The Oblong Knot...

The Oblong Knot is a rectangular variation of the Chinese Cloverleaf Knot. I followed the instructions from 'The Complete Book of Decorative Knots' by Geoffrey Budworth, using some olive drab paracord to tie the knot.

You have to gradually tighten it up, working the slack out, to help it keep it's shape in the finished form.

I pulled one paracord strand end back through the center of the tightened oblong knot, using hemotstats to create a loop on one end, and added a Spartan Helmet bead. Finished by adding a cord lock and lanyard knot with the ends for wrist lanyard use...

Ginfer knot...

I used a few feet of black paracord to tie a Ginfer knot, following the tutorial on KHWW.net, although I didn't need to use pins or a grid. I then put a 1/2" diameter ball bearing in the center, before tightening the knot up, and tying it onto a pocket knife.

Another pic of a few more examples that I tied, two with 3/4" wooden balls in the center with the sides left exposed, and another with a 1/2" ball bearing and a smaller cord used for a second pass of the knot.

The directional pattern of the knot has a similar look to the Spanish ring/Woven ring knot.

Vertical half hitching paracord pouch/can koozie...

I used a 30 foot length of orange paracord, with a couple of feet of black reflective paracord for the cinch cord with a cord lock, to make this paracord pouch/can koozie with vertical half hitching.

The vertical half hitching is almost the same as regular half hitching, but you hitch around the previous hitch instead of the cord between the hitches, which makes the vertical columns with the cord stretched between them. It makes a snug fit around a soda/beer can as a koozie, and also is a good fit as a pouch for my LED lantern. This was another example of various hitching techniques, shown in 'Creative Ropecraft' by Stuart Grainger.

My friend, Manny, emailed me about checking page 108 of 'The Marlinspike Sailor' by Hervey Garrett Smith, for a reference of the hitching. I checked my copy and sure enough there's a drawing of a water jug covered with the same type of hitching and a description of the process, but Smith calls it 'French Hitching' in his book, where I'm more familiar with that name applied to a spiraling/twist type of hitching knot work.

In an older Smith book, 'The Arts of the Sailor', it's referred to as fender hitching, because of its use in making boat fenders. Another example of knot work going by different names, which can get a bit confusing sometimes.

Cow hitched paracord water bottle sleeve...

I used about 45 feet of orange paracord, from Going Gear, to make this cow hitched paracord sleeve, to cover/carry/protect a 750ml(26oz) aluminum water bottle.

A couple of feet of paracord were used for the cinch cord with a lanyard knot and a cord lock, and about 43 feet of cord for the hitching to cover the bottle. A needle and some thread were used to further secure the cord at the start and finish of the knot work. More or less paracord may be used, depending on how tight/loose/close together the hitches are done. The cow hitching used a bit more cord than the half hitching did with another water bottle sleeve I tied.

A previous blog post has a photo collage, that I made, showing how to start the cow hitching. The last couple of photos in the collage show two different starting methods, one with the cord tied to itself to start for a permanent covering, and the other with a separate cinch cord and cord lock for a removable sleeve.

Long 2 bight turks head knot on a cane...

I used about 20 feet each of black, olive drab, and tan paracord, to tie this long 2 bight turks head knot, with 59 leads, on a cane my dad got from the VA hospital. It's an early Father's Day present. I left the knot work spread out a bit since it's an adjustable height cane, and the button/slots are still accessible.

The 2 bight turks head knot is not hard to tie, but a long one can take a couple of hours or more to make the additional passes, keeping it straight, and working the slack out. The link shows a 2 bight turks head and how to increase it to a 4 bight knot.

A smaller turks head knot was tied over the start/finish of the 2 bight knot, at the cane handle, to help cover the trimmed ends of the spaced out knot.

T Handle Turks Head Knot...

I followed the instructions from Geoffrey Budworth's 'The Complete Book of Decorative Knots', to tie this modified 4 lead 5 bight T handle turks head knot on the handle of a walking cane. I've seen a few examples done on a ship's wheel/spoke and on a hammer.

I also used a new lacing needle when tying this turks head knot. My friend Manny made me a couple of them from hollow knitting needles. They're larger, but not threaded like the Perma Lok needles. After cutting them down to size, Manny formed a lip at the open end of the needles, so that they do a good job of holding on to the paracord after it's inserted.

For tying the turks head knot, I used some orange paracord that I bought during a visit to the Grand Opening party of the new Going Gear store in Smyrna, Georgia. Among all the neat gadgets, gear, flashlights, and gizmos, they also carry some 550 paracord that has 8 inner strands compared to the usual 7 strand core 550 paracord. I think the extra strand gives the paracord a bit more of a solid feel to it. The inner strands of paracord can be useful for those that want to remove and use them for other tasks if the need arises.

There's a tutorial for tying a T-shape turks head knot on the KHWW.net website.