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Events | In the news | Blogs | Things to buy | Articles | Pretty pictures | Things to make | Fashion | Reference | Fishing | Software

Events
Friday, March 26, 2010
7:00 pm. Beltrami Electric Cooperative Room, Bemidji, NM.
Marion Hunziker-Larsen of Jewels in Fiber is having a trunk show
http://r2arts.org/2010/03/18/fiber-jewelry-trunk-show/

April 19-23, 9:00 am – 12:00 pm
Mohawk Valley Community College, Utica Campus, Utica, NY
Chinese Language and Culture Camp: This program is for ages 8-14 year-olds.
Mandarin, culture and crafts including Chinese knotting.
http://www.oneidacountycourier.com/utica-new-york-news/mvcc-offers-spring-break-programs-for-kids-teens/

Wednesday 28 April 2010, 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM
MOSAIC Centre Classroom, 12 Brown street, Chatswood, NSW, Australia
MOSAIC Chinese Knotting Class
http://www.willoughby.nsw.gov.au/EventsOnlineDetails.aspx?PageID=266&ItemID=2150

Monday, March 8 5-6:30pm
University of Minnesota Duluth, MN
Useful Outdoor Knots
This class is past, but they’ll probably do it again. Let them know if you want to take it…
http://www.umdrsop.org/(RSOP%20Web)/Outdoor_Activities_&_Wrkshp_Crafts/outdoor_activities.htm#knots (via)

Folk Art Boston has arts and crafts workshops from time to time including Chinese knotting.
http://folkartboston.org/ (via

In the news
Vague on details, this article seems to be about a display at an inn in Colchester in Essex, England. The display appears to consist of framed pictures linked together by detailed but abstracted Chinese knots (laser?) cut into coloured acrylic. Pictures at the link.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/essex/low/people_and_places/arts_and_culture/newsid_8551000/8551338.stm

Leo Hickman asks what can be done to save traditional crafts and which ones are worth saving. He suggests that traditional crafts mount marketing campaigns to create a demand for those wares. He also suggests that the skills somehow be banked for future generations which he observes kinda sort is happening already on the internet and just needs a little organization and formalization. Along the way he mentions macramé and Chinese knotting. The followup on the Atlantic Wire asks if youTube alone can do the job of banking skills. A commenter suggests the Japanese (and Korean and Taiwanese) practice of recognizing and funding Living National Treasures might be adopted by more countries.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/mar/12/save-dying-crafts (via)

A Rochester, MN man has made over 10000 knotted rosaries. Photos at the link below.
http://www.postbulletin.com/newsmanager/templates/localnews_story.asp?z=2&a=442062

Granny vs reef knots for tying your shoes
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/02/opinion/02tue4.html

Blogs
Inspired by Suzen Millodot’s books, this blogger has fallen in love with decorative knotwork and is including it in her jewelry.
http://into-the-dawn.blogspot.com/2010/03/wip-wednesday-knotwork.html

Beck tied a double coin knot/Carrick bend in a chain necklace (scroll to the bottom to see). Strangely she calls it a “Chinese infinity knot”. Pretty though.
http://atherbest.blogspot.com/2010/03/lets-make-sandwich.html

A teen using an extremely casual writing style (practicing English??) blogs about teaching Chinese knots to kids. I think. A few pictures through the link.
http://takemealongwithyou.blogspot.com/2010/03/friday-went-to-amk-with-ling-to-buy.html

Some of the same pictures, different blogger, better English, same event
http://superbility.blogspot.com/2010/03/first-week-of-itp-has-ended-so-far-so.html

An Ning group about Chinese knotting. Not much going on there (?) yet (?).
http://diylessons.ning.com/group/chineseknotting?xg_source=activity

A site that has carefully and deliberately copied, in order to present as their own, significant quantities of my work as well as those of others.
handwork org

A blog about Chinese knotting with very familiar content.
<a href=”http://www.i-chinastyle.com/category/china-style/chinese-knot” rel=”nofollow”“>China Style</a>

Things to buy
A knotted bracelet with some sparkly beads that one hopes are real gems based on the price…!
http://www.shopbop.com/shashi-chinese-knotting-pave-bracelet/vp/v=1/845524441865268.htm?folderID=2534374302090405&fm=whatsnew-shopbysize-viewall

A pretty double coin hair barrette from CLineCreations.
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=41324095 (via)

Articles
A discussion of the role of knots in the evolution of Chinese writing.
http://phoenixuniversity.bebigblog.com/printing-museum-history-of-printing-the-origin-of-printing-the-evolution-of-chinese-character/

An interesting if “factually” suspect article, clearly written by someone for whom English was not their first language but not as bad as if it were totally machine translated.
http://www.articlesbase.com/marketing-articles/the-cultural-connotation-of-chinese-knot-1997482.html

Pretty pictures
CraftEdu (Beta) is a vague looking thing with a lousy user interface, but it’s still got promise based on the people involved including knot tyers Louise Duhamel and Lilian Chen. Click play on their video slideshow app at the the bottom of the pages to see more images of their work.
http://www.craftedu.com/

A Chinese button knot tied in wire combined with chainmaille to make shiny jewelry.
http://www.jewelrylessons.com/gallery/chainmaille-and-button-knot

A vase/pendant including knotted elements worked in wire.
http://www.jewelrylessons.com/gallery/chinese-knot-vase

Kathleen Valentine applies Chinese knotted buttons to a kimono
http://parlezmoiblog.blogspot.com/2010/03/kimono-project-using-fabric-creatively.html

A gallery of trinity knot pendants
http://resimler.seesaa.net/article/142758495.html?sss

Also, a gallery of knotty rings
http://evrise.seesaa.net/article/142759737.html?sss

Things to make
A video how to for knotted dragonflies by Evalrie.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XiSVczB1rgo

ITS Tactical shows us how to make the Miller’s knot with step by step photos and a video.
http://www.itstactical.com/2010/03/05/knot-of-the-week-millers-knot/

Knotty food, a new category? 8) The article at the link shows a Celtic knot pan for shortbread.
http://bakingbites.com/2010/03/celtic-knot-shortbread-pan/

eHow talks you through tying an overhand knot.
http://www.ehow.com/how_6031047_directions-overhand-knot.html

Fashion
The Sartorialist (who for some reason doesn’t have a way to properly link individual posts) posts a nice clear image and a how to video for tying a winter scarf with style.
http://thesartorialist.blogspot.com/search?q=scarf+knot (via)

“Knotted” purses, shoes and dresses come up on my automated searches all the time. Usually the knots involved are just twists and not all that interesting. The Bottega Veneta knot handbags in particular though clearly showcase a distinct simple overhand knot. With the metal ones I had seen before, I wasn’t clear on how the clasp worked, did the knot come apart and was it integral to the opening/closing mechanism? The closeup at the link below, shows a leather knot and also clearly shows that the knot is a decoration and not a functional part of the bag.
http://www.purseblog.com/clutches/bottega-veneta-the-knot-leather-clutch.html

Step by step illustrated with photos for tying a Windsor knot
http://howtown.com/how-to-tie-a-windsor-knot

Reference
I’m not quite sure what to make of this site. It has the feel of a squatter site but with a little more care than that type of thing usually has. Maybe they have better software, maybe there’s a person slapping things together with various automation tools, I just don’t know. In any case, there’s a mildly interesting directory of macrame how-to videos culled from youTube
http://www.bestknotting.com/Macrame-Tutorials

Fishing
Brief article about the surgeon’s loop
http://www.appdancer.com/fishing-knots/what-is-the-best-fishing-knot-to-tie-bass-lures-rapala-crank-bait-spinner-bait-etc-to-the-line

A discussion of knot strength in the context of fishing applications
http://www.appdancer.com/fishing-knots/what-is-the-stongest-fishing-knot

Deep Sea News points you to information about the Eskimo bowline
http://deepseanews.com/2010/03/knot-wednesday-eskimo-bowline/

Software
3D models of Chinese knots (for computer modeling use). Wacky. 8)
http://www.3dexport.com/img-chinese-knot-22525.htm