Half Hitch Mat

I was reading a recent post on Knot Heads World Wide (KHWW) when I came across a tutorial for this half hitched mat.  I have a bunch of sisal rope around and I thought this would make an interesting trivet or table center piece.  At the end of the day it is probably a better table center as I think it's a bit to big to be a trivet.  Perhaps with some smaller, softer material (I used 1/4 inch sisal) it would make a better trivet.  At the opposite end of the spectrum, with some stiff material or cane this knot can be formed to make a basket or bowl.  I had to use a bunch of weights to hold down the various loops as I tied this, and at one point I missed a crossing- I didn't figure that out until I was doubling the knot, so I had to back it up quite a bit.  Mistakes aside, it really didn't take too long and turned fairly well.  If you get this down you could probably tie it in under an hour for sure.  The pattern reminds me of Celtic knotting as is referenced in the KHWW post.

Rope Trivets

I spent the week out of state for the holidays.  Just prior to leaving, I made these trivets for my mother-in-law and sister-in-law.  The knot for these trivets was taken from The Marlinspike Sailor and is often used a a "thump mat" for protecting the deck of a boat from the repeated banging of rigging tackle.  Interestingly, I did not find the same knot in the Ashley Book of Knots although I wouldn't be surprised if it was in there somewhere.  These trivets were tied using 1/4 inch sisal rope from my local hardware store.  Sisal rope is relatively cheap.  The draw back with it is it tends to have a bunch of fuzz hanging off of it as you can see in the picture.  In the past, I have successfully run a lit match over sisal to get rid of the fuzz and clean up a mat.  These took all of twenty minutes each to tie and tighten.  They would also look good in cotton rope.  Synthetics cannot be used because the trivet would melt if put in contact with a hot pot.