Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with knots

How to tie a shoe

Nonce — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 08:07:14 -0800

I am only familiar with the standard way of tying shoes (along with an optional double knot). Are there any other ways? I'm more interested in different knots rather than different ways to achieve the same knot.

Do my hair?

millipede — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 13:16:15 -0800

I have long, fine-textured-but-thick-in-amount wavy hair and a two-part question about what to do with it. Help? First part: an event-specific question. I am going to a wedding tomorrow afternoon, and it is on Staten Island, and I am taking a combination of trains, buses, and ferries to it. I would like to do something to my hair that looks fancy, but not overdone, and importantly, does not look like a wild mess at the end of my journey to the wedding. I want something fancier than a ponytail and less severe than a bun, but almost anything except those two options results in a halo of flyaway strands all over my head (for instance, even the tightest french braid will not stay), unless I use so much hairspray and gel that it appears that I soaked my head in glue prior to leaving the house. I want to avoid that look.

My hair is the combination of very abundant and very silky-textured that makes it very hard to deal with. It is lightly layered, about halfway down my back, and is light brown. I also have bangs. What should I do with it tomorrow? Relatively easy/low maintanence, please, because my skills are limited. I'd like to wear it up rather than blow it out or scrunch it, because when it is down, it takes about four seconds and a walk down the hall for a giant knot to form in it. Which leads to the second part of my question:

2) What can be done to avoid these horrible knots occuring in hair like mine? My hair is longer than it's been for years, and now I'm remembering why I cut it off long ago. Knots! No matter what! Really big knots! Is there some product or some secret (besides "cut it off" or "always wear it up") to keeping long, wavy, thick-but-fine-textured hair knotless?

Knotty question

schrodycat — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 07:37:15 -0800

I know zero about knot theory or topology, but here's a question that has always intrigued me: Given a pile of string on the floor, with two loose ends, can you determine whether pulling the ends will result in a knot or a straight piece of string simply by examining or counting the under/over crossings? This question probably either falls into the category of "trivial" or "unsolved research problem".

Head, knee and toes fine; shoulders not so much.

piratebowling — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 10:08:15 -0800

My shoulders hold all of my stress. What can I do about it? For as long as I have been getting shoulder or back rubs from friends, they have noted that my entire shoulder and neck area feel like one huge knot. Rolling my shoulders makes a horrible grinding/popping noise. Good massages hurt like hell (In the best possible way), but never seem to really alleviate the issue. Is there something I can do to try and halt this? Is there some posture or stretching exercise I should be doing? Should I invest in a hitachi magic wand and not really care what people think I'm using it for?

Stats, if that is needed: fairly petite, mid 20's female. Chest not big enough to be causing this problem. No other part of my back seems to be affected.

Hope me bring enough rope.

dino terror — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 19:05:15 -0800

This question is about rope for camping trips. For a canoe trip: I was in Canadian Tire looking at rope in the camping section. What kind of rope should I get that I might easily be able to find in such a store? How many feet might I need?
I don't know any fancy knots in particular, are there any that I would need that I may not just figure out through trial and error?
I saw some slippery yellow braided rope that may have been polypropylene rope, and some thinner rope that may have been nylon. Those seem to be the 2 main types of rope on their website.

Knots and Knotty-ness : Can you tie good knots with flat rope?

Freen — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 12:05:55 -0800

So, I need some serious knots. With some serious rope, that you can buy in bulk, and that will hold up to serious weight. I've come to the conclusion that parachute cord is the way to go, and having used it in the past, I think it's great stuff. However, I want to upgrade, but there are complications: the stronger rope is flat. This is the rope I'm interested in: 1000lb test paracord.

Will it hold less of a knot (particularly with inexperienced people tying the knots) than traditional round paracord?

Also, does anyone know of good knot tying instructions online? any that feature flat rope?

thanks!

How do you get a knot out of the phone cord

chasles — Wed, 05 Sep 2007 13:10:33 -0800

How do you get a knot out of the phone cord....where the coils seem to switch directions and the only method is to roll the kink all the way out? you know those knots (see this link:) where the coils seem to switch directions and the only method is to roll the kink all the way out? whats the deal? there must be a way to fix them without rolling them out, and yet i cannot seem to sort it out. Surely someone has found out a way to get them out. I mean if i didn't tediously roll it all the way IN there why should i roll it OUT?

help hive mind!!

Is there a science of strings?

elgilito — Mon, 27 Aug 2007 08:09:31 -0800

How and why cables/strings/hoses/lines/cords etc. become entangled? Is there any scientific explanation of the process and more generally a science studying the physical/topological properties and behaviour of string materials? It's always been a mystery to me that any number of cables left alone for a while end up in complex structures (like knots) that would take some energy to create from scratch. Of course, they're not really "alone": energy is brought by the external forces (people, wind...) that move them. But I'm still wondering whether the process of transforming a series of separate cables into an unruly (or organised?) tangle is being studied? Is there a "science of strings" like there is a science of granular materials?

"If you can't tie a knot, tie a lot."

bokinney — Tue, 05 Jun 2007 21:27:16 -0800

"If you can't tie a knot, tie a lot." I recently heard this expression somewhere and it's driving me nuts. Any idea where I might have heard it? I feel like it was in a movie, tv show, commercial, or maybe a video on YouTube. I have a vague recollection of an image of someone demonstrating the principle expressed in the quote. I would be interested in any uses of or references to this phrase in popular culture. Also any insights into the origin of the phrase. This site claims it was the "motto of a representative of the Winslow Liferaft Company," but gives no explanation. The Winslow Liferaft Company still exists, but I can't find any mention of the phrase on their site.

I have a feeling that I heard this in some totally obvious place, but I have been wracking my brain trying to remember and it's not happening.

When it falls off, your wish will come true

nekton — Sun, 25 Jun 2006 18:26:09 -0800

I recently decided to re-visit one of my favorite summer activities: making friendship bracelets. I am looking to a) remember some of the techniques I used to know b) learn new and interesting bracelet patterns. I know the basics. I can make a flat band with diagonal stripes (knotting along a row of strings) and of course the tube-shaped striped pattern made by knotting around the entire bundle of strings. I once knew how to make designs in the band (like chevrons or fish). I also used to be able to do something involving loops over the fingers.

What interesting things to do with string can you teach me? (I have 12 skeins of embroidery thread ready to go...)

How can I learn to tie a necktie better?

grouse — Sat, 10 Jun 2006 08:52:29 -0800

How can I learn to tie a necktie better? So I've been trying to tie neckties for years now, and I still feel like I'm not very good at it. It can sometimes take me many retries before it comes out looking kinda right, and it still doesn't look perfect. I've been trying to do the four-in-hand knot because it is supposedly easier.

Am I missing something big? Are there any secret necktie-tying tips you can share? Here's what I've already found.

Help my knotted back

Jase_B — Wed, 22 Feb 2006 21:02:31 -0800

The muscle in the left side of my upper back, just below the shoulder blade, is always getting pulled and knotted. How do I manage it properly? I went to the chiropractor about a year ago and it turns out that I have a slight S curve in my back. Nothing's painful or anything, however I always seem to get that knotted, pulled muscle feeling in the left side of my upper back, just below the shoulder blade. It usually flares up when I've been sitting with incorrect posture, or lying down all twisted, and happens at least once a week, and lasts for about 3 days each flare up. It doesn't really hurt, it's just annoying and makes me want to press right in the spot with my fingers all the time. The muscle that I press feels like a hard piece of thick string. Getting a massage on it feels really good.

Also, the chiropractor didn't really give me a good explanation on the relation between my curved spine and the knotted muscle, just a whole bunch of mumbo jumbo about nerves being pinched and sending less signals around my body or something.

So, apart from, never having bad posture, or never lying down twisted, is there anything else that I can do to avoid the flare-ups? And is there anything I should do when it does flare up?

Strapping cargo to roof of car drama.

stavx — Sat, 26 Nov 2005 05:31:14 -0800

Help me tie/strap/secure an IKEA box of furniture that we need to return to the store on the roof of my friend's 4 door sedan. The kind helper at the IKEA loading dock strapped it down for her and she got it home easily, only to her horror to find out there were major pieces missing. IKEA said her only recourse was to return it to exchange it.
I volunteered to help her, but now positioned as the Alpha male on this 45 minute trek from NYC to planet long island I realized my knot tying and physics fu will fail me as i've never completed any of the merit badges the boy scouts offered 20 years ago.
We will be on a busy expressway and the last thing I need is to stop all commerce and holiday travel by having this big box slide off @ 55 mph ensuring the humiliation of the overturned tractor trailer live animal stock spill that is always captured for posterity by 2-8 traffic choppers, further recording my trauma for the internets to share the video on Monday morning through work emails and links captioned with titles like "asshat ruins weekend for the northeast, here's the video..."

I'm thinking I definitely need to take into account braking and acceleration and prevent any give forward or backward on the roof..... any other tips?

Super extra points and "mad props" (as the kids are wont to say today) for any flash or videos showing how to tie knots. I can also work with step by step diagrams of knot tying or even demonstrations of how something secured on the roof should look like.

I have a shoelace and a pack of cigarettes that I will strap to a paperback book to practice before i head on over to her apartment.

Kneed a Knot Book

thewittyname — Fri, 31 Dec 2004 20:07:07 -0800

Any recommendations for a book on knots? [MI] I'm a total idiot when it comes to 3D manipulation, so I need a book with lots of pictures/illustrations. I don't care if the book doesn't have a lot of knots, so long as the ones that are included are very well illustrated. Thanks in advance!