Turk's head
A Turk's head is a decorative knot with a number of interwoven strands forming a closed loop. It refers to a general family of knots, rather than individual knot. The knot get its name from its resemblance to a turban.
This knot is typically made around a cylinder but it can also be formed into a flat, mat-like shape.
Turk's head knots are easy to fix but are difficult to tie.
Uses
This knot is primarily used as a decorative knot to make a woggle to hold the scarf around the neck.
Special woggles are used to show which training courses have been completed e.g. PLTU or the Wood Badge.
A practical use for the Turk's head is to mark the "king spoke" of a ship's wheel (the spoke that is upright when the rudder is in a central position).
Variations
The Turk's head knots are described according to the
- Number of leads - he number of strands in each bight.
- Number of bights - the number of bights around the circumference of the cylinder,
- The method of construction - 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 co-prime. e.g. 3 lead × 5 bights (3×5), or 5 lead × 7 bights (5×7).
There are three general 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).
- Long or Wide, where the number of leads is two or more greater than the number of bights (5×3, or 16×7).
- Square, where there is a difference of one between leads and bights (7×8 or 8×7).
The number of bights determines the shape found at the centre.
- Three bights create a triangular shape,
- Four bights create a square shape.
