146 Face Globe Knot

This is a globe knot that I tied that has 146 faces. It was tied using the same method as the 74 face globe knot, but I started with a 5 lead by 4 bight turks head to yield the 146 faces.  The core for this knot is also a golf ball.  I used braided number 1 mason's twine to tie this knot, because I had it on-hand it and it was small enough to mostly cover the golf ball when tripled.  I will say this was more difficult than the 74 face knot, and you may be better off tracking down a 144 face grid or using the resources available from knottool.com to tie these knots when they get to this size.  I made a few mistakes, including the cross into the center of the doubled turks head.  I ended up with a five bight opening in the knot which is awkward.  At that point I was in no mood to pull the whole knot apart so I left it.

These knots are fun and challenging, and I am glad I experimented with them.  They certainly teach you about tightening knots as tightening seems to be the most difficult part of globe knots, at least for me.  I also learned a new camera technique, using a timer to take my pictures with relatively low light.  I have a few other things in the works, so this will be the last of the globes for a little while unless I get inspired to do something very large or someone asks about them.

74 Face Globe Knot with Tutorial

I have been admiring a bunch of wonderful and very large globe knots that people have been posting on Knot Heads World Wide and also the Facebook Mateloteurs site.  Until recently I have not dabbled much in globe knots beyond tying 5 lead by 4 bight turks heads around beads for key chains and book marks.  I currently don't own the Globe Knot Cook book from knottool.com, but I've heard a nothing but good things about it and purchasing it would probably be the best way to learn to tie these knots.

As I was poking around the internet a few weeks ago I found some methodology on the knotworkn website that discusses taking 3 or 4 bight turks head, doubling them and then crossing the lead into the knot to make a globe knot, creating nested bights in a manner similar to what folks are doing with grids.  I started playing around with this concept while watching TV one evening and after several tries was successful in tying a globe knot around a 3/4 inch bead.  Not knowing what I had, I spent some time in AutoCAD drawing up the knot to figure out that if you take a 3 lead by 4 bight turks head and run the lead through the knot in it's entirety that you end up with a 74 face globe knot and the above photo is a result.  I have found it easier if you take the knot and pin it out so the it stays organized.  The cord I used for this is not labelled in diameter, but it seems to be in the range of 2.4 mm.  Using a toilet paper tube to pin the knot out, tripling the knot and tightening it around a golf ball has worked out fairly well.  Knot Heads World Wide has a globe knot calculator that you can use to estimate globe knot core size when you know the cord diameter, number of faces and number of passes.

I decided to attempt to make a tutorial of this globe knot, and it can be found as a slide show video on the YouTube link below.  Enjoy and let me know how you make out. Pin It

Globe Turks Head Book Marker

This is a book page marker that I tied.  The knots are 5 lead by 4 bight turks heads into which I inserted a 20 millimeter wooden bead.  Since there are only 4 bights at the end of the turks head, when tightened around a round core the end closes to create a round knot.  Three and four bight turks heads can be adapted in this manner as a covering knot for many shapes.  After doubling and getting the knot relatively snug with the blue chord, I ran the black chord through.  Getting an appropriately sized round core is important for this knot.  And of course, you have to tie the knot twice at each end of the book marker.  I am currently reading the expanded version of Stephen King's "The Stand".  I hope that this book mark will be more reliable than that little scrap of paper that I kept losing.

Knot Door Stop

I've been seeing monkey fist rope door stoppers around the internet and at the home of an acquaintance.  I thought I'd try one, but with a new twist.  This is what might be considered to some as a globe knot- In this case it's just a 5 lead by 4 bight turks head rounded and tied around a naturally spherical beach stone.  Ashley talks about using turks heads in his "Monkeys Fist/Coverings" chapter.  It might not sit as flat as the traditional monkey fist door stopper, but it might be more interesting.  I used about 30 feet of 1/4 inch diameter sisal hardware store rope for this project.