Page 89 - The Ashley Book of Knots

THE ASHLEY BOOK OF KNOTS

Mohair is the trade name for the wool or hair of the Angora goat,

which may on occasion be fully seventeen inches long. The yam is

both slick and springy, in the same way that piano wire is. There is

considerable variation in the material, depending on the variety of the

goats and the country in which they have been raised. In automobile

u holstery the coarsest wool or hair obtainable is required, and none

o the customary WEAVER'S KNOTS will serve. .

I was asked by the Collins and Aikman Corporation to find a mo-

hair knot that would not untie in modern fast-running machinery.

Manufacture had been speeded up to such an extent that several of

the old knots which had been adequate in slow-running machinery

could no longer be used. There is a Jolt and jar to the modern mohair

looms that cause the common knots to untie and reuntie, and when

bulkier knots were used they snapped while being drawn through

the reeds. Sometimes a single break had to be repaired a dozen times

before the knot was finally woven into the fabric.

A satisfactory knot was found eventually, and a large proportion

of the piled mohair fabric now used in automobile upholstery is tied

with it. "One of the three commonest cars," I am told, has used it

exclusively for five or more years.

'4 s Numbers 494> 495, and 501 are among the knots that were experi-

mented with.

494. A compact knot that was based on the HARNESS BEND (~1474)

is shown here. It has a good lead and is more secure than the average

bend, but in mohair it slips appreciably before it finally nips.

495. A FIGURE-EIGHT KNOT was tied in one end around the other,

and was then spilled to engage the other end. The ends have a good

lead, and the knot is tied in an interesting way.

496. The ENGLISH KNOT is an ANGLER'S BEND that is so bulky that

it either untied or broke after a few jolts in the loom.

497

199

[ 80 ]