Turk's head knot

"Turk's head" redirects here. For the French film, see Turk's Head (film). For the cactus, see Ferocactus hamatacanthus. For the brush, see Turk's head brush.

Turk's head knot

Category	Decorative
Origin	Ancient
Related	Carrick mat
Typical use	Decorative
ABoK	1278–1401 (Chapter 17: The Turk's-Head)
Instructions

A Turk's head knot is a decorative knot with a variable number of interwoven strands, forming a closed loop. The name is used to describe the general family of all such knots rather than one individual knot. While generally seen made around a cylinder, the knot can also be deformed into a flat, mat-like shape. Some variants can be arranged into a roughly spherical shape, akin to a monkey's fist knot.^[1]

The knot is used primarily for decoration and occasionally as anti-chafing protection. A notable practical use for the Turk's head is to mark the "king spoke" of a ship's wheel; when this spoke is upright the rudder is in a central position. The knot takes its name from a notional resemblance to a turban (Tr: sarık), though a turban is wound rather than interwoven.

The Turk's head knot is used as a woggle by Scout Leaders who completed their training course and were thus awarded with the Wood Badge insignia.

Leads and bights

A 3-lead, 10-bight Turk's head knot, doubled

Each type of Turk's head knot is classified according to the number of leads and bights and method of construction. The number of bights is the number of crossings it makes as it goes around the circumference of the cylinder. The number of leads is the number of strands around the circumference of the cylinder, before doubling, tripling, etc. Depending on the number of leads and bights, a Turk's head may be tied using a single strand or multiple strands. Mathematically, the number of strands is the greatest common divisor of the number of leads and the number of bights; the knot may be tied with a single strand if and only if the two numbers are coprime. For example, 3 lead × 5 bight (3×5), or 5 lead × 7 bight (5×7).

Turk's head knots on netting

There are three groupings of Turk's head knots.

Narrow, where the number of leads is two or more less than the number of bights (3×5, or 3×7),
Wide, where the number of leads is two or more greater than the number of bights (5×3, or 16×7), and
Square, where there is a difference of at most one between leads and bights (7×8 or 8×7).

The number of bights determines the shape found at the center. Three bights create a triangular shape, while four create a square. A two lead, three bight Turk's head is an overhand knot.^[2]

A two lead, three bight Turk's head is also a trefoil knot if the ends are joined together. (2,n) alternating torus knots are (2,n) Turk's head knots.^[3] ((p,q) = q times around a circle in the interior of the torus, and p times around its axis of rotational symmetry.)

Uses in culture

The World Organization of scouting uses a variation of the Turk's head knot called a woggle to affix their neckerchiefs and as a fire starting tool. It is an official part of the uniform.

References

↑ Simpson, Thomas (June 2010), "Ashley's Mauretania Knot & Early Sightings of a Monkey's Fist", Knotting Matters (London: International Guild of Knot Tyers) (107): 28–31
↑ Shaw, George Russell (MCMXXXIII). Knots: Useful & Ornamental, p.61. ISBN 978-0-517-46000-9.
↑ Bozhuyuk, M. E. (1993). Topics in Knot Theory, p.3. ISBN 978-0-7923-2285-6.

External links

"Turk's head knot", Animated Knots by Grog. Accessed: April 2013.
How to tie a Turk's head knot
Shurdington (UK Scouting) Turks head Knot
So-You-Want to Make a Rope Rug Eh

Knots

By type

Bends	Adjustable bend Albright special Alpine butterfly bend Ashley's bend Basket weave knot Beer knot Blood knot Carrick bend Double fisherman's knot Fisherman's knot Flemish bend Grief knot Halyard bend Harness bend Heaving line bend Hunter's bend Nail knot One-sided overhand bend Racking bend Sheet bend Shoelace knot Shroud knot Simple Simon under Single carrick bend Surgeon's knot Surgeon's loop Triple fisherman's knot True lover's knot Water knot Zeppelin bend Zeppelin loop

Binding	Boa knot Bottle sling Constrictor knot Corned beef knot Granny knot Ground-line hitch Jamming knot Miller's knot Packer's knot Reef knot Strangle knot Thief knot Transom knot

Climbing	Alpine butterfly knot Autoblock Bachmann knot Beer knot Bowline on a bight Directional figure eight Double anchorman knot Double bowline Farmer's loop Figure-eight knot Figure-eight loop Figure-of-nine loop Friction hitch Klemheist knot Munter hitch Overhand loop Prusik Trident loop Yosemite bowline

Coils	Alpine coil Butterfly coil

Decorative	Carrick mat Chinese button knot Celtic button knot Diamond knot Fiador knot Friendship knot Matthew Walker knot Turk's head knot Wall and crown knot

Fishing (angling)	Angler's loop Arbor knot Bimini twist Blood knot Fisherman's knot Half blood knot Improved clinch knot Knotless knot Nail knot Palomar knot Snell knot Trilene knot Triple fisherman's knot Turle knot Uni knot

Hitches	Adjustable grip hitch Anchor bend Axle hitch Bachmann knot Bale sling hitch Barrel hitch Becket hitch Blackwall hitch Blake's hitch Boom hitch Buntline hitch Cat's paw Clove hitch Cow hitch Double overhand noose Falconer's knot Farrimond friction hitch Friction hitch Garda hitch Gripping Sailor's hitch Ground-line hitch Half hitch Halter hitch Highpoint hitch Highwayman's hitch Hitching tie Icicle hitch Improved clinch knot Killick hitch Knute hitch Lobster buoy hitch Marlinespike hitch Munter hitch Ossel hitch Pile hitch Snuggle hitch Swing hitch Taut-line hitch Timber hitch

Loop	Angler's loop Artillery loop Bale sling hitch Bowline Bumper knot Carrick bend loop Cowboy bowline Diamond knot Double bowline Dropper loop Eskimo bowline Fiador knot Fireman's chair knot Friendship knot loop Halter hitch Handcuff knot Honda knot Jury mast knot Overhand loop Portuguese bowline Rigid double splayed loop in the bight Slippery eight loop Span loop Spanish bowline Tom fool's knot Trident loop Triple bowline Triple crown knot Water bowline Yosemite bowline Zeppelin loop

Running (slip)	Hangman's knot Running bowline Running highwayman's hitch Slip knot Tarbuck knot

Shanks	Catshank Dogshank Sheepshank

Stopper	Ashley's stopper knot Button knot Double overhand knot Monkey's fist Overhand knot Stevedore knot

Whipping	Common whipping Overhand knot with draw-loop Portuguese whipping Sailmaker's whipping West Country whipping

Lists of knots
Related topics

Lists of knots	Bends Bindings Decorative knots Hitches (friction) Macramé Mathematical

Related topics	Chinese knotting International Guild of Knot Tyers Lashing Rope splicing Seizing

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Turk's head knot

Leads and bights

Uses in culture

See also

References

External links