Hitched

And what did my wandering eyes behold? Something new to me!

These are Hitched Bottles.  I've seen many a bottle wrapped with yarn or raffia or jute.  I've heard of a hitch knot.  But never in all my born days have I encountered a hitched bottle.

A bit of investigation confirmed my suspicion.  This type of art is only new to me - - it has a huge number of practitioners.  Knotting around a bottle or container is quite old. 

One obvious current use is a water bottle sling.  Here I'm not talking about a  crochet or knitted carrier into which the bottle is inserted.  This is all about working the string/yarn around the bottle, knot by knot.

This is a good overview of a simple technique that is called a netted bottle.  Same concept as the hitched bottle. 

Self-Made Sailor has some interesting things (and a recipe) over here.  I love the bottom of the bottles.  Do click on over and have a look see.

Further investigation turned up the International Guild of Knot Tyers (IGKT) which just proves that knots are quite a serious matter. 

So what is my point?  Simply this.  A length of fiber is a valuable thing that has practical use AND makes for some mighty fine art.  Yeah for string!