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Charles HAMEL aka Nautile

Part TWO :

( Part 2 Photo 3

TURKS HEAD KNOT OR NOT ?

Subtitle : TURKS HEAD KNOT = an Uncontrolled
Appellation of Origin
This is a wink to : vins Franais dAppellation dOrigine
Contrle. That is Wines with a Controlled Appellation of
Origin. A.O.C wines.

From the THK are not braid article may be you will
remember that I hold the view that :
- THK should be a label strictly reserved for
what in my perspective is the ORIGINAL BRAND
( Part two )
Using Bruce GRANT, Tom HALLs books, and of
course ASHLEYs, I will attempt to clear some
notions about THK,.

( Part 2 Photo 4 )

First a bit of compared anatomy.

These photographies can be found on Nautiles Gallery at
www.khww.net in a larger size in case you need a better
view.

( Part 2 Photo 1)

This should be enough to show that a single label

is asked to regroup a miscellany of knots, each of
them being different from a basic THK.

( Part 2 Photo 2 )

Chapter 17 of ASHLEYs book always made my

(left!) eyebrow raise in query.
It would not have if this Turks-Head chapter had
been titled Ring Knots or Circular Knots ( flat
and cylinder forms).
Of 124 entries in this chapter less than 60% (71) are
about what I consider to be THE THK.
The word braid appear only 3 times in the whole
chapter under the guise of braided, twice in p225
and once in p235, in reference with the material of
the cordage, not in reference with the knot.
I think that the STANDARD, UNICURSAL or SINGLE
STRAND THK, COMPLYING WITH THE COMMONDIVISOR RULE, WITH STRICTLY ALTERNATING OVERUNDER CROSSING, IS THE ONLY ONE TYPE THAT
SHOULD BE GIVEN THIS LABEL. It is said to be a
CASA by braiders;
This THK is the native or so to speak, the pure
element, all the rest are at best alloys.
The name THK seemingly chosen after the head
gear turban made with a single length of cloth, it
makes sense that the single line THK alone should
get this name.

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Charles HAMEL aka Nautile
Turban is of Asian origin. For Turks, in fact, it was
common only for the Sultans in the Ottoman Empire
th
th
period ( very end of 13 c to begining of 20 c)
In French it is Bonnet Turc / Turkish Bonnet, this
being le turban
Playing with a pseudo-spirograph ( simulation of the
plane on plane motion of a moving circle on an
immobile circle : rolling without slippage ) is an
important step toward understanding the plane
geometry of THK :
http://www.wordsmith.org/~anu/java/spirograph.html
http://thinks.com/java/spiro/spiro.htm
http://www.math.psu.edu/dlittle/java/parametricequa
tions/spirograph/SpiroGraph1.0/index.html
http://alumnus.caltech.edu/~jimmc/spiro/spiro.html

* Second point : the shade of meaning I put

between BLENDED and AGGLOMERATED.
A BLEND is joining at least 2 different types of a
given product. Think whisky blended.
AGGLOMERATED is for joining differents categories
of items
* Third point :
The following words I rejected as not fully suitable
for a broad categorization.
Note that some of them pertain to structure : *lock,
*link ; and others to process: *lace, *twine, *weave
Interlink(ed) = cause to join or connect together,
with the parts joined having an effect on each other.
This is tempting, the more so with the Celtic Links
in the background of the mind.
interlace=to join ( different parts) together to make
a whole, especially by crossing one thing over
another or fitting one part into another.

http://www.johngrindall.com/maths/spiro/index.php
This is the template of a 8L 5B THK drawn with a
SPIROGRAPH (Part 2 photo 5 )

interlocking = firmly joined together especially by

one part fitting into another. connected in such a
way that movement or change in one part cause
movement or change in another. (not gradable)
Tony aka Asemery chose to denote by Interwoven a
TH in his gallery ; I think that for the Pineapple
design, interlocked could be applied . Interlocked
rings for me is more plausible than interwoven does.
intertwine= to twist, or be twisted together,or to be
connected so as to be difficult to separate
There is a not really a winding movement entering in
the making of a THK of any kind as there is in
making 'twine'.

------------------------------Let us examine some of the terms I make use of

and of some that I did not keep after examination.
Main check sources of my recall about words are
my old bi-lingual Harraps dictionary, a relatively
recent British Cambridge Dictionary, and of course
French Dictionaries and Encyclopaedia.
* First a quick look at those that I could have used
to broadly qualify the categories of so-called THK
but that I finally discarded.
I weighted COMBINED against :
--- COMPOUNDED. As in flowers : simple and
compounded. I rejected it for the reason that P.P.O
HARRISON use it as a label for 3L THK that has
been extended in number of bights.
--- COMPOSITE : it could have done the job but what
with the confusion with some type of resins.

interweave( woven ) to weave (weave=twist)

together or combine two or more things so that they
cannot be separated easily.
A weave technicaly imply weft *and warp, one being
put in place before the other with fixed roles :
a weft cannot play at being a warp ( or vice versa )
later in the work.
So I do not deem it precise enough, even if it
immediately speaks to the mental imagery, to say
THK are interwoven, even if I accept that the first
THK put in place plays at being a simile weft and
the second a simile warp.
I would really prefer to say they are interlocked.
* Fourth point : a very peculiar word : variated
I was set unto that by Brians remark : That is a
variated turks head according to the Harrison Book
of Knots.
I could not then recall seeing it in HARRISONs
book and did not find it after a new reading.
GRAUMONT and HENSEL do use , "irregular",
"unorthodox" in conjunction with THK and " variated"
but that is with other knots than THK ( have not
seen it used with THK )
I have to raise question marks: is it not variagated
that is meant instead of "variated" ? or variant ?
Would not "variant" or "variety" be much better ?
I knew of 'variegated' and "variate" but had to go to
dictionaries for 'variated' and did not found it.

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Charles HAMEL aka Nautile

Variant is not always adapted as it goes only for

small differences between the "type" and the
"variant" and differences between so-called THK
and the true type are not always small.
Variegated can be the adequate word in some
cases seeing the pattern of some so-called THK.
Anyway using "variated" in the meaning of variant
will never do the trick.
I will really appreciate standing corrected in case of
mistake(s) in the correct ( English English) use of
words.
Now for some quick considerations about qualities a
criterion or a set of criteria should ideally possess.
I tried to respect these :
- be "valid" : adapted to the factual reality one want
to explore and not doing something else than what
is intented at first.
- be "fair" : that is perfectly defining what is and
what is not ( should exclude all 'the what is not' and
none of the 'what is' plus should include all the
'what is' and none of the 'what is not')
- be "precise" : not too much random fluctuation
depending in the surrounding conditions.
- be " faithful" or "constant" : result attained should
identical in the hands of several honest intelligent,
diligent and informed end-users.
All the qualities of a reliable weighting scale.
The exception should be the unavoidable
exception indeed and should not detract from the 4
characteristics above stated .
I set on the way of the strictest definition of things I
could find either in my mind or in documents and
shunned ( well, err , tried too) all the every day
blindly accepted usage , trying to go back to the root
of meaning instead.
Knotting is technical matter so I think it is best to
use technicaly accepted definitions.
--------------------------SINGLE
strand rule

O1-U1 / U1 O1
Comply to
ALTERNATING COMMON
DIVISOR rule

With 3 characters there are 8 possibilities of

summarizing the situation.

Categorization of THK (Part 2 Table 1 )

Diagnosis flow chart ( Part 2 Table 2 )
For lay out reason these tables had to be put at the
end of the text part.
Please study them now.

CONCLUSION :
I hope I have build a convincing logical case
against the present way of speaking, thinking and
writing about THK and that it may have put in a
seed now germinating in your brain, to become a
strong sappling.
Much about the way THK concept is spoken about
by tyers is theology rather than rationality. So I
must add the remark that my hope is quite a bit
tongue in cheek :
I am under no great delusion or illusion. Creed
cannot be altered by logic.
Only the already dissatisfied with what is said
around THK may have the opportunity to accept to
think anew.
THK ALTERNATIVE is but an euphemism for not a
THK at all.
I use it to humour THK worshippers and give a bow
of respect to Stuart GRAINGER work.

PS
A LAST MINUTE FIND that shows that this is just a
beginning and that tackling the 3D representation of
trochoids has to be made by a professional
mathematician.
Quoted ( after modification ) from

http://antique.cinderella.de/en/demo/gallery/Elliptic
Cycloid.html
Java animation.
Is this a THK ?

ORIGIAL THK
REGULAR

NO

NO

IRREGULAR
or OT THK
IRREGULAR

NO

NO

OT THK

NO

NO

NO

NO

NO

NO

NO

NO

ORIGIAL
wantonly made
with several strands
Possible
COMBIED or
OT THK
IRREGULAR
multi-strands
THK
Possible
COMBIED
Or OT THK

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Charles HAMEL ala Nautile
Part 2 Table 1

TURKS HEAD KNOTS

[ based on what GRANT and HALL put in their books, so not necessarily valid for others publications as far as
COMPOSED THK or aping-THK knots are concerned as Authors at large are mostly clinging to their own personal
conception. Nothing unified and agreed upon by peer-review seems to exist as yet.]
SIMPLE THK
( the knot is both the
element and the unique
sub-element & vice-versa)

COMBINED sub elements : assemblies can be either of CASA only, or CASA plus
something else .

TO ME THE ONLY THK

by NATURE are of the

general formulation
(x) L (y) B
with x <> y
x and Y being integer
(without any decimal part)
| | mean absolute ( sign
+/- is not taken in account)

|x-y| = 1 or |x-y| > 1

I CALL THOSE
SIMPLE REGULAR

(regular as in following
the rule, just like clergy
orders !)

CASA OF EQUAL
DIMENSION

CASA OF UNEQUAL
DIMENSION

in L & B

in L & B

They are relatives of

true THK.

They are still relatives

CASA AND

something else

They are more allied

than relatives.

DUPLICATION

HYBRIDATION

CHIMERA

Think : TILING or
TESSELATION

Think : MOSAIC

Think : GRYPHON

FAN
(the CHECKERED form is
tied from a CHECKERED
HERRINGBONE followed
rd
by a 3 PASS in
GAUCHO style )

GRANT
( said by T.HALL to be the
reverse of a HORN )

BARCUS
End result mimicrying
the visual appearance of
a FLORES made with
Outer and Inner rims of bights two 5L 6B CASA tied as
at the border.
a HERRINGBONE
Aping a PINEAPPLE
followed by a 5L 6B 2
PASS GAUCHO
( GAUCHO having a
something else in its
composition it follows
that when a GAUCHO
serve as sub-component
it give the something
else to the structure
made with its
participation.

HANSEN
From a CASA that is
doubled (follow the leader)
then splitting the pairs with
rd
a 3 CASA which give a
3P GAUCHO PATTERN
It can be made with ONE
Strand but does not
alternate O1-U1 in the
finished state.

HOOD
(if compared to
HERRINGBONE in 3 colours
the result is more equilibrated
in this one )
HOOD can be made with
CASA of equal dimension so it
does have the property of
being a TRANSITIONAL form
between the colum on the left
and this one). If tied with
unequal CASA the first two are
put as HERRINGBONE and the
third as PINEAPPLE

BUT THERE ARE ALSO :

--1-- SIMPLE THK NOT
OBEYING TO THE RULE O1U1 or U1-O1 WHILE STILL
MADE WITH A SINGLE
STRAND AND FOLLOWING
THE NO COMMON DIVISOR
RULE.
I CALL THEM
SIMPLE IRREGULAR

(as in not following the full

rule : MUTANTS)

--2-- THOSE
NOT FOLLOWING THE
COMMON DIVISOR RULE

(they may still be O1-U1 /

U1-O1 or not )
THOSE ARE NOT THK
They may be
euphemistically said to be
THK ALTERNATIVES to
humour THK worshippers
holding fast to theology

BETA VERSIO
USABLE AFTER PROOFIG BY JOE

GAUCHO
( Spanish RING )
CASA as template AND a
NON-CASA

threading of OverUnder .
A GAUCHO of ONE PASS
is only a 9L 8B CASA
so why call it GAUCHO
1P ?

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Charles HAMEL ala Nautile

HEADSHUNTER
( the CHECKERED form is
from CASA template BUT
end with GAUCHO bights )
the normal HEADHUNTER
cannot be accepted in the
CASA related familly as at
no one time in its
construction it follow the
01-UI but jump soon to
02-U2 or 03-U3 ( or viceversa) in the 2 PASS and 3
PASS.
So I put them as NON
THK. If they are NON-THK
it follow that any structure
they are part of are NOT
THK .

HORN
( so called nested bight )

HERRINGBONE
2 or 3 interlocked or
interwoven CASA all of
equal dimension in L & B
for a 2 or 3 PASS

NORTON
GAUCHO characters in this
knot (bights and weave)
2 interlocked or interwoven
CASA. A CASA knot DOUBLED
is said by HALL to be a
CHECKERED NORTON 2 PASS
TYPE 2.

FLORES
An astute way to ape a
PINEAPPLE

Somewhat aping the

PINEAPPLE

2 successive CASA put in a

rd
HERRINGBONE then a 3
CASA interlocked ( nested
bights) in PINEAPPLE fashion

A 2 PASS type 1
PINEAPPLE cannot be
tied from a 5L 6B CASA
base it would need an
impossible 4L 6B CASAHere a first 5L 6B
CASA is followed by 5L
6B 2 PASS GAUCHO in
such a way that ONLY
the centre of the
GAUCHO can be seen

You see how all this is entangled

and is much in need of some
weeding out

PINEAPPLE
2 or 3 interlocked or
interwoven CASA all of
equal dimension in
L & B for a 2 or 3 PASS
Identical formulation as for
HERRINGBONE but in both
end results the rims of
bights are not identical .
May be the SO-CALLED
PERFECT ONE STRAND
PINEAPPLE (by GRANT)
which stricly alternate O-U
in the finished state
should be put as a true
THK just as much as the
GAUCHO 1 PASSA
which is only a CASA

There is a special type of so-called THK for which the formulation is not (x)L (y)B as in the CASA BUT (z)L (z)B
the number of LEAD / PART / STRAND / TURN is equal to the number of BIGHT / SCALLOP / CROSS or share a
common divisor though only ONE strand is used.
They are not COMBINED, they would be IRREGULAR AND SIMPLE but as they are not following the common divisor
rule in my mind they are not THK in any way but rather they are aping THK :
THK ALTERNATIVES.
I will put the so called MBIUS/MOEBIUS THK in the same NOT-THK bag and call it a MOEBIUS strip knot.
Add GINFER into that bag too!
This only reflect my personal state of mind after some pondering and study and should not be given a visa to enter your own
frame of mind without a personal intellectually honest critical examination .
I was professionally trained to consider that there is two great intellectual faults :
rejection without critical examination honestly conducted AND acceptation without critical examination honestly conducted.

BETA VERSIO
USABLE AFTER PROOFIG BY JOE

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Charles HAMEL ala Nautile

IS THAT A REGULAR ORIGINAL BRAND THK ?

HAS IT THE VISUAL APPEARANCE of REAL BRAID PATTERN ?

YES

NO
DOES IT LOOKS a wee bit LIKE ONE ?

HAS IT BEEN MATERIALIZED

BY A true BRAID PROCESS ?

YES
YES

NO

NO

Look up if it can
be
-non-braid sinnet
- chain
- some other
knotted structure

THEN IT CANNOT
BE A true BRAID
Can be a THK
candidate

THEN IT IS
A true
BRAID

Has STRICTLY ALTERNATING CROSSING O1-U1 or

U1-O1

Do not lose
time looking
into :
THK
BRAID
SINNET
CHAIN

NO

YES

does it obey to formula :

number of "holes"between bight borders = number of
crossing = (number of LEAD -1 ) * ( Number of BIGHT )

YES

NO

CAN IT BE DRAWN as a trochod (2 D

UNICURSAL or SINGLE line curve)
YES

CANNOT BE A SIMPLE REGULAR

ORIGINAL BRAND THK ( so called Casa )
CAN IT BE DECOMPOSED INTO SUB-UNITS, ONE
OR SEVERAL being ORIGINAL BRAND THK ?

NO

IT IS a SIMPLE,
UNICURSAL, REGULAR
ORIGINAL BRAND THK
YES
ARE ALL SUB-UNITS ORIGINAL
BRAND THK

YES
They ARE NOT THK ORIGINAL but
them having only THK ORIGINAL
as sub-units I put them down as
COMBINED THK directly
related to ORIGINAL THK
or SECOND ORDER THK OR
CLUSTER THK

NO

NO

SEARCH AMONG :
- IRREGULAR THK
- THK ALTERNATIVE
- NOT THK related

Some other thing as ingredient besides THK they

can only be considered as ALLIED BUT NOT
RELATIVES THK AGGLOMERATED which
does not suffic to make them THK.
BARCUS GAUCHO - FLORES

ARE ALL THE ORIGINAL THK THAT SERVE AS SUB-UNIT OF EQUAL SIZE IN L & B ?
YES : FAN - HANSEN - HEADSHUNTER HERRINGBONE - PINEAPPLE

NO : GRANT - HOOD - HORN - NORTON

I call them HETEROGENEOUSLY COMBINED =

I call them STRICTLY COMBINED = BLENDED

COCKTAIL

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Charles HAMEL ala Nautile

LIGHTHIG FAST SUMMARY : In green ink THE OLY A.O.C THK

SO-CALLED THK

COMBIED or
SECOD ORDER THK

SIMPLE

TRUE or REGULAR

ORIGIAL THK
UICURSAL and
strictly
ALTERATIG

THK
ALTERATIVE
(appellation taken
from Stuart
GRAIGER)

SIMPLE
IRREGULAR

Strictly combined :
BLEDED

Heterogeneously
combined
COCKTAIL

There is plenty of place to make much better tables. So please go to work

Charles HAMEL
Vitry-sur -Seine ( France ) Oct 2007

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AGGLOMERATED