How To Make A Monkey Fist

In this master class I will teach you to spin the decorative "Monkey Fist" knot.

The following things will be necessary for our work:

• small ball. any kind will be OK: steel, glass, wooden or plastic.
• rope.
• the tool for a knot tightening (the usual spoke will be suitable for knitting). I use the self-made spike tool.
• a hand as a frame for weaving.

So let's start. Take our cord, press it with a little finger to a palm, throw it through a thumb and pass between a little finger and a ring finger.

Do several rounds in the way given below.

The necessary quantity of rounds depends on diameter of a cord and diameter of a sphere. Is defined as follows: the sphere has to be almost completely behind a cord if to wind him along an axis. In our case 5 rounds are necessary.

Having made five rounds, wrap a cord around a little finger.

Now you need to make as much rounds a cord around the first five.

There are five more rounds. At this stage it's necessary to insert our ball into the "nest".

Also begin to twist the following five rounds.

Note that the last group of rounds have to take a site of a cord which bent around a little finger (see the fourth photo).

Finish the last part of rounds.

Now it is necessary to tighten our knot. For this purpose release at first a thumb.

Tighten released loops.

Each round in turn.

Having tightened the first five rounds, remove a product from a little finger.

Again tighten the released loops. At once you don't have to strongly tighten. It is better to do it gradually.

After we have tightened the first part of rounds, bring up the second one.

Round next to another round, all five pieces.

And last part of rounds.

One by one all five pieces.

As a result it has to turn out approximately the following way:

By means of the spike tool do a final inhaling. It should be done in several stages that hasn't warped our "layers" of rounds.

The knot is finished.

The ends leaving from the knot can be cut off, it is possible to cut off only one end. And it is possible to leave them and to continue weaving if you plan to weave, for example, a lanyard for keys.