Turks Heads

Step 1: Determine what size your knot will be. This might just be the hardest part of tying a turks
head around something. You need to make sure you have enough Bights (the bends at the top and
bottom of the knot) to go around whatever you are tying your knot around. Too few and your knot
will look stretched out (elongated), Too many and you will not be able to tighten it down to fit the
object correctly. Most of the time it takes trial and error to find the best fit, though you can narrow
it down by tying a few smaller test knots first. Different types of line tighten down differently in a
turks head knot. Soft line will tend to "shrink up" and not cover as well as a stiffer line would.
Step 2: You will need to determine how long your knot will be, or the number of Leads your knot
will be. The more leads you have, the longer your knot will be.
Step 3: Now that you know how many Bights and Leads you will need to make the knot the size
you want, you will need to know if the combination will work in a turks head. Use the chart below
to see if your knot can be tied or not.
Example 1: You determined you will need a knot with 6 Bights and 9 Leads, on the chart you find
the number 6 at the top and follow it down to the number 9 on the side where you find an X.
An X means you cannot tie this knot, you will need to add or remove a Bight or Lead from your
knot.
Example 2: You determined you will need a knot with 5 Bights and 8 Leads, on the chart you find
the number 5 at the top and follow it down to the number 8 on the side where you find an O.
An O means you can tie this knot.
Step 4: Now that you know your knot can be tied, you will need to setup a pattern for your knot. I
like to use a Grid pattern for most of my knots, especially the larger turks heads. It makes it easier
for me to follow. On the Grid pattern below you will see Thicker lines (or Bars) at the cross
points. This is what tells me if I should go over or under the crossing line
Example: Lets start with a smaller turks head, a 5 Bight by 8 Lead knot. Looking at the diagram
below I've numbered the Bights and Leads for you. Print out the diagram , you may need to resize
it down to a good working size, roll it into a cylinder with the Bights at the top and tape the edges
together. Make sure you line it up correctly, you want the Bars from the right side of the page to
overlap the thin lines on the left side. I find it easier to tape it to a wood dowel or a cardboard tube
(from a roll of paper towels) so I can drive pins into it at the Bights to hold the shape of the knot
while I'm working it.
Fig 1 Shows what you should have so far. I've taped mine to a 1in wooden dowel. I drilled 1/8in
holes at the Bights to hold 1/8in x 1/2in long dowels. They are just pushed into the holes, not glued,
so they can be removed. You can use a cardboard tube and pins if you like. You can see I have
marked some of the leads on the grid pattern. The dowel I have is about 12in long and the pattern
taped to it is a 5 bight by 32 lead. You can see some of the other holes I've drilled for a 5 x 4 and a
5 x 6 knots, but I taped a piece of plain white paper over the rest of it to just show the 5 x 8 knot.
Turks Head Chart
TJ 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
2 X O X O X O X O X O X O X O X O X O X O X O X O

3 O X O O X O O X O O X O O X O O X O O X O O X O
4 X O X O X O X O X O X O X O X O X O X O X O X O
5 O O O X O O O O X O O O O O O O O O X O O O O X
6 X X X O X O X X X O X O X X X O X O X X X O X O
7 O O O O O X O O O O O O X O O O O O O X O O O O
8 X O X O X O X O X O X O X O X O X O X O X O X O
9 O X O O X O O X O O X O O X O O X O O X O O X O
10 X O X X X O X O X O X O X X X O X O X O X O X X
11 O O O O O O O O O X O O O O O O O O O O X O O O
12 X X X O X O X X X X X O X X X O X O X X X O X O
13 O O O O O O O O O O O X O O O O O O O O O O O O
14 X O X O X X X O X O O X O O X O X O X X X O X O
15 O X O X X O O X X O X O O X O O X O O X O O X X
16 X O X O X O X O X O X O X O X O X O X O X O X O
17 O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O X O O O O X O O O
18 X X X O X O X X X O X O X X X O X O X X X O X O
19 O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O X O O O O O O
20 X O X X X O X O X O X O X X X O X O X O X O X X
21 O X O O X X O X O O X O X X O O X O O X O O X O
22 X O X O X O X O X X X O X O X O X O X O X O X O
23 O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O X O O
24 X X X O X O X X X O X O X X X O X O X X X O X O
25 O O O X O O O O X O O X O X O O O O X O O O O X
26 X O X O X O X O X O X X X O X O X O X O X O X O
27 O X O O X O O X O O X O O X O O X O O X O O X O
28 X O X O X X X O X O X O X O X O X O X X X O X O
29 O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O
30 X X X X X O X X X O X O X X X O X O X X X O X X
31 O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O
32 X O X O X O X O X O X O X O X O X O X O X O X O
33 O X O O X O O X O X X O O X O O X O O X X O X O
34 X O X O X O X O X O X O X O X X X O X O X O X O
35 O O O X O X O O X O O O X X O O O O X X O O O X
36 X X X O X O X X X O X O X X X O X O X X X O X O
37 O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O
38 X O X O X O X O X O X O X O X O X X X O X O X O
39 O X O O X O O X O O X X O X O O X O O X O O X O
40 X O X X X O X O X O X O X X X O X O X O X O X X
41 O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O
42 X X X O X X X X X O X O X X X O X O X X X O X O
43 O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O
44 X O X O X O X O X X X O X O X O X O X O X O X O
45 O X O X X O O X X O X O O X O O X O X X O O X X
"0" se poate executa "X" nu se poate executa

Step 5: Starting the knot. Pull out about 6ft of line from the spool, but don't cut it, you may need
more line before you are finished. Its easier to feed more line through the knot than to cut a longer

piece and start over, and if you have extra line when you are finished you can always feed it back
as you tighten the knot down and roll it back onto your spool. Make a slipknot loop in the line at
the 6ft point and place it over one of the pins. Any pin can be the starting point, at either the top or
bottom of your knot. If you look at Fig 2 you see the slipknot in the lower right of the picture. I
started from the bottom of this one. From your starting point follow the black line around till you
come to the bight at the top of the knot, go over your pin and keep following the line till you come
to a point where you are about to cross your line. If the bar at that point is going with you,
go Over your line, if it is going against you, go Under your line. In Fig 2 it is against me, so I
went under. Keep following it around, going over or under as the bars tell you till you come back to
the point you started. You should have a knot like Fig 3. You can now remove the pins as the knot
will hold it shape fairly well on its own. To Double your knot just follow your first pass, Fig 4,
keeping your line beside the other. Most turks heads look best if they are Doubled or Tripled, as
in Fig 5 & Fig 6, In Fig 6 I used a 2nd contrasting color, turks head knots don't have to be all one
color, I like the way the two color knot looks when it is tightened down, really shows off the Over
and Under pattern well. Fig 7 shows a doubled knot tightened down on a 3/4in dowel. Also in Fig
7 are a few tools I use, top is a nail set I bought from a local hardware store. I use it most of all. It
works great to push a line under another, to get under a line to pull it tight, and to tuck in cut ends
of a line. The other is a loop rug hook tool I picked up from a craft store. Its real handy when you
need to pull a line under another and don't have much room.

NOD DE TURBAN 41 LEAD X 14 BIGHT

NOD DE TURBAN 41 LEAD X 15 BIGHT

NOD STEA

PUMN DE MAIMU

SFERIC

These are templates for closed end Turks Heads. They are designed to wrap around a
toilet paper tube when they are printed and the top is 5 3/8 long. These Turks Heads, when
tied in hand, is a two-step process. First the square Turks Head is tied, and then a second piece
of string is used to tie the finished knot. The first string is removed, and the knot is finished up.
These templates eliminate the first step, and allow you to go directly to the finished knot. The
name of each knot is the size of the original square Turks Head.
You will also see a similarity between the 7x8 Closed, and the 7x8 Pear Shaped Turks
Head. The Pear Shaped Turks Head has additional turns on the small end. It is possible to add
turns to the end of these knots also, even at both ends if that is desired. If the number of bights
in a Turks Head is divisible, then it is possible to close the ends of that Turks Head with that
many bights.
These knots tighten up into a nice sphere for a knob covering. I have also used the 7x8
Closed to cover large coins.
7 X 8 NCHIS

5 X 8 NCHIS

3 X 8 NCHIS

24 bight mat with 11 bight sides

This is an extension of the 24 bight mat. It wont lay flat like the 24 bight mat, its intention is to be cup
shaped, and tighened onto the base of a bottle, or similar shaped object. You will notice in the center of the
knot, where there are six bights, the pattern changes from over-one under-one to over-two under-two. This was
done to help the knot lay flat.
This should print sized to lie on a paper towel tube, but a roll of paper will also work. Tape it to the
tube, place pins at the gray circles, start anywhere (at a color change works best), and follow the over-under
pattern. If the knotwork gets too difficult to see the pattern because of the thickness of the string, you can go
into the Word document, and change the size if the insert to suit your needs.

CLOPOT 1
This bell grid is sized for a toilet paper tube. The arrows at the top of the grid are match marks, and they
point toward each other. Start by cutting out the grids on the outline, and tape it to a toilet paper tube. Then cut
out the two slots at the top of the grid. Fold the two tabs over so the match marks meet up (the purple and green
lines should also match up), and tape them together. Fill the tube with crushed newspaper, and insert a nail at
each gray donut. Start anywhere, the colors of the lines are intended to be an aid to help you stay on track,
remember where you are, and what has already been laid down.

CLOPOT 2
This is another version of the bell. This one has a better shape at the top, where the bights on top of
each other will close the knot around the bridge. I have also done a variation in the body of the bell where the
lines go over 2-under 2 to form a herringbone pattern. This will also give the ball a little shape before the bell
flares out at the bottom.

These mats should print at the correct size to wrap round a toilet paper tube. Stuff the tube with newspaper, and
insert a nail at each gray doughnut. Start at a color change, and follow the over-under pattern. When the knot
is complete, pull out the nails, slide you knot off, and tighten up. The knot will naturally want to assume a flat
shape.
8 BIGHT MAT

15 BIGHT MAT

24 BIGHT MAT

12 BIGHT MAT

2 NODURI DE TURBAN 6B X 7L NTREPTRUNSE

NOD DE TURBAN COMPLEX

This is a grid for a Pineapple Knot variation. The initial 4B x 5L Turks Head is tied, and then a second line,
often of a similar size and complimentary color, is inserted in the knot. Since there are two lines in the knot,
more care must be employed to maintain balance when tightening. To tie this knot, wrap you line around the
nail atstart, and follow each color in succession. You only need to follow the black over-under guide for the
initial knot. When the 4B x 5L is complete, take your second line and start anywhere along the cyan dashed
line. With the second line you must follow the purple over-under guide.

PAHAR DE VIN
The wine glass is a combination of three Turks Heads. There are many different combinations of Turks
Heads that can be combined to create a wine glass shape. Typically I use a six or eight bight Turks Head as the
base, and three or four bight Turks Head as the stem, and any multiple of three or four for the cup portion. This
grid is just one of unlimited possible permutations of knots that can form the shape of a wine glass. Also note
that the cup portion of this knot has an over two-under two pattern. You can change the pattern to one of you
own choosing with a few strokes from a pen or marker.
This grid should wrap around a paper towel tube. Stuff the tube with newspaper, and insert a pin or nail at each
gray doughnut. It is easiest to start at a color change, but you can start anywhere you want. The colors are only
there to help you stay on track, and help guide you through the knot.

SUTIEN

FULG DE ZPAD

SFER 144
FEE

SFERA 204 FETE

SFER 1000 FEE

SFERA1776 FEE

CUB

SFERA

saturn

Saturn 2

Sfera 144 fee

Sfera 1008 fee

Sfera 1976 fee

Sfera 2080 fee

cub

cub