Folded Bight Breakdown

Think of the folded bights that compose a mystic knot or cloverleaf knot like an arrow ➶. The end with the curved part is the (arrow)head, the pointy part of an arrow ➤. Although I often refer to bights as pointing in a particular direction, they are not, in almost any materials, pointy. So, let us refer to the pointing end of the bight as the “fold”.

Why use the arrow metaphor at all then? Well, the other end of a folded bight is composed of two loose segments, stacked together. Consider the area just before they’re split. In searching for a single word to describe this area, I could think of nothing so accurate or consise as the little fork shaped part of archery arrows called the “nock.”

Bight Construction

While a bight in isolation has no orientation, when forming bights in sequence as you tie a knot, they do. So, let’s coin a term for bight orientation: an over finger bight is a bight you form over your finger, with the working end traveling first away from you over the finger, then wrapping under the finger towards you. With the opposite, under finger bight, the working end travels first away from you under your finger, then back towards you over your finger. Consistently orienting your bights as you tie will make the job of tightening your knots much easier.

Orientation in Space

While contemplating the folded bight's orientation in space, think of the body of the knot to be the plane of the knot. The ears are also in the plane of the knot. The two sides of the folded bights are stacked on top of each other, and the bight is vertical (orthogonal) relative to the plane of the knot.

Locked Ears and the Bights that Define Them

Each nock in a cloverleaf knot will be wrapped by the fold of another bight (if they’re not, something has gone wrong and you need to try again). Immediately after that enclosing bight, the segments that comprise the nock will separate into two ears. Each fold will point directly at an ear. The folds are perpendicular to the plane of the knot. Note that the ears are sandwiched inside the bight sides and align with the plane of the knot.

Each nock in a mystic knot will be wrapped by the fold or sides of another bight. Each fold will be wrapped around both sides of another bight and point directly at an ear. The fold is perpendicular to both the sides it is wrapped around and that ear. Here, also, the ears are sandwiched between the woven layers and align with the plane of the knot.