A Pineapple In The Hand

Day 141: The pineapple is a delightful single-strand terminal knot which conceals the raw end of a rope or cord. It is relatively easy to tie in the hand, and fortunately so. Over last night and this morning, I've tied 16 of the blasted things, putting the finishing touches on the "sheeping bags" I sewed up earlier in the week. I'm using a 4mm cotton macramé cord. It's soft and a bit floppy to work with, but tightens down into a firm knob. The pineapple knot is formed with a start of three bights, then doubled in a loose "cloverleaf." Working backwards from the running end, the bights are tightened to take up the slack a little at a time. The process may need to be repeated three or four times until the knot is fully tightened. Be patient! Taking out too much slack at once may disrupt the lay of the cords, making it difficult to continue. I like to put an overhand knot on the running end to serve as a core for the knob. It also prevents the end from popping out from between the strands while working.

Manrope

Day 327: Come aboard, matey, an' see you've a good grip on th' manrope fer th' seas be a bit rough fer lubbers th' likes o' yerse'f.

No, this is not the beginnings of a Morgan Corbye tale. My inspiration in that regard has fled temporarily, but not my love of things piratical. A box in my crafts cupboard has been nagging at me lately, so I dragged it out of storage, grabbed my marlinespike and made a few practice knots to retrain hands accustomed to quilting thread and fine crochet cotton to the bulk of rope. Once I had assured myself that I hadn't lost my touch, I set to creating a manrope. At its head, there is a bight which can be looped over a cleat for ease of removal when not in use. A single wall knot is placed to secure the bight, followed by a length of crown sinnet. Every ten inches, a triple manrope knot is made, terminating in a shorter bit of sinnet (because I ran out of rope) and a triple manrope knot as a stopper (center, facing the camera). I have yet to figure out how I will attach it to my porch rail, but there it shall be, as a warning to all who tread the gangway that an old pirate lives here, and if you are peddling politics or religion, her cutlass is within reach of her hand.