New Shop Items! A Beautiful Hand Braided, Knife, Tool, Wallet or Key Lanyard

How Do All ;-)

I have just added a new item to my Etsy Store

This is a Beautiful hand braided, Knife, Tool, Wallet or Key Lanyard.
Made in Red, 2mm, 16 plait polyester with a small blue fleck in the pattern.
Please see my Etsy Listing. for more pictures and details.

(I can make this lanyard to order, in Red, Blue, Black Fluorescent Yellow or White (see my Dragonfly Brooch listings for actual colours). Also to any length or other custom requirement, please contact me with your request)

The knife, tool, wallet or keys are attached to the end loop with a short tail (loop of cord), made fast with a sheet bend and a doubled wall knot stopper (see pictures), alternatively you can attach whatever you have with split rings or by hitching the item directly to the bottom loop of the lanyard.

The buttoned end can be attached to your belt, belt loops, bag, anything with D-Rings and so on, the uses are only limited by your imagination.

The lanyard is made up from an 8 strand square sinnet, with a 4 strand round sinnet loop in one end, the other end has a button hole braided with two, 4 strand round sinnets, and finished off with a complex rose sinnet knot button.
The button is impregnated with a water proof coating to stiffen the button and make it more durable in long term use.

The total length of the lanyard is 700mm (not including Knife)

A knife / tool lanyard would have been used by a rigger, sailor or any craftsman working at height to attach their tools to their harness, belt, tool bag or other object to save loosing the tool should it be dropped, also possible saving injury or damage to persons and property below.

**Please note: the Dragon Fly Brooch, Leatherman tool, Wallet and keys pictured with this lanyard are not included with this sale, however if you like to buy the matching Dragonfly Brooch you can find it in my store.**

The same design in Blue cord. For more pictures please see here:

http://ropeandcanvas.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/knotsam-jetsam.html

Thank you for looking,
Barry ;-)

Knotty Bear getting all Knotty again!

How Do All ;-)

So, it's been a while since I did anything new on the knotting front, and when I get the urge to tie something I don't hold back!
I decided to tie a long pineapple knot with a varied pattern, just to make sure I was still on top of my game.

Below is a picture the finished Pineapple Knot being examined by Buddha.
I think he probably approves.

This is a 90 part x 48 bight, 6 Pass, Type 6 Pineapple Knot, with a varied interweave, tied over a beach combed fishing net float which I found on the beach near my old home town of Barrow-In-Furness

There are loops at each end formed from one long length of 10 strand trapezoidal braid U6, O2, spliced and stitched into a continuous strop.

There are two 12 part x 12 bight, 2 Pass, Type 2 Pineapple Knots sitting either side of the main knot, with a foundation of 8 bight, Single Strand Matthew Walker Knots.

All tied in 1.5mm line.

The braiding of the 10 strand trapezoidal braid in my braiding clamp.

The total length is 190 mm (7.5") x 45 mm (1.75") This would make one very large and very buoyant key fob for your boat keys, or a very nice light or fan pull handle, or the grip on a dirty bag, etc. etc..

The main Pineapple Knot is actually made up from 6 separate 15 part x 8 bight Turk's-Head knots, these are all interwoven into one single knotted covering. the fact this has a varied pattern makes it that much more special.

If you are a Knot Tyer and wish to try your hand at this interweave, or at least one very similar which is easily altered to make this interweave, bearing in mind you should be at least able to tie a standard multi pass Pineapple Knot, then please check out my help tutorial here: Pineapple Knot interweave tutorial. please note, this link will open a new window!

A close up of the finished Pineapple Knot, being examined by Buddha and in my hand for an idea of size

Thank you for looking,
Take care,
Barry ;-)

My Etsy Store, Update #2! More New Items!

How Do All ;-)

I have just added some more new items to my Etsy Store Jewellery Section.
Rather than list every single item here in duplicate here are a few pictures of the items, and you can see the full details in my store. My Etsy Store

These are my beautiful Dragonfly Brooches!

Thank you for looking!
Take care,
Barry ;-)

A Pineapple Knot Variation. Links Fixed!

How Do All ;-)

Just a quickie!

I was unaware that the links to the pdf  file for the below Help Tutorial were broken and the file was no longer where it was stored, 

I have now uploaded the pdf to my Google Drive and the links on my Tutorials and Help page all work again

Sorry to anyone that tried the links and found nothing of any help! And thank you to Graham for pointing this out to me :-)

I copied the tutorial information here to save you having to open yet another window :-D

Thank you for looking.

Take care,

Barry ;-)

A Pineapple Knot Variation.

Click above for the pdf file which includes the Under / Over sequence and some help pictures to enable you to add the white interweave variation to a *27 part x 24 bight 3 pass, Type 3 Pineapple knot.

Please note: the finished knot will be a 42 part x 48 bight, 6 pass, Type 3 Pineapple knot pictured above.
*You will need to be able to tie the mentioned 3 pass, Type 3 Pineapple knot unaided before you start.

Below: is a 7 pass, Type 4 knot made using the same interweave pattern.

Below: is a 4 pass, Type 3 knot made using a variation of the same interweave pattern.

Some Ditty Bag Bodies, For Sale!

How Do All ;-)

I have just added some more items to my Etsy Shop

New Style Ditty Bag Bodies!

Here I have one Brand New! Ditty Bag body for sale.

The body of the bag is made from 12oz cotton Duck, and is 300mm x 175mm. the canvas is fully hand seamed and the base has a double seam for durability.

This bag has No eyelets installed yet, this is to give you the option of adding your own knot buttons as I have done on several of my bags, However if you would like a set of hand sewn Grommet eyelets installed, I can do this for you at an extra cost of £20.00

Please contact me first before ordering if you would like this option so I can change the listing price!

Clearance! 

Old Style Ditty bag Body!

This Clearance Ditty Bag body is one of my older models which I am putting out there for any budding knot tyer that might like to fashion their own ditty bag without the hassle of making the canvas body of the bag for themselves.

The only difference between this older version of my Ditty Bag bodies and the newer version is a slightly longer stitch length.

Please contact me if you have any questions: knotty (dot) bear (at) gmail (dot) com

Please check out my Etsy Shop for more items.

Thank you for looking.

Take care,

Barry ;-)

More Fids For Sale!

How Do All ;-)

I have some Wood Fids for sale, these spikes were made by the Late Bud Brewer, a friend and fellow Knot Tyer from Colorado. you can see all the details in my Etsy Shop

A Fid / Marlinespike is an indispensable tool for the tying of decorative or practical knots.
Whether tightening a simple Turk's-Head knot, Splicing a hefty rope or dressing the most complicated covering knots, a hand crafted spike like this will make the job a cinch! 
A Fid / marlinespike is also a great tool for undoing tight or stuck fast knots, and with the aid of a Marlinespike Hitch is a great hand hold for tightening constrictor knots, whippings and the like.

 https://www.etsy.com/listing/119954052/fid-knot-tying-spike-marlinespike

This Fid is turned from Apple wood, and was turned whilst green.

The wood is treated with a clear oil / shellac, and has a slightly flattened tip, to aid with insertion between strands. and grip on the cord.

The total length of the tool is 225mm or 8.75"

https://www.etsy.com/listing/119954286/fid-knot-tying-spike-marlinespike?ref=v1_other_2

This hand crafted Fid is turned from Beech wood, is treated with a Danish oil.
There is a recessed section in the handle to accommodate a nice section of hitching, grafting of a nice wide Turk's-Head Knot.
The total length of the tool is 190mm or 7.5"
(Note: this last tool was not made by Bud Brewer)

https://www.etsy.com/listing/119954138/fid-knot-tying-spike-marlinespike?ref=v1_other_1
SOLD

This Fid is turned from ? wood, (Sorry I am not sure exactly what type of wood this is) 

The wood is treated with a clear oil / shellac, and has a slightly flattened tip, to aid with insertion between strands. and grip on the cord. 

The total length of the tool is 245mm or 9.75"

https://www.etsy.com/listing/119954384/fid-knot-tying-spike-marlinespike

SOLD

This Fid is turned from a very beautiful looking wood, (sorry but I am unsure exactly what type of wood it is)

The wood is treated with a clear oil / shellac, and has a slightly flattened tip, to aid with insertion between strands. and grip on the cord. 

the handle of the Fid has a nice, long Spanish Ring Knot tied just below the knob. 

The total length of the tool is 225mm or 8.75"

Please contact me if you have any questions: knotty (dot) bear (at) gmail (dot) com

Please check out my Etsy Shop for more items.

Thank you for looking.

Take care,

Barry ;-)

Some Marlinespikes, For Sale!

How Do All ;-)

I have some Marlinespikes for sale, these spikes were made by the Late Bud Brewer, a friend and fellow Knot Tyer from Colorado. 

A Marlinespike is an indispensable tool for the tying of decorative or practical knots.
Whether tightening a simple Turk's-Head knot, or dressing the most complicated covering knots, a hand crafted spike like this will make the job a cinch! 
A marlinespike is also a great tool for undoing tight or stuck fast knots, and with the aid of a Marlinespike Hitch is a great hand hold for tightening constrictor knots, whippings and the like.

All of these spikes have now been sold!

Thank you all for your interest and thank you very much to all that purchased these tools, I hope you have many years of enjoyment from them, and spare a thought for the maker Bud when using them ;-)

This spike is turned from Stainless Steel, and has a Tee handle in turned Stainless Steel.

The knotted decoration on the handle is a Turk's-Head knot tied in Red 1.5mm line.

The total length of the tool is 133mm or 5.25"

SOLD

This spike is turned from Stainless Steel, has brass ball at the top of the handle, and has a slightly flattened tip, to aid with insertion between strands. and grip on the cord. 

The knotted decoration / handle covering is a Chevron knot tied in Yellow and Charcoal 1.5mm line.

The total length of the tool is 165mm or 6.5"

SOLD

This spike is turned from Stainless Steel, and has a long slender point.

The knotted decoration / handle covering is a long, 4 bight Pineapple knot, tied in small 1mm Silver line.

The total length of the tool is 140mm or 5.5"

SOLD

This spike is turned from Stainless Steel, has brass ball at the top of the curved handle, and has a flattened tip, to aid with insertion between strands. and grip on the cord. 

The knotted decoration / handle covering is a long 8 bight 2 colour Gaucho weave Turk'sHead knot in Olive Green and Light Green in 1.5mm line.

The total length of the tool is 155mm or 6"

SOLD

This mini spike is turned from Stainless Steel, and has a flattened point with a brushed stainless finish, 

The knotted decoration / handle covering consists of a large Pineapple knot at the top followed by a Spanish Ring knot, and lastly a smaller Pineapple knot, all tied in small 0.8mm cream line.

The total length of the tool is 67mm or 2.6"

SOLD

This spike is turned from Stainless Steel, and has a slightly flattened tip, to aid with insertion between strands. and grip on the cord.

The knotted decoration is a Spanish Ring Knot tied in small 0.8mm line.

The total length of the tool is 140mm or 5.5"

SOLD

This spike is turned from Stainless Steel, and has a long slender point.

There is a small ring silver soldered at the top of the handle for attachment to a lanyard, key chain or necklace.

The knotted decoration / handle covering is a Pineapple knot, tied in small 0.8mm Blue line.

The total length of the tool is 120mm or 4.75"

SOLD

Thank you for looking.

Take care,

Barry ;-)

Oldies But Still Goodies!

How Do All ;-)

Whilst waiting for a delivery today, I was browsing through some old pictures from 2005 / 2006, and came across some pictures of some nice earrings I used to make, so I thought I would share them with you.

Here are some single strand, modified 8 bight spherical Turk's-head knots, some single strand 8 plait grommet knots and some 4 Pass, Type 4 Pineapple Knots. All are made in 0.8mm braided cord, and to give an idea of size the finished knots are all around 12-15mm diameter.

Top row, single strand, modified 8 bight spherical Turk's-head knots.

Middle, 3 strand, modified 8 bight spherical Turk's-head knots.

Bottom row, 4 pass, Type 4 Pineapple Knots.

Single strand 8 plait grommet knots, and the last pair are 2 knots combined. these are all tied over the end of a finger!

 Single strand 8 plait grommet knots, close up.

 Single strand 8 plait grommet knots, close up.

I made dozens of pairs of each, and either sold or gave these away as presents, so it was nice to see them again even if only the pictures ;-)

Thank you for looking.

Take care,

Barry ;-)

Sailmakers Roping Palms. For Sale!

How Do All ;-)

These Sailmakers Roping palms were hand made my myself using only the highest quality materials. 

A Sailmakers Roping palm is used for sewing the bolt ropes on to the perimeter of a traditional sail, it is also used for sewing on heavy chafing gear of leather to the sail and for sewing in grommets and rings to the sail. The palm is also used for adding seizings, and putting palm and needle whippings onto ropes.

(Palm #2)

These palms are made with heavy leather and natural rawhide and are lined with plush goats skin. the dimpled iron (needle plate or eye) is machined from solid brass and the whole palm is hand stitched.

(Palm #2)

Once made, the palm is softened in in water and then shaped to the hand, where it takes on its Kidney Bean shape, and then worn until dry, after which the palm will be set in the perfect shape for good, or until you soften it to reshape it.

(Palm #2)

These palms have seen very little use and would make a great addition to any Knot Tyers Ditty Bag.

(Palm #2)

The palms will need soaking for a couple of hours in room temp water then placed into a plastic bag for several hours until pliable, then the palms can be shaped, stretched and moulded to suit your hand. 

There is a new, long length of heavily waxed rayon twine joining the ends of the palms so you can secure the palm at the right size for your hand.

(Palm #2)

Now the business end of the deal!

The price for this item is £22.50

Postage is £3.95 Royal Mail, First Class Recorded in the mainland UK.

All other destinations will be sent by "airsure" or "international signed for" if the service is available for your location, please contact me for an accurate shipping quote if outside the UK, as shipping costs may vary considerably depending on location.

Contact Me: knotty (dot) bear (at) gmail (dot) com

These items are also available to buy via my

Etsy Store 

You can also view my other items for sale here:

My Work For Sale.

Thanks for looking.

Take care,

Barry ;-)

(Palm #1) Now SOLD

Playing With UV Again!

The last time I experimented with UV Black Lights was during the making of my Fluo Ditty Bag, this bag had lots of fluorescent Yellow UV reactive cord used to make a very happy bright bag; as you can see below.

Above and below: Under Natural light and also under UV Black Light.

After making this bag I did not get around to playing with UV again until now; when a friend asked me to make some pineapple knots for him. one of these was to be bright, and as you can see below, under UV light it fills that requirement quite handsomely.

This is a 40p x 36b, 6 pass, Type 5 Pineapple Knot.

                    Below: under normal lights.                

    

And from the top under UV again.

Playing with UV Black Light is fun but only in very small doses; and with protective glasses, even then I still got a headache taking the pictures.

Take care,

Barry ;-)



Two B, or Knot Two B!

Two B, or Knot Two B!

Is that a question; or a statement, and does anyone really care?

Well I care, and have spent the past two years or more nursing an idea that I was not able to properly bring to life.

The Two B's in question are my Initials, and the Knot in question is a 3 part x 4 bight Casa Knot (simple over one under  pattern Turk's-Head) also known as a Carrick mat in its flat form.

My idea was to create a logo for myself using my initials, and some how linking them in such a way to create an interlinked knot like structure. I tried as many ways of linking two B's together as where physically possible, but the B's would not have it in their original form.

Then one day it hit me whilst playing around with a Carrick mat; that I could use the same single strand form of this knot to create Two perfectly joined, symmetrical B shapes, all that was needed to really make the B's stand out was 2 different colours.

I drew the logo out many times on paper until I was happy with the shape and then scanned it into the computer thinking I would quickly be able to make a perfect  logo graphic from my drawings, I bust my ass trying to get the expensive drawing program do what I wanted, but due to my lack of computer savvy; and short temper I gave up and the logo sat in my To Do pile for the duration.

A stroke of luck and a common shared interest in LDP (Long Distance Pumping) (skateboarding long distances without pushing; for those still scratching their heads)  enter Tim Pritchard of Pritchard Skate Designs (PSD).

After having a Rad day tearing up the pavement at Dorney Rowing Lake with Tim; and learning of his skills with CAD and the like, a few emails followed and Tim kindly took my basic scanned drawings and was able to draw up my design in Cad and tweak it till perfect. He then saved the drawings as Photo Shop files; with which I could play with the layers, colors and effects till my heart was content, and what you see above is the sum of that two years faffing brought to life in less than a two weeks!

So; a Big Thank You to Tim for helping be bring my idea to life, it would have still been on the To Do pile till Worlds end otherwise.

Also a Big Thank You to my friend Clive S. for helping me out with, and getting me properly sorted with Photo Shop, Skype Screen Sharing is a tool worth more than a thousand words ;-)

So where now?

I am now completely happy with the design and the only thing that I might change is the lettering style of my name in the right B, I will also be using the BB logo without my name in the right B for all my off line activities, and may change the colour of the right B to suit certain projects.

I have now updated my main web site incorporating the Logo on the front page, and changing the colours scheme of the site to match.

http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/ropeandcanvas/index.html

I hope you all like.

Take care,

Barry ;-)

Bags, Bugs & Bikes.

Been a Busy "B" Lately.

Bags

A Draw Corded Ditty Bag.

I was asked if I could create a standard sized bag with a hemp draw cord by some folks in Canada, and yes; I know I said I was not going to do this type of work again, but as I happened to have a couple of unfinished bag bodies, and also because I find it hard to say No! I got to work, and below is what I came up with from my brief.

The folks from Canada never got back to me; but luckily the bag has now been sold to another more deserving person :-)

 

Hand seamed in 12oz Cotton Duck canvas, with 6 hand sewn grommet eyelets. 

Threaded with a Hemp draw cord, the ends joined with a doubled Bosun's Lanyard knot, and finished with a seizing in waxed Hemp twine.

The sliding closure; or puckering knot is a single strand Mathew Walker knot, made with my own hand laid Hemp twine; and sized with a natural sealer. 

Some of the tools of the my trade.

Puckered up and ready to go.

Bugs.

In between jobs I decided to do a little R&R in the garden; and whilst minding my own business a little Grass Hopper hopped over for a chat, before gettign down to the business of making little Grass Hopper's with his mate; whom was keeping an eye on her mate from the adjasent Rose.

& Bikes.

And on to the business of serious fun making!

I have been fetteling with my race / road training bike over the past few weeks, I still have a way's to go yet but this is what I have done so far.

I concentrated mainly on the rear wheel and wheel disks, the original Carbon fibre moulded disks I made; and had great success with; actually winning races in my class ;-) have now been passed on and I set about building a whole new rear wheel, the main reason for a new wheel was to trim a little weight off, quieten th e thundering noise I got every time I hit a bumb; and that the original rim did not have enough surface area for attaching the fabric covering.

The covering is is a very light weight ripstop nylon which is stretched and bonded to the rim before being sealed with cellulose.

here on the non drive side you can see the foil tape patch that gives access to the valve stem for pumping the tyre, the patch make the wheel more aerodynamic than if it was left with the gaping hole in it.

I then got down to the business of comfort and made a new air mesh padded seat pad, and pillow neck rest from the same materials, and I can confirm that it is too comfortable, I have been spotted napping on several occasions whilst out and presumably training ;-)

I could not help myself and had to add a nice dimpled look to the pad very cushy.

I still have the new bars I made to fit, which include a whole new brake and gear operating system, some serious chopping and modding going on there.

more to follow soon?

Take care,

Barry ;-)