Tying
a Turk's Head Woggle : Animated Knots
This is a self-made woggle usually worn by Scout commisioners.
How to Tie A Turkshead
Technically, these are instructions for a three
lead, four bight Turkshead, meaning that there are three basic
passes around the knot, and it loops up and down four times in going
around. There are many, many other types of Turksheads, see the
books in the bibliography for descriptions of how to tie the others.
This is, though, the basic Turkshead used as a neckerchief slide,
and is sometimes known as the "Woodbadge Woggle." These
instructions should be enough to get you started, but practice will
always help you in getting a smooth, even knot.
As you follow these instructions, you will want to keep the knot
much looser than is shown in the pictures, and keep much more rope
free at your working end, or you will never be able to double or
triple it. Also, you will want to tie the knot around some sort of
form. The picture shows a dowel, though anything, even two fingers,
will do.
Some pictures of Turkshead Woggle
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Bring the rope up in front of your form, pass around
behind it, and then around front again, crossing over the
first pass you made.
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Now take the working end behind the form again, and bring
it to the front, crossing your last pass, and parallel to
the first one.
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Now tuck the working end under the first pass you
made.
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Roll the form toward you. Your working end should now be
on the bottom, and your previous work should show two,
mostly parallel, ropes.
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This is the only tricky part. Look for the parallel rope
that is furthest from your working end, and pull it over
the other rope, making a small opening or eye.
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Now tuck your working end over the first rope, down
through the eye you just formed, amd under the second
rope. Now take the working end up and over the form.
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Roll the form back towards you. Believe it or knot, the
basic Turkshead is now done! It only has one pass, though,
so you will probably want to double or triple it.
Take the working end and tuck it next to your very first
rope, and thread it into and out of the knot, always staying
exactly next to the first pass you made.
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This image shows a doubling pass almost completed.
Remember, you're just putting one pass right next to the
previous one.
Neckerchief slides can be made with a doubled or tripled
Turkshead.
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The ends of a Turkshead should always be hidden, tucked
into the knot. One thing I like to do is bring the ends up
between two of the passes before tightening the knot.
Tightening the Turkshead is essential, and is done by slowly
working the ends through, until it is firm.
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Once you have completed your Turkshead, you have to
do something to help it hold its shape. If it is intended to stay on
its form, simply tightening it will probably be sufficient. If you
want to take it off the form, you have to try something else. For
natural materials (cotton or hemp rope) you can whip the ends to the
lines next to them, or spray the whole thing with clear polyurethane
varnish.
For artificial rope (nylon, poly) you also have the option of
melting the ends to hold them in place. One technique which I like
is to put the whole knot, form and all, in the oven at about 400
degrees. For Poly rope, take it out after about ten minutes and for
nylon after about 20 minutes. Let it cool, and the whole thing
should have melted slightly, and hold its shape.
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