The Weaver’s Knot, finally

Knots & Threads & Books

I am a total rock star when it come to making a weaver’s knot – THE knot that bookbinders need when we need to attach more thread to sew signatures together.

The fact that I am like a grande dame of the weaver’s knot should come as no surprise. I love doing exposed sewn bindings, I’m a great admirer of the beauty of knots.

Oh, yeah, and did I mention that until Susan Joy Share showed me the weaver’s knot this past summer at Penland, it was my dark secret that the weaver’s knot eluded me. No matter how many times I looked through my bookbinding books, no matter how many times I studied those diagrams, I couldn’t wrap my brain around it. I just couldn’t make sense of it.

Exposed Spine Sewing, with many colors of thread

Susan knows the secret sauce of the weaver’s  knot. Now I know it.

This is something I have to show you.

When I think of the knots that I know (which I learned from my days of rock climbing, backpacking and kayaking – yes, kayakers need knots, primarily to tie their long boats to the tops of their tiny cars) it now occurs to me that people showed me how to make all the knots that I know.

An indulgent aside: when I was about 4 years old I watched Captain Kangaroo, on TV, as he demonstrated how to do the knot that ties shoes. Then I went outside to tell my mother, who was in the garage washing her car, that I knew I how to tie my shoes. She told me I didn’t know how to do it. I told her I did. And I did. And that was that.

Now I get to be Captain Kangeroo.

Weavers Knot Video tutorial. It’s the only way to go. Now, watch for the secret sauce. Make knots, be happy.