Place the end _a_ as in Fig. 10, holding it with the thumb at _d_; pass _b_ around under it, _c_ around under _b_ and through the bight of _a_, and pull tight; this forms a Single-wall (Fig. 11). Now lay _a_ over _d_, _b_ over _e_, _c_ over _b_ and through the bight of _a_, and draw tight (Fig 12).
Next pass _b_ down around _f_ and up through the bight _g_, and do the same with _a_ and _c_, forming Fig. 13.
[Illustration: THE FIVE STEPS OF THE STOPPER-KNOT.
[Illustration: FIG. 15.—A SHEEPSHANK, BEFORE IT IS DRAWN TIGHT.]
Then pass each strand by the side of the strands in the crown down through the walling to form the “double-crown,” and cut close the ends _a_, _b_ (and _c_), producing Fig. 14.
A Sheepshank (Fig. 15) is a knot by which a rope may be made shorter, or (as a young yacht-woman of my acquaintance recently expressed it) “a tuck taken in it.” If the tide has come in and you wish to shorten the mooring-line of your boat, or if the line by which your campaign flag is suspended across the street is too loose, or your clothesline, or your swing, has sagged frightfully, the Sheepshank will gather up the slack for you and hold it firmly.
When one wants to make an artificial handle for an old jug or some other vessel, the True-Lover’s knot is used, as seen in Fig 16.
[Illustration: FIG. 16.—THE TRUE-LOVER’S KNOT.]
Tie two loose knots, _a_, _b_, as in the first cut of Fig. 17; pass the bight _a_ through the opening _f_, the bight _b_ through _g_, pull the loops equal, and, to complete the knot as in second cut of Fig. 17, join the ends _c_, _d_, by a long splice at _e_.
The Jar-sling, seen in Fig. 20, serves a similar purpose. You are out picnicking, perhaps, and you suddenly find it desirable to convert an empty gherkin bottle into a swing-vessel in which to take home alive some tadpoles or minnows. In a long piece of cord make a large loop as in Fig. 18, and hold the bight against the standing parts, _a, a_; pass the thumb and forefinger of the other hand down through _c_, lay hold of _b_ where the crook of the imaginary wire is seen, and draw it through _c_ down a little below _a, a_, as in Fig 19, _d_, and hold it there. Now pass the thumb and forefinger down through the opening _e_ (in the way the wire goes), lay hold of _g_, and draw it up through _e_, forming the complete knot as in Fig. 20.