Customer Reviews

The Complete Book of Decorative Knots

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The 'Complete' in the title is a little misleading but this book does go a long way to being a very thorough introduction to decorative knotting. There is much here for the beginner and a number of good ideas for the advanced student as well. The drawings are very clearly drawn and easy to follow. The text is also short and to the point and you even learn a bit of knot lore along the way. I recommend this book without reservation as a fine addition to anyone's knotting library.

Much of the material in this book has not been published in over 50 years. A modern treatment and updating was needed and Budworth has done a good job. This book has good sections on globe knots, Turks Head Knots and mats. The early chapter on Tips, Techniques and Terms is good. I know of no other publication of globe knots since Ashley in the 40s. New developments are still being made in Turks Head Knots and globe knots. The book is already out of date.

This book is a good addition to the library of any serious knot lover. It sits next to my copy of Ashley's classic.

This is a enjoyable book with many usefull knots and good information on applying many of them.There are many errors in the line drawn instructional drawings which could create alot of headaches for someone without somewhat of a knotting background.Personally I found the globe knot sections drawings a little confusing but workable.Of the many of already familiar knots I found interesting and better ways of tying them by using this book. Just that aspect and the icicle hitch to show your friends is well worth it.All in all this authors books are good reading, nothing overly complex, but a good addition to have in a knotting book collection.

This is the first book I reach for when I begin a rope working project. If you are a dedicated seaman, this should be one of your collection of books on knot tying. If you are just a hobbyist, this is the only book you will need.

This book is written by a member of the International Guild of Knot Tiers and is quite extensive. Not only does it give the basics of knot tieing but it moves into the the more advanced portions in later parts of the book. Very good images make tieing the knots very easy, but as always skill comes with practice. Excellent book for the beginner.

The book has some neat knots but not very much for the begginer. The section on globe knots doesn't tell how to work the sphere into the center and a few diagrams are wrong (pg 141 step one-two). Bud ford mentions the Ashley Book of knots way to much. Mabe you would be better of with that book than his

I've been a functional knot tier for years, starting out when I worked in the film industry and had to rig lights with safety lines. You learn how to tie a bowline blind-folded. Now, I'm helping to teach knots to scouts, Cubs currently and later Boys. While I can teach half-hitch, blood knots, bowline, taught-line, etc., the boys get excited by "projects" not function. So lanyards & bracelets are pretty popular. I needed a book so that I could learn before I could teach. This book had quite a lot of mention and it seemed to get good reviews so I tried it out.

It's pretty good. The selection of knots is fairly thorough (although I wouldn't call it "complete"). The instructions are geared more towards the experienced than the beginner though. I've learned quite a few knots from the book and I'm able to teach some of them to the boys, but I'm still having a heck of a time with other knots. I'm just finding the directions a bit difficult to follow. Overall, for the most part, the explanations are very clear. They're certainly concise. Unfortunately the book falls just a bit short for me.

This book has a great selection of decorative knots, and if you are already well experienced with tying some of these knots then this book is probably perfect. However, if you are just learning how to tie most of these knots and need a good step by step illustration to follow this is KNOT the book for you. the illustrations are nice, but not very well explained. they seem to jump over steps and can be confusing.

I have many (too many), how-to-do-it books, but this one brought me to my knees. I just could not follow his diagrams. Sometimes it happens that you buy a book with good illustrations, which this one has, and your brain and the brain of the pattern drawing person just don't work the same way. That is the most simple way I can explain what happened with this book. I think I should have known more very fundamental knots before I tried some of these. Also, there is a problem of scale. I think he might have helped the student/reader by giving suggestions about the size of rope, twine or string that would work best for the pattern you were trying to finish. It also might have helped if I'd listened when my mother, who was raised on a ranch, tried to teach me how to tie a half-hitch and some other basic knots. I'm still drawn to the beautiful knots so I'm going to match this up with another newer, book and see if I can make sense of this! I want to use knots in my jewelry making and I kept feeling that I was reading about using knots on a boat. That is why I tagged this book as `boating knots'. If you have some basic skills already, this is a way to expand them.

This is a nicely laid out soft cover book with some very nice illustrations and descriptions on how to tie knots. Overall pretty nice but there are some mistakes in the descriptions of how to tie the knots and in the illustrations as well. He will also make some leaps of faith at some point in the knot tying and leave you hanging when you need to finish the knot. This is rare but happens on a few knots. It is a nice book for the price and one worth having though.