The “Granny Knot” • Hacker News Board

Re: The “Granny Knot”

#161

Post by nhumrich » Tue, Apr 20, 2021, 2:17 AM UTC

leephillips wrote: post #19

qwnp wrote: post #5

The "Ian Knot"[0] (which, I just discovered, was invented by the author of that site) is quite possibly the coolest and fastest way to tie your shoes. [0] - https://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/ianknot.htm

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.

Is this the shoe equivalent of arch linux?

Re: The “Granny Knot”

#162

Post by kazinator » Tue, Apr 20, 2021, 2:33 AM UTC

I didn't know about this stuff at all until some years ago. I learned about it via Japanese culture. An unbalanced knob is 縦結び (tatemusubi: "vertical knot", whereas the balanced one is 横結び (yokomusubi: "sideways knot").

Re: The “Granny Knot”

#163

Post by bluesmoon » Tue, Apr 20, 2021, 2:35 AM UTC

I tied my shoelaces with a fisherman's knot. This only has to be done once per shoe for life. I never have to untie them. Just slide on and off. The bottom of the shoes wear out before the laces ever come loose.

Doesn't work as well for boots though, and tying a fisherman's knot while wearing snow gloves is a pain.

Re: The “Granny Knot”

#164

Post by matt_trentini » Tue, Apr 20, 2021, 2:42 AM UTC

wffurr wrote: post #102

lmilcin wrote: post #90

My favorite shoelace knot is berluti knot. https://www.bestshoe99.in/how-to-tie-shoelaces/ It is symmetrical, it looks beautiful, it takes about as much time to tie and it has exactly zero chance of untying itself. It has never failed me since I learned it.

The Berluti knot looks a lot like "Ian's secure knot" mentioned in other threads: https://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/secureknot.htm

Slightly different. And also covered on Ian's Shoelace Site: https://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/berluti-knot.htm

Re: The “Granny Knot”

#165

Post by sp332 » Tue, Apr 20, 2021, 2:46 AM UTC

egypturnash wrote: post #42

oh man Ian's Shoelace Site is such a beautiful piece of what the web should be.

It's gotten a refresh since the last time I saw it. I didn't recognize it at first but the writing style is pretty unmistakable. https://web.archive.org/web/20181102121447/https://www.fiegg...

Re: The “Granny Knot”

#166

Post by sebmellen » Tue, Apr 20, 2021, 2:56 AM UTC

kibwen wrote: post #155

elliekelly wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is there a word or a phrase for this phenomenon? When something becomes a habit requiring no thought at all and then, when forced to actually think about it, the brain draws a complete blank?

Yes, "the centipede effect": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Centipede%27s_Dilemma

What a great poem:

“A centipede was happy – quite!

Until a toad in fun

Said, "Pray, which leg moves after which?"

This raised her doubts to such a pitch,

She fell exhausted in the ditch

Not knowing how to run.“

Re: The “Granny Knot”

#167

Post by m463 » Tue, Apr 20, 2021, 3:04 AM UTC

iandinwoodie wrote: post #6

A few years ago I switched from the "Granny Knot" to the "Ian Knot" [0] in order to (1) eliminate the need for "double knotting" and (2) straighten the bow. Despite the few embarrassing times early in the process where friends observed me struggling to tie my shoes, I can confidently say the switch has been worth it. [0] https://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/ianknot.htm

I have shoes I do not untie. For example, I have some mocassins for around the house with a rawhide lace that is basically a decoration. But it comes untied!

So for those kinds of things, I use the ian secure knot: https://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/secureknot.htm

Actually, with the rawhide nonsense on one pair, even that would eventually come loose so I zip-tied the middle of the knot. :)

Re: The “Granny Knot”

#168

Post by m463 » Tue, Apr 20, 2021, 3:08 AM UTC

stouset wrote: post #59

b112 wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't know why, but the picture of the shoe, with the knot at the toe end of the shoe, makes me angry. I mean, literally angry, very angry, yet there is zero valid reason to be that emotionally charged about it. Intellectually, I wonder "how will one get their shoe off, without lots of work". Yet the anger is intense for some inane reason. Now I wonder if I need therapy, due to some shoe related horror in the past.

I think you're mis-seeing that picture. The darker area isn't the toe box, it's the inside of the shoe as seen from the tip of the tongue. Hope that makes you feel better.

It's like the guy sharing cookies story.

Re: The “Granny Knot”

#169

Post by m463 » Tue, Apr 20, 2021, 3:11 AM UTC

Kozmik1 wrote: post #31

As others have mentioned, Ian's knots has great reccommendations, but overlooked is the "surgeon's knot". This one has two twists instead of the normal one, and comes out like a square knot if done right. It won't come untied by itself, ever. But you can untie it by tugging on the tails of the laces. You can do this one with a thumb on the initial bend, unlike the "bunny ears" style knots. It's a hell of a lot better…

why did that get a lower rating than ian's secure knot?

Is it the security/convenience ratio?

security=1/convenience

EDIT: Wait! I didn't notice this:

"Now, simply pull the loops to tighten the knot. The whole twisted mess of the previous drawing will rearrange itself into exactly the same finished knot as my Ian's Secure Shoelace Knot."

Re: The “Granny Knot”

#170

Post by Fricken » Tue, Apr 20, 2021, 3:15 AM UTC

I'm 44. I've been a sea cadet, a rock climber, and a boy scout, so I have plenty of experience handling ropes and tying knots.

I learned how to tie my shoes correctly 2 years ago. I've been doing wrong my whole life.