Introduction

Link to more of my knot work on Picasa.

I am retired from the U. S. Navy (Chief Aerographers Mate aka weather guesser), from teaching, from computer tech support, and from work in general. I began knotting as a hobby while in the Navy in the late sixties. Since my work in the Navy had little to do with knotting I am pretty much self-taught - relying on a variety of books and, more recently, the internet as sources of information.

I am a decorative knotter which means I’m not really interested in what it’s good for but rather how it looks and, in many cases, how it feels. I find working with the interplay of patterns, textures and designs both challenging and satisfying.


My knot work consists mostly of half hitches, round turn hitches, cow hitches, etc… on bottles, vases, little boxes, and other objects as well as frames covered with hitching then filled with a knotted weave as a background for other knot work. I have recently found that I can incorporate knots used in rug weaving in some of my framed work. I have worked with a variety of knots through the years and have found the half hitch and the round turn hitch to be both simple and versatile knots that provide a huge range of decorative possibility. While there are a large number of knots that can be used as individual elements in a design, only a few can be used as creative media in themselves. The knots are tied in a repetitive pattern with a single strand. The strand can be lengthened via a simple splice and most pieces can be completed with single rather than multiple strands (as in macrame). The weave can be tied right to left, left to right, or back and forth in spiral or vertical paterns to cover objects or create fabric.