Double Knots

I’m actually talking about two different kinds of knots here.  Two types of double knots . . . hidden symbolism? . . . Yeah, no.

First, I would like to discuss the art of tying shoelaces.  I tie my shoelaces when I first put my shoes on, but as soon as they become untied, I have a habit of leaving them that way.  This actually disturbs other people, especially the ones who trip over my shoelaces, more than me.  However, when I started climbing, I had to double knot the laces on my climbing shoes because those were getting in my way when they came untied every five minutes.  This led me to the brilliant idea to also double knot my regular shoes.

Yeah, I know.  It took me nineteen years several months to realize that I could double knot my shoelaces and they wouldn't come untied.

Speaking of climbing, (That may have just been a transition, meaning that I may have actually learned something from fourteen years of English class.) there are several knots necessary for climbers to know.  Among those are the double fisherman’s and double figure eight knots.

I had to learn the double fisherman’s my sophomore year of high school when we had to tie our own harnesses.  The double figure eight I had to learn a few weeks ago; it’s the knot we use to tie climbers in to the ropes at Lindseth.  I think I have some sort of learning-to-tie-knots deficiency, because while everyone else is tying knots after one demonstration, I’m staring at two ends of rope in my hands.

I’m not sure if it’s because I want to tie the knots in the opposite direction as the way they’re taught or what, but as soon as anyone starts saying anything like “and take the two ends of the rope and wrap one end around the other, then pull the other end through the loop and bring the ends of the rope back together and you’re done,” I get hopelessly lost after about the “and.”  The first one.  So for me, learning to tie any type of knot more complicated than my shoelaces* involves someone walking me through every single step.  Probably multiple times.  But I can now tie a double figure eight knot, and yes, I am very close to passing my belay test.

*Actually, there’s the “around the tree” method of tying shoelaces, which I don’t use, and no matter how many times I see people do it/have it explained to me, I will not be learning to tie this on my own. And no, an online picture tutorial will not help me. Have you ever tried to draw a knot?