Fig. 21
Of course you know how to tie the simplest knot of all—the one shown in Fig. 21. Let us call it the loop knot, for it is made by tying the ends of a strand together to form a loop. You have used it often for that purpose, I am sure, and sometimes to tie two pieces of string together. You can make a pretty and useful sponge bag of raffia in the natural colour with this knot. The wet sponge will not hurt the raffia, and in such an open bag the air soon dries it.
Knotted Sponge Bag
| Materials Required: | 25 strands of raffia, |
| A length of No. 5 rattan, | |
| A tapestry needle. |
Fig. 22
Roll a length of No. 5 rattan into a ring, as described on page 38, so that it can be soaked in warm water till it is pliable. Cut it into three pieces, each forty-seven inches long. Tie an end of one of these pieces into a ring seven inches in diameter and twist the long end in and out once around this (see Fig. 22). At the end of this row the ends, where they meet, should overlap an inch. If they are longer, cut them off with a slanting cut and tie them tightly together with a piece of raffia. Two more rings, the same size as the first one, are made with the other pieces of rattan. Hang one of the rings where you can reach it easily, on a low bedpost, for example. Double a strand of raffia and tie it through the ring as shown in Fig. 21, drawing the knot up quite close. Twenty-two strands are knotted on in this way. Space them along the ring about an inch apart, and, beginning with any pair of strands, tie the right-hand one with the nearest strand of the next pair on the right, making an even mesh at an inch from the first row of knots. Continue this all around the ring, when you will have made one row. Ten more rows are knotted in this way. Then bring the ends of all the strands straight down together and tie them below the centre of the ring with a piece of raffia. The ends are cut off evenly at about two inches and a half from where they were tied, to form a tassel.
The two other rings are used for the handles of the bag. Lay one of them against the ring at the top of the bag so that the places where the rings are tied will come together. Thread a tapestry needle with raffia and bind the rings together with buttonhole stitch for an inch. Then sew through and through the binding to make it secure and cut the end close to the ring. The other ring handle is bound to the opposite side of the top ring in the same way.