Events
On June 1^st, 2009 there will be a Knots, Bends and Hitches class offered by the Marblehead Sail & Power Squadron at the Abbot Public Library in Marblehead, MA.
http://www.usps.org/localusps/marblehead/public-courses.html#Knots (via)

Lily is teaching knots at the International Old Lacers, Inc (IOLI) convention in Los Angeles, CA July 25-Aug 1, 2009. See many pictures and descriptions at the link.
http://loopylacer.blogspot.com/2009/04/getting-ready-for-ioli-convention.html

What the instructor is calling a Knot Bead, is a pretty wire concoction that doesn’t look knotted in any way. Learn it at the Portland Bead Fest if you are so inclined on September 26, 2009
http://www.interweavestore.com/store/p/2755-Knot-Bead.aspx?a=BF090521&p=2

On April 25th, 2009 in Montreal they had a braiding get together with knotting as demonstrated by Francine and I couldn’t go… 8( But there’s pictures here.
http://picasaweb.google.ca/michellebeauvais/April252009?authkey=Gv1sRgCLCf-53--4S2eg

On April 7, 2009 at the Miami Hamilton Campus in Dayton, OH there was a Taste of China event which included knot demos.
http://www.oxfordpress.com/hp/content/oh/story/news/local/2009/04/06/hjn040709miamichina.html

Pretty pictures
A Chinese knot made from balloons! That’d be a snazzy birthday decoration, eh? 8)
http://www.balloonhq.com/photos/db/complete.php?id=71246

A knotless netted iceberg sculpture.
http://blog.craftzine.com/archive/2009/05/knotless_netted_iceberg.html?CMP=OTC-5JF307375954

Knots are big in fashion these days. I knew if we waited long enough…! 8)
http://blogs.glam.com/glamchic/2009/05/05/forget-me-knot/

An article about bamboo carving mentions that a known topic for carving was Chinese knots.
http://www.webofchina.com/2009/04/carving-elegance/

Reference
Someone is building one of those ambitious sites that covers… everything. It doesn’t cover much yet, but it does have quite a few knots. It’s clear that they’ve scanned the knot stuff out of a book, but I can’t tell from looking at it which book that might be (so, it’s not Ashley’s 8).
http://www.2020site.org/knots/

Over on the Instructables site, someone asks about learning the Pan Chang knot. I point them here, there and towards the guild.
http://www.instructables.com/answers/Does-anybody-know-how-to-make-various-Chinese-knot

Software
KnotMaker is a knot drafting program. Free, alas, it is only available for Windows.
http://www.layhands.com/KnotMaker/ (via)

KnotsBag is a multi-platform (Mac, Linux, Windows) program that creates knot graphics. The full-featured free version does not play well with others. If you want to save out your files and use other programs to manipulate them, then you need to upgrade to the shareware version for 10 Euros. I’ve downloaded but not tried it yet, but the example pictures are very pretty…
http://pagesperso-orange.fr/hypatiasoft/ (via)

In the news
The story of a knot tyer sharing his skills with the scouts.
http://www.telegram.com/article/20090426/NEWS/904260390/1003/NEWS03

An article about where to find the craft store district in Taipei, Taiwan, including the knot supply stores.
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/feat/archives/2009/04/29/2003442300

An article about the importance of knot tying to the art of fishing.
http://www.heraldnews.com/sports/x297239955/ON-THE-FLY-Dont-neglect-knots

An article mostly about fly fishing with a brief knot mention.
http://www.freep.com/article/20090531/SPORTS10/905310503/1217/SPORTS/Inside+the+outdoors

Another fly fishing and knot article. This one mentions the turle and clinch knots.
http://morningsentinel.mainetoday.com/sports/stories/6399156.html

An article about how to decide which knot to use, as applied to fishing.
http://www.journalstandard.com/sports/x726820780/To-be-or-knot-to-be

Bill Varble muses about knots in his life from sailing to rock climbing.
http://www.mailtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090531/LIFE/905310324

The occasion of the London marathon prompts thoughts of shoelace tying over at the BBC.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/news/2009/04/090424_knots.shtml

Blogs
The IWOM is leaving Hong Kong to return to Scotland. As a result she’s going to be shutting down her blog. I tried to find the post where she explains that the blog will be shut down and the Shrimp and Dragonfly guild will get a new online home, etc, etc, but I just can’t seem to find it again. Separating out the guild if she’s moving makes sense, but there’s no real reason to kill the IWOM blog that I’m aware of unless it’s a Word Press thing. Anyhow, save out the pages you want to keep ‘cos it’s all going away. 8(
http://iwom.wordpress.com/2009/05/22/shouldn%e2%80%99t-i-be-on-a-plane/

Anne does macramé with wire. Pretty, pretty.
http://alscreations.blogspot.com/2009/05/macramee-another-string-art.html

Maybe if you read the Spring 2009 issue of Step by Step Wire with their wire macramé bracelet article you could make your own (but then, maybe knowledge of macramé, some wire, tools and patience will get you there too.
http://www.interweavestore.com/store/p/2509-Step-by-Step-Wire-Jewelry-Spring-2009.aspx

Rita is from Taiwan, and this is her knotty blog. The necklace cord for this particular posting looks kumihimo’d too.
http://rita-007.blogspot.com/2009/04/three-pan-chang-necklace.html

Valerie Brincheck makes an artist trading card, or collage or wall piece or… with a Chinese knot.
http://thesumofallcrafts.blogspot.com/2009/04/panda-for-amanda.html

Junbug of Australia blogs about Chinese knotting and Asian knot templates
http://juntei.blogspot.com/2009/05/discovery-of-chinese-knotting.html

Melody who is interested in products (??) blogs about button knots that you might buy commercially. I’d recommend Chinatown or a Chinese dressmaker if you’re after these and don’t want to make them yourself.
http://melody119.vox.com/library/post/the-chinese-knot-button.html

Pearl posts a number of good links to maedup information sources including a very interesting (PDF) document on (mostly) knotted passementerie in Italian
http://pearl.livejournal.com/348806.html

Candies shaped like knotted mizihiki
http://www.bloomize.com/mizuhiki-knot-candies

The knotted mizuhiki logo for Tokyo’s 2016 Olympics bid.
http://www.bloomize.com/mizuhiki-tokyo-2016-olympic-bid

A youthful world traveler attempts to learn knotting while in China (bottom of page).
http://ashleycthompson.wordpress.com/2009/04/14/donkey-carts-armed-guards-and-playground-fun-in-dandong-part-one/

A Chinese knot and the octopus that hangs from it.
http://cephalopodteaparty.blogspot.com/2009/04/mark-of-50-contest.html

This image has been sitting around in my browser so long I no longer have any clue where it came from. Clearly it’s the Yahoo image server though. From a newsgroup/community/mailing list? It’s been through several browser reboots so I’m not logged in anymore and you should have no problems viewing it.
http://d.yimg.com/kq/groups/5354524/sn/834353356/name/ash784.jpg

Things to buy
Rope based sailing shackles.
http://www.sailingworld.com/sailing-gear/rigging/softies-synthetic-shackles-by-colligo-marine-1000071731.html

Again with the knotted handbags.
http://blog.thefind.com/2009/04/handbag-designer-katherine-kwei-and-her-eternity-knot-clutch/

Books
A macramé jewelry book. The look inside feature on Amazon shows enough that I will probably buy it eventually. 8) Mod Knots: Creating Jewelry and Accessories with Macrame

The Legend of the Knot Gnomes is about a girl with long hair dealing with the gnomes that knot and tangle it up at night. Oddly enough there is no Amazon listing for the book by title, author, or ISBN. What does that mean considering it’s supposed to be published a week ago? A similarly themed and titled book, The Knot Fairy was published 2 years ago.
http://www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/news.html?d=166086

Feng shui
Apparently if you put a good luck knot in the south west of your house or room it improves your life as regards love and romance.
http://using-feng-shui.suite101.com/article.cfm/feng_shui_charms_for_the_love_and_romance_area

And apparently a red mystic knot in the south west as well improves your job stability.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/4451159.cms

The mystic knot and feng shui.
http://lol8.blogspot.com/2009/05/mysticism-on-mystic-knot.html

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