grommet in the end of the fishline at the bottom. Eight

stitches (as illustrated) are taken around the grommet, then an in-

and-out turn is taken about the structure, which passes through the

bottom loops of each of the hitches. The short end of the grommet is

left eight or ten inches long, and the two ends are brought together.

The needle end takes a turn around the loose end, as illustrated at the

right in the lower drawing. Then another series of hitches is added.

It will be noted that the turn of the cord that is added after the first

line of hitches doubles the number of the bights at the lower edge.

The next tier of hitches is taken through all these bights, which gives

sixteen hitches, the next tier omits every third bight, which gives

35413 twenty-four hitches, and the next tier also omits every third bight,

which gives thirty-two hitches. Five uniform tiers are made with the

thirty-two hitches and the final row is buttonholed over, making the

top rim of the basket.

Pointing was named and described by Sir Henry Manwayring in

1644. Cables were pointed to make reeving through the hawse pipes

easier, and to keep them from fraying. They were frequently fin-

ished off with an eye so that they could be hauled out with a smaller

rope. On running rigging the avowed purpose of pointing was to

make reeving off tackles easier, but another and equally important

purpuse was to prevent sailors from pilfering ropes' ends for their

own use. This purpose was mentioned by Sir Henry Manwayring

in 1644.

3549. Luce calls this a hitched end. It was made with a needle.

With a knife or scissors, trim the end into the shape iHustrated. Take

a number of close turns at the base and then hitch to the end as

#3544. Snake the first four or five turns.

3550. A SHORT HAWSER POINTING, with 1m eye. The eye in this

case is for bending a heaving line. To make: An EYE SPLICE is put

into a short piece of small rope. The hawser is opened up and the

small rope is short spliced to the heart, or the center yarns, which

are laid up for the purpose. The ends of the splice are trimmed and

35'S 0
the hawser is tapered and hitched over as ~ 3549. The neck of the

point is whipped and snaked.

3551. UNDERHAND ROUND-TURN POINTING is put on with a needle.

Whip and open the rope, and lay back and stop a number of the sur-

face yarns. Scrape the inside yarns to an even taper point. Parcel and

marl or dse cover them with adhesive tape. Next lay down the sur-

face yarns tightly and seize them at the tip of the point. Take the

long end of the whipping that was first put on, "thread" it on a sail
35'S 1

needle and with it progress around the pointing, first forward, under

two strands, then back over one, and forward again under two, etc.
35'52.

Drop out yarns if the taper requires. When the point is covered,

whip and snake the tip.

, .

3552. OVERHAND ROUND-TuRN POINTING is made in much the same

way but the needle is thrust back under one, then forward over two,

and back under one, forward over two, etc., until complete.

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