Placing the center strand tutorial part 3

 Continue the placement of the center cord all the way to the end.

The end is the place where the two outer strands meet.

In this photo the fid is approaching the end of the white outer strand. Pull it through all the way and remove the fid.

 Flip the knot over 180 degrees and re-attach the fid to the other long loose end of the center cord.

Place the fid between the two outer strands and draw the cord through to the opposite side in exactly the same way as before. Keep the cord in the center, no twisting, relaxed tension...

 Here you can see the path of the cord across the the knot following the center gap. In the photo the loops have been left slack to illustrate the overlapping pattern.

Continue to place the cord until all the crossings are populated and the colored cord arrives at the end of the white outer strand.

Here the placement is complete and you can see the parallel layout of the cords marked in red. Hide the overlap underneath one of the parts. Keep the cords side-by-side to facilitate the stitching together of the strands.

To see how the ends are kept from fraying and falling apart check out the stitch up tutorial

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design and photographs © copyright 2013 WhatKnotShop

Placing the center strand tutorial part 2

 Follow the center channel around the knot using the fid to place the cord between the two outside cords.

Don't cross over any cords, keep the center cord in the center between the two outer strands at all times.

 Place the cord and pull through to the opposite side. Keep the center cord as straight as possible try not to let it get twisted during the draw-through.

Leave the center cord relaxed, that is don't make it tighter than the outer cords. The whole bracelet will naturally tighten up as the voids in the weave are filled with cord.

Continue following the outer strands around the knot. Place the center cord between the outer strands but leave it in a relaxed (not tight) condition.

Here the loop is shown slack for clarity.


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design and photographs © copyright 2013 WhatKnotShop

Placing the center strand tutorial part 1

This tutorial shows how to place a contrasting center cord in a turks head knot. Here are things you will need:

48" of contrasting color cord

pre-made Turks Head Knot bracelet - this example is a 12 bight x 5 part x 2 strand knot left in a relaxed shape  - read about how to make a rope bracelet here

wood fid - custom made out of 3/8" dowel
(If you don't have a fid you can use a ball point pen with a bit of tape over the tip to prevent ink stains.)

 Place the fid on the end of the center cord.

Find the end of the turks head knot and count 2 1/2 times around the circumference to locate the center. (5 parts divided in half = 2 1/2)

How do you know how many parts your knot has? Read Decoding the Knot to find out

Insert the fid in the center of the knot as shown. Spread the outer strands using the fid to create a path for the center strand.

Draw the cord through the knot at the center point of the turks head knot until an equal amount of center cord is on both sides.




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design and photographs © copyright 2013 WhatKnotShop