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Fold, Knot & Bind

Paper, cord, thread — and why they hold.

Knots

How knots and hitches grip and how they slip, read against public-domain seamanship and needlework manuals, with decorative knotwork and knots used for counting; never a promise that a knot will hold a person, and no climbing, rescue or rigging instructions.

6 entries; the first card is the place to start.

Gold armband with a knot of red garnet and gold at its center, flanked by square garnets and openwork vines

Knots

Square Knot vs Granny Knot: One Throw Reversed

A square knot crosses right over left, then left over right. Repeat the first way and it is a granny knot; in this page's drawings, three crossings flip.

Picture credit

"Gold armband with Herakles knot, Greek, 3rd–2nd century B.C. (Metropolitan Museum of Art 1999.209)" by Unknown author — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gold_armband_with_Herakles_knot_MET_DT4404.jpg — CC0 1.0 (https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/)

A bowline tied in brown three-strand rope on a white surface, the small eye and collar at one end of a long loop

Knots

Bowline Knot: The Grip Is at the Small Eye, Not the Big Loop

Picture credit

"Palstek (bowline)" (2005), Sebastian Magnusson Wigmo — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Palstek.jpg — Public domain in US and EU (DE/FR): released into the public domain by its author, Sebastian Magnusson Wigmo, worldwide, with a fallback grant to use it for any purpose (author's dedication on the file page)

Illuminated page: a cross outlined in blue on red and gold interlaced panels, with bird heads at the corners

Knots

Celtic Knot Patterns: Some Are One Cord, Some Are Several

Picture credit

"Carpet page, from the Lindisfarne Gospels" (late 7th or early 8th century), Unknown author — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Meister_des_Book_of_Lindisfarne_002.jpg — Public domain in US: medieval manuscript page, public domain; faithful photographic reproduction of a two-dimensional work (PD-Art). EU: maker died more than 1,000 years ago; faithful reproduction of a public-domain visual work (EU Directive 2019/790, Art. 14)

Engraving of a macramé fringe: crossed bands of knots across the top, the threads gathered into long tassels below

Knots

Macramé: An 1890 Manual Says Repeated Half Knots Twist

Picture credit

"Macramé fringe (fig. 548), from Encyclopedia of Needlework" (undated English edition (before 1931)), Thérèse de Dillmont, Encyclopedia of Needlework — https://gutenberg.pglaf.org/cache/epub/20776/images/563.jpg — Public domain in US: published before 1931 (undated English edition of the Encyclopedia of Needlework; title page 'To be had of Th. de Dillmont, Dornach, Alsace'); EU (DE/FR): author Thérèse de Dillmont d. 1890; engraver not named in the book (anonymous, published more than 70 years ago)

Inka khipu: a fan of brown, tan and white cords hanging from a curved main cord, with small knots in loose rows

Knots

Khipu: A Top Cord Summed the Cords Below, Locke Found

Picture credit

"Inka Khipu (Fiber Recording Device), Peru, Inca Period, 15th–16th century (Cleveland Museum of Art 1940.469)" by Unknown author — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Peru,_Inca_Period,_15th-16th_Century_-_Inka_Khipu_(Fiber_Recording_Device)_-_1940.469_-_Cleveland_Museum_of_Art.tif — CC0 1.0 (https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/); modified: converted from TIFF to JPEG, scaled to 2400 px wide

Pen drawing of four rope hitches hanging from one wooden spar, the last with both of its turns round the spar

Knots

Clove Hitch vs Two Half Hitches: Dana and Lever Disagree

Picture credit

"Fig. 311, hitches on a spar, from an original drawing for Lärobok i sjömanskap (Sjöhistoriska museet OB 384)" (1896), Jacob Hägg, Sjöhistoriska museet — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Teckning_-_Sj%C3%B6historiska_museet_-_OB_384.tif — Public domain in US: published 1896 as illustrations in Linder, Lärobok i sjömanskap (before 1931); EU (DE/FR): artist Jacob Hägg d. 15 April 1931 (life + 70); Public Domain Mark 1.0 on the file page; modified: cropped to Fig. 311 (four hitches on one spar); recropped 2026-11-15 (crop box 1080, 1888, 2220, 2648 in original pixels) to leave out the top of the shackle and the pencil figure number of the next figure, so the long hanging ends below the knots are cut, converted from TIFF to JPEG