Today I learned I've been tying my shoes wrong for > 30 years. Thanks for posting this, Tomte!
The “Granny Knot”
61–70 of 262 posts
Re: The “Granny Knot”
#62Earlier quoted context omitted.
People are very negative about these kinds of TED talks, but I actually improved my hand drying technique after the TEDx on it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2FMBSblpcrc That and using the back of my hand/arm to push off the water from my body after a shower keep our towels much dryer and nicer.
Why would I need to worry about keeping my towels "dryer"? Are you showering twice a day or something?
If you live in a humid environment, your towels can very easily get a bit funky smelling kinda quickly. Not making them as damp/wet can make a big difference.
Re: The “Granny Knot”
#63Earlier quoted context omitted.
After I stumbled upon this site years ago, the Ian knot is how I tie my shoes every time. The hardest part about this knot is making sure that somebody is watching while you do it. Every time I tie my shoes alone, I feel an upwelling of regret, as if there has been an opportunity lost.
There is a special t-shirt folding method with this same property.
Link? I'd love to see / learn this.
Re: The “Granny Knot”
#64Now do ties. :-) Wife made me re-tie kid's prom tie 5 or 6 times for pictures.
Re: The “Granny Knot”
#65Earlier quoted context omitted.
I've been using the Ian knot since around 2005 and it's easily the most impactful "life hack" I've ever made. My shoes basically never come untied.
Doesn’t it still produce the same knot as the standard shoe tie knot? I thought it was just a faster method?
Yes, it does, but the Ian Knot is more reliable, especially in places where you don't have the instant muscle memory like shoelaces. If you learn the standard knot incorrectly it results in you doing a Granny Knot. But if you try to tie the Ian's Knot, you can't tie it incorrectly because it just doesn't work. And of course yes, it's faster.
ETA: Also, OP may have been tying a Granny Knot from time to time which results in shoelaces coming untied very quickly. So the Ian knot gets you both faster tied shoes and shoes that stay tied.
Re: The “Granny Knot”
#66Did anyone have to fight the urge to print the flowchart and paste in your shoe?
Great site. Thank you.
Re: The “Granny Knot”
#67Earlier quoted context omitted.
That would not work for me. I need to keep one finger on the slip knot at all times or it becomes loose, resulting in a very unsatisfying knot. This has been by far the biggest hurdle to teaching my kids to tie a decent knot in their shoelaces: they can move through the motions just fine but it's always loose. I actually start with my left index finger on the slip knot then transition to my right index finger halfway…
I keep the starting knot taught by simply keeping the ends tensioned at all times when tying. Re people saying the Ian knot doesn’t come undone: neither do my normal ones.
The reason your knot does not come undone has nothing to do with tension and everything to do with the order of the way you tie it. Left over right, then right over left. If you learned the standard knot as a kid in the right order and continue to do it the same way today, then the Ian knot will tie the exact same knot. The only difference is that the Ian knot will wear your laces more evenly and it ties faster.
Re: The “Granny Knot”
#68Earlier quoted context omitted.
People are very negative about these kinds of TED talks, but I actually improved my hand drying technique after the TEDx on it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2FMBSblpcrc That and using the back of my hand/arm to push off the water from my body after a shower keep our towels much dryer and nicer.
Why would I need to worry about keeping my towels "dryer"? Are you showering twice a day or something?
Because wet towels can grow mold/smell, which means I need to wash them more which in turn means I need to replace them more (since even cold washes damage tower's fibers).
There's no downside to getting towels less wet (in particular when you're just flicking off water/pushing it off with your hand/arm for free), but there are upsides. So why not?
Re: The “Granny Knot”
#69https://www.ted.com/talks/terry_moore_how_to_tie_your_shoes
I tie my shoe like this ever since I saw this talk. I'm not sure which knot it is in the OP though.
Re: The “Granny Knot”
#70This is why I switched to only wearing sneakers that don't have laces. The fact that there's a whole site dedicated to tying your shoes properly tells you everything you need to know and yet this is largely a solved problem. You might think I look childish wearing velco/slip-on shoes all the time but I get a lot of compliments on my Adidas and my Metcons.
And Velcro has another advantage: you can tighten any segment of the shoe quickly. I really ought to use it.