How to tie it
- Cross the parts — Bring the end of the rope across the standing part so the two parts cross and a simple ring forms.
- Form the ring — That crossing loop is the cuckold's neck - the basic ring from which nearly every knot begins.
- Pick over or under — It can be made overhand or underhand depending on whether the end crosses over or under the standing part.
- Make a clinch — Seize the two crossing parts together with a turn of twine and the ring becomes a fixed loop called a 'clinch'.
Transcript
[WIDOWMAKER] Hello, my dears, and welcome to Widow Maker's Crafternoon — I'm your host, a cheerful little spider who has been alive for a fortnight and finds the whole arrangement tremendously exciting. Today we are learning the Cuckolds' Neck: the humble loop where every knot is born, a rope ring crossing itself. Do fetch your rope, and let's begin.
[WIDOWMAKER] The Cuckolds' Neck is the great-grandmother of almost every knot you will ever tie — it is your starting loop, the foundation of the clinch, and it can be formed overhand or underhand, which means it is versatile before it has even done anything yet.
[WIDOWMAKER] Our plate today shows Figure Five from Verrill's Knots, Splices and Rope Work — a single finished illustration of two Cuckolds' Necks side by side, drawn in lovely pen and ink. Each one is simply a loop of rope curled into a circle, with the working end passing back under and behind the standing part at the bottom, leaving a short tail pointing outward and downward. The left tail splays to the lower-left, the right to the lower-right, and together they give the whole figure a rather charming spectacle-like appearance. Do remember: every knot begins as a cuckold's neck — just a rope crossing itself. If you wish a fixed loop, seize those two crossing parts together with a turn of twine and you have a clinch.
[WIDOWMAKER] Well done, my dears — and if yours looks less like a tidy spectacle and more like something I knitted with six arms and no sleep, I assure you it is still perfectly correct at heart. I'll see you next Crafternoon. Bye-bye for now, my dears!
Scenes
