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I have tried
to teach knot tying for the theatre for several years. The best
way to learn is to have some one show you how to tie each knot
and then to tie it yourself with them watching. They should back
off and let you try it by yourself, even if you get it wrong
and then after several tries ask them to show you again. The
second or third lesson may be needed for some knots.
Some text with pictures now becomes a valuable reference
and an aid to refreshing your memory. After being taught I knew
that I could tie a sheet ben or a clove hitch, but I needed to
either look it up or to check it with some one by asking, "Is
this right?" To really be confident with a knot you need
to use it several times, and let it become second nature to you.
Think about teaching a pre-school child to tie their shoes.
The finger agility, the remembering of the steps , and the little
tricks that dad gives you are a complex learning process. How
to hold, what to pull, when to tighten will be describe here
but you need to be shown. You need to just practice until you
can tie them in the dark. Try tying your shoe laces in the dark
or an apron bow behind your back. I can even tie a suit tie while
driving to an opening night.
Begin with the parts:
An overhand knot is made by passing
the dead end over
and around the standing part.
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A square knot is formed by tying two overhand knots
laying the dead end over the standing rope each time.
In the Scouts we said,"Right over left and left over
right."
The
square knot is used to join two ropes of equal thickness. 
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The next two knots we tie will add a loop at the end
of a rope.
Two half hitches is a little easier
but you can get it wrong with only a little effort. The dead
end is passed around behind the standing part and under it's
standing part. You have to keep a loop of several inches . That
is why we are tying the knot: to make a loop that will close
around something like a pipe. The dead end is again passed around
behind the standing part and again under its standing part. The
two hitches are worked snug by tugging on the live end of the
loop and the dead end. Made correctly this loop can be made larger
or smaller by sliding the knot along the standing part of the
rope.
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Joining a rope to a pipe or batten is
accomplished with a clove hitch and two half hitches. The clove
hitch is difficult to describe. It is two half hitches tie around
a pipe instead of the standing part of a rope. The live end and
the standing pass beneath itself each pointing in the other direction.
The ropes are snugged the same way by tugging on the live and
dead part nearest the knot. Once snugged two half hitches are
tied around the standing line.
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There are other useful knots to note
such as a stopper hitch, a Prusik knot, a figure-8 knot and a
trucker's hitch. The Sunday is the last knot I will illustrate.
It is used to "safety off" a line-set that is temporally
out of balance. The operating lines are tie together and secured
to the locking rail with a Sunday. This knot often needs to be
tied quickly and with confidante since a line-sets out of balance
is unsafe if not addressed. Recognizing a Sunday in use should
warn you and others that this rope should not be untied with
out some thought. There is a problem. Has it been fixed? |
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