What knot is this?
September 22, 2016 10:50 AM   Subscribe

I'd like to make this little whisk, but can't figure out what knot it is. I looked through Ashley, and didn't see anything. Suggestions I've already gotten are Mathew Walker, diamond, crown and wall. But all of these knots look like they were tied in the middle of the rope. I've seen (and made) Des Pawson's Sailors Whisk, but it has a hanging loop, I just want the ball end.
posted by Marky to Sports, Hobbies, & Recreation (14 answers total) 10 users marked this as a favorite
 
Monkey's Fist
posted by humboldt32 at 10:51 AM on September 22, 2016 [7 favorites]


Seconding Monkey's fist. That's what it looks like to me.
posted by Giailh at 10:52 AM on September 22, 2016


Yes, monkey's fist. Apparently it takes some practice, but you can learn it!
posted by jbenben at 10:59 AM on September 22, 2016


Animated knots shows The monkey's fist with 3 wraps, but I can't think of any reason not to use 2 if that works better with the material. Also both ends are coming out from the same entry point, which is probably fine. I imagine it will be quite hard to tie this with that material, and definitely recommend practicing it a bunch first.
posted by Phredward at 11:12 AM on September 22, 2016


Monkey's fist is a possibility, but when I saw this, I immediately thought of the button knot in Chinese knotting. The knot can be made with a loop or no loop.

Not sure (or...KNOT sure, LOL) if you can make it with such thick fibers, but worth a try!
posted by curagea at 11:57 AM on September 22, 2016


Yeah, I'd vote monkey's first with just two wraps.
posted by kalimac at 1:07 PM on September 22, 2016


It could be a Turk's Head or Woggle that was pulled together tightly.
Not a Monkey's fist, because from what I have seen that one only has bights in 2 directions, perpendicular to one another. A Turk's Head can have them in multiple directions, due to the nature of how it is tied.
posted by RocRizzo at 1:16 PM on September 22, 2016 [1 favorite]


Best answer: It's a double wall and crown.
posted by The corpse in the library at 1:19 PM on September 22, 2016 [1 favorite]


Best answer: Other options for you to consider: a manrope knot, or a Matthew Walker.
posted by The corpse in the library at 1:35 PM on September 22, 2016


My husband does not think its monkeys fist, but something pretty similar.
posted by pintapicasso at 3:56 PM on September 22, 2016


OK, in my defense, or at least an explanation: I am tired and not reading well. Whoops, you already said no to the knots I suggested. But those knots are not tied in the middle of the rope -- they're tied in the end, and the ends are worked back in.
posted by The corpse in the library at 4:02 PM on September 22, 2016


Even if it's not a monkey's fist in the picture, if you make it that way (with some similarly crazy-fat line) you should be good to go.
posted by wenestvedt at 8:08 PM on September 22, 2016


Not a monkey's fist. Either turk's head or crown and wall. If I were to try to make this, I would unlay two sections of rope to give me six yarns of equal length. These I would lay out in a flat turk's head, then work the knot tight so that the tails would be pulled to one side, as in this whisk. Comb out the loose ends, and voila.
posted by Makwa at 9:49 PM on September 22, 2016


Best answer: Without seeing the whole knot its hard to tell if this is a monkeys fist or a double wall and crown with the ends fed back down thru. I'm leaning towards the latter. You could make it work with either. With a monkeys fist the ends finish on the same side of the knot and are usually spliced together to make a heaving line, but they tend to point in towards each other and I can't imagine being able to get the whisk that bushy with just the two lines. With some finagling you could maybe make it work. The wall and crown tied that way with the ends basically doubling back on themselves, you would most likely end up with a thicker whisk so that might be the way to go.

With rope stiff enough for the frayed ends to make a whisk, it's gonna be a tough one to get tight. With either knot, in particular the monkeys fist, it can be helpful to use a ball or other small roundish object (golf ball, marble, metal nut, etc depending on the size of the line you're using) to help it keeps it's shape and give you something to keep track of your wraps on.

Good luck!
posted by danapiper at 7:14 AM on September 24, 2016


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