7 Essential Knots You Need to Know
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Category Archives: Knots
Spanker Marled to Gaff
This is the hitch I used to tie the Spanker to the Gaff.
marl
(mɑːl)
vb
(Nautical Terms) nautical to seize (a rope) with marline, using a hitch at each turn
Marline
/ˈmärlən/
noun
NAUTICAL
light two-stranded rope
light two-stranded rope
The Trance of Art
This is the first article of my Philosophy Category. I decided to begin writing about some of the what I feel relevant to doing Art.
Have you ever lost all track of time while doing Artwork? I know I have. I seem to lose the mornings from around 4 a.m. onwards to around 10 a.m. This is the time that I spend working on my Ship off and on and I’ll watch some show on TV. Just going back and forth.
But, it’s the time during Art that’s interesting. I wonder what it is about concentration that makes you lose all sense of time?
I suppose that’s one of the reasons why I do it? I have tried to explain to people that the completed piece of art is not the point. It’s the doing of it is what’s important. Because, when you’re in the process of creating, you’re basically delving into a deeper aspect of yourself and you’re trying to tap into your central being. At least, that’s the way I feel about it.
I’m not sure how you could possibly create without tapping into this part of yourself?
I’m now wondering when I’m going to get back into Watercolor?
My ex Julie came over the other day for a visit. She stayed a couple of hours. Anyway, I showed her my artwork and I couldn’t believe that she actually wanted one of them? She not only wanted one of them, which I considered a good piece. It was one of a Lily. I guess it was pretty good. Then she wanted a set I made, a Warm Study and a Cool Study. They were both studies but apparently she liked them. Then the other one she took was a Ocean Scene, which I felt that I messed up on, but she liked it I guess. The point I’m trying to make is that other people may love your art as well.
So now, I’m into building this Ship. There’s a few things that people ask me that I wonder about.
First, they ask me when it’s going to be finished. Another one is “What are you going to do with it when you’re done?” I don’t know how many times I’ve been asked that question. Ahhh… What do you do with anything? A painting or whatever? You display it, right?
Getting back to the Subject though. I do feel that the reason I do it is because it does make me lose all track of time by allowing me to go into a trance-like state while in total concentration. I’m sure a lot of Artists feel the same way.
Tying Blocks to Main Mast / Magnifier / Water Decals
I suppose today I will devote it to tying these Blocks to the Main Mast. As I’ve stated before, I tie the Line around the Pole using a Rolling-Hitch and the Knot around the Blocks, I use a Taut-line Hitch. I have experimented with other Knots and none others seem to work as well as these 2. Also, I just discovered something just now with the Rolling-Hitch. I was having problems with getting it to set in a certain place. It would always want to pull out Line from one side or the other when you pull on the opposite side. To counter this problem, I discovered that a simple Square Knot to finish off the end of the Rolling-Hitch does the trick. Now, it’s all locked in and doesn’t pull.
Anyway, these Magnifying Glasses I have there work pretty good. There’s a little light that you can simply use your finger to turn it on. The main negative is probably that the Lense doesn’t stay in there very good. But, it’s pretty functional. It comes with 5 different power of lenses, however, I’ve only had need for only 2 of them so far.
I do have one other thing I can do. I did print out the Belem Nantes decal. I inadvertently printed my first experiment on the back sheet of the package. I actually thought it was one of the sheets!!! Anyway, after I went through the process of cutting it and soaking it, it never separated!!! I’m like “What the hell???…” So, I decided to read the instructions and couldn’t find them anywhere. Until… I realized that I had actually printed on it!!! SMH
Knot Display
This is my good friend Pauline’s Knot Display. I need to make one as well.
Bowline Knot
The bowline is an ancient and simple knot used to form a fixed “eye” at the end of a rope. It has the virtues of being both easy to tie and untie; most notably, it is easy to untie after being subjected to a load. The bowline is sometimes referred to as King of the knots because of its importance. Along with the sheet bend and the clove hitch, the bowline is often considered one of the most essential knots.
Rolling Hitch
The rolling hitch is a knot used to attach a rope to a rod, pole, or another rope. A simple friction hitch, it is used for lengthwise pull along an object rather than at right angles. The rolling hitch is designed to resist lengthwise movement for only a single direction of pull.
Taut-Line Hitch
The taut-line hitch is an adjustable loop knot for use on lines under tension. It is useful when the length of a line will need to be periodically adjusted in order to maintain tension. It is made by tying a Rolling Hitch Knot around the standing part after passing around an anchor object. Tension is maintained by sliding the hitch to adjust size of the loop, thus changing the effective length of the standing part without retying the knot.
