This is the simplest variation of the basic knot we have just made. Using only 3 big dots and two little dots across and down. It is the smallest knot formation you can make in a square shape. The only other shape that is smaller is the one based on a triangle and today it's usually called the 'Trinity Knot'.

In this version of the Basic Knot, I have doubled the lines interweaving through the knot. To do this, instead of just drawing an"X" over each point of intersection, you also draw an extra line down the middle of each leg of the "X". Instead of creating one fat rope crossing over/under other fat ropes, you are making two thin ropes. Finish your knot as usual, except when it comes time to erase your over/unders. Instead of erasing both lines to go over another pair of lines, make one line go over/under the other pair, and make the other line go under/over, so each line alternates whether its going over or under another pair of lines. You can also make this knot with three thin ropes, or four etc.

This Basic Knot is alot like the last one we just did, except instead of doubling the line all the way around the knot, it is just doubled where the intersections are. You can leave the split in the lines very thin, or you can make it a bigger split, as I've shown here. This almost gives it a chain link effect, and looks very nice if you are using pointy corners. As before, you can make as many splits as you want at the intersections if your lines are fat enough.

Continue to cross off all your little dots, until they are all marked off.

Now your knot should have all it's little dots crossed. You can probably see already where the pattern is going to go, just by looking at your design. This is good. When you are having to make alot of different patterns to fill an entire page, you can often tell just by making your knots up to this stage whether they are going to look all right together and how they are going to fill up the space. At this point you can then either scrap them if they aren't going to work, or add more walls where you think they should go without too much pain and suffering!

Now we add the caps on the corners of the knot. Normally you also check to see if your knot needed to have "elbows" or bends put on the sides, but for this example there aren't any. Again, like in the Basic Knot, the corners can be capped many different ways. Notice how at no time do my knot lines or corners pass over my walls, this is how the pattern develops.

Now your end caps are on all the corners and your knot is almost finished. Begin to make the lines of our knot interweave. Each line as it interweaves must go over, and then under, any other line it intersects as you follow its path. To start your over/unders, pick a point of intersection on your knot. It doesn't matter where. At this intersection, erase part of the double lines to one of the ropes of knot, making the illusion of one rope passing over the other.

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Continue to follow one rope of knot, erasing as you go, alternating whether it goes over or under the next rope it meets. If you reach the end of the knots path, and there are still lines of over/under that haven't been erased, don't worry. This just means that your knot actually has more than one continuous strand of rope in it. Simply pick an unerased intersection and look at the other ones around it. If the rope leading into the intersection has just come from under another rope, you need to erase your lines so it now passes over this one. It should then continue to pass under the next line.

In this example I have used the same size graph we used in the Tutorial, and just marked off my walls in different places. There are two vertical walls in the center on the right and left, and one long (a double wall) one in the lower half on the horizontal. Knowing that the walls can only fall on the horizontal and vertical, you should eventually be able to figure out where the walls are in a knot just by looking at it. With most it will be easy, but when they start using the combination walls to make the patterns it can get a little confusing! I find it helps if I want to figure it out to take a marker to where you think the walls should go, and then see if it works by trying to make one yourself.

In this version, I have made four walls come off of the edges of my design. The first comes down, off the top of my graph, in the right hand corner. The next comes across my graph from the right side, near the bottom . The next comes up the graph from the bottom on the left side and the last comes across on the right side near the top. I have made the corners beside the walls using little "spear" shapes. These are like little diamonds and simple put a twist in the knot line so it can bend back again and continue on its way.

For this example, I have made four walls come from the center of my design. They all branch out from a single point, straight up, down, right and left. I have also used the "spear" shapes again, but they could just as easily be rounded shapes, rather than the diamond shape shown here.

 

This example shows how complex you can make your knot appear without much effort. Just by adding more walls to it you can get a variety of patterns. Here I have also made my knot fill an area other than a square. To do this, I simply marked off the appropriate area on my graph and proceeded as usual. All the other steps will remain the same when you make you knots fill unusual shapes, although you may have to change the shape of your "elbows" in some cases, like when you are filling a circle. Your normal "elbows" will not fit within the circle shape cleanly and you sometimes have to jimmy it around a bit to make it look nice.

This variation is made inside of a circular shape, which I marked off on my graph paper with a compass. Again, using the methods in the last Tutorial, you can dress up the knot a bit with more bends and turns using walls. Notice how the "U" bends along the edges of each quadrant of the knot were elongated a bit, so they reach to touch the edge of the circle. This is one of the modifications you will have to do to a knot to make it fit within a circle nicely. Also, the bends to either side of the "U" bends have been tucked in more, to make them fit within the circle better.

This example is again within a circular shape. I started out with a larger circular area to allow for the extra detail I wanted to include. Then, using more walls and finishing the knot off as usual, I altered the "U" bends and other edges as needed to make it fit within the circle nicely

This example is again within an unusual shape. As before, all you need to do is mark off the desired area on your graph paper and then continue with your criss-crossing and elbows, and corners, as you normally would. It is useful to practice making these knots because they are very helpful when you have an odd space to fill in your artwork.