Page 172 - The Ashley Book of Knots

MUL TI-STRAND BUTTONS, TIED IN HAND

Tuck up each end in turn through the next bight to the right and

in advance of the next end. Then tuck each end down to the center

in advance of the second standing part to the right. The working

drawings show a THREE-STRAND KNOT, and the final drawing shows

a completed knot with four strands.

881. Perhaps the most distinguished of sailor's BUI"I'ON KNOTS,
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and certainly the most individual, is the STAR KNOT. It is occasionally

mentioned in nautical fiction of the nineteenth century, but the first

illustration of it is, I believe, in Log Book Notes by E. N. Little

(1888).

The knot is tied preferably with five strands, but four and six

strands are common, and I have a pair of early nineteenth-century

chest beckets (~3639) bearing THREE-STRAND STAR KNOTS.

To tie with five strands, splice an extra strand to the core of a

shroud-laid rope (~2660), or else seize stoutly and cut out one

strand from a piece of tiller rope or SIX-STRAND ROUND SINNET. To

tie a SIX-STRAND STAR use six-strand rope Qr sinnet or else tie it in the

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doubled ends of three-strand rope. A SIX-STRAND STAR may also be

tied in cable-laid (nine-strand) rope by cutting out the three central

strands. This leaves six surface strands with which to tie the knot.

To tie a FIVE-STRAND KNOT: Take any strand and, with the next

strand to its right, make a SINGLE HITCH around the end of the left

strand. Take the next strand to the right and with it make a SINGLE

HITCH around the second strand. Take the fourth strand and make a

SINGLE HITCH around the third. With the fifth strand place a hitch

around the fourth, and finally with the bight of the first strand (the

end being already engaged) make a hitch around the fifth end. This

is shown in the first two diagrams. A less confusing way is to turn

down the five strands to the neck as in the third diagram, lead •

any strand to the right, and tuck the end upward and back to the

left under the next strand. Repeat with each strand in turn, progress-

ing to the right. The form will be identical with the second diagram

after a little rearrangement. Next, crown the five strands to the left

(fourth diagram) and tuck each strand around to the right toward

the center and under its own part. Continue to follow the lead to

the right on the inside of the parallel strand (fifth diagram) and tuck

jown through the two superimposed parts at the corner. Turn the

knot upside down, continue to lay the strand parallel as shown by

the sixth diagram (which represents the essential parts of the bottom

of the knot at this juncture), and stick the ends up to the top center

as indicated by the arrow. Turn the knot right side up again, parallel

the lead on the inside to the right with each strand in turn and

finally tuck the ends down to the stem under four parts. This is the

simplest of the several forms of the knot, but none of them is so

difficult as the diagrams suggest, since the knots are tied in easy 681

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progressIve steps.

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