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Ian's Shoelace Site |
A Slipping Shoelace Knot Story |
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This true story was written by site visitor Tonny Vaes before finding my site.
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A Slipping Shoelace Knot Story
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Her name was Edith and she was six years old. She already knew how to tie her shoelaces and I didn't. And she wanted
to teach me. I think that was the first time in my life that I made a big mistake.
I agreed.
Now you probably think, "What's the problem with Edith teaching you to tie your own shoelaces?" Well, SHE TAUGHT ME
THE WRONG WAY!
I soon found out that my shoelaces would loosen very quickly. Not a big problem at first because it gave me ample
opportunity to train my new skill. But soon it became a nuisance. "MOMMY!, my shoelaces are always loosening up!" I
complained to my mother. "No problem," she said and taught me how to make an additional knot with the loops. That
really solved the problem and that's how I tied my shoes from then on for the next 30 years.
Some 30 years later I'm sailing on a little boat with some friends. During sailing sessions the topic of tying knots
always comes up. Carel-Jan is going through some basic knots with me. We sail once a year and he has to teach me
most of the knots again every year. Except for the basic "flat knot". I really mastered that one. This time he is
also talking about the loosening of knots. This makes me mention my shoelaces and that they always need an extra
knot with the loops to keep them from loosening. "Ah," says Carel-Jan, "Then you're tying them the wrong way. Funny
though, it's just a flat knot with loops..."
Two minutes later he has shown me that it really is a flat knot with loops and that I do tie it the wrong way! Thank
you very much Edith! And stupid me! I mean, look at the logic! You construct a difficult knot with loops so that you
can untie it easily by pulling on one of the ends. And then, because the knot loosens easily by itself, you tie a
knot with the loops, thus destroying the advantage of the loops... So why construct loops in the first place?
Arrrggggh!
It took me a couple of weeks practising though to be able to tie my shoelaces the correct way without thinking about
it too much. It takes time to get rid of some 25 years of shoelace training...
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Having since discovered my site, Tonny (the author) soon mastered
my Ian Knot, then went on to adopt my Over Under Lacing
as well!
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Copyright © 2004 by
Ian W. Fieggen. All rights reserved.
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Standard Knot
A True Story
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