Well, I’ll Be a Monkey’s . . . Paw?

As I tend to veer off of the beaten path, this post is going to be a bit off-beat, too. Imagine that.

First, I must confess to my Pinterest habit. Waaay too many of my sentences begin with, “I saw the coolest thing on Pinterest. . .”

Not only do I pin stuff, but I have actually made quite a few recipes that I found on the site.

But, there’s also a ton of DIY and craft-type projects that I’ve never attempted.

So, when The Pintester issued a challenge called The Pintester Movement to goad us into tackling that pin we’ve been putting off, I was totally up for it.

Because I have absolutely no craft skills whatsoever, I thought I’d try tying a Monkey’s Paw knot. They just look so darn nautical and I’ve always wanted to try making one.

After all, how hard could it be? (I know, famous last words akin to “Here, hold my beer . . .)

Well, I sat down with a ten-foot length of rope about as big as my little finger and took a deep breath. Sure, the instructions looked simple enough. You just wrap the rope around your hand three times . . .

And then you wrap the rope around that in a perpendicular fashion . . .

And, then you shove one end of rope up through the inside of the loops and wrap that around the other wraps, and . . . it looks exactly like a hot mess and you pull everything apart.

Fortunately, I’ve always been pretty good at untying knots!

So, I take another deep breath and try again. And, again. And, yet again.

These instructions are just not cutting it. At. All.

Off to Google I went.

Now, there’s a brand-spanking-new pin that shows how to tie this knot in a frame-by-frame view.

And . . . I’m getting closer. It’s sorta starting to kinda look almost right.

Just a couple more wraps and a bit of snugging up and Shazam! a miracle occurred in step 5!

I could have tidied it up by cutting off one end and tucking it inside before I tightened up the rope. Or, I could’ve been very traditional in the nautical way and put a rock inside of it for when I get into a bar fight with a derelict in some shady port of call.

No, seriously, sailors used to use this knot as a weapon and it was called a slungshot. I am not making this up!

So, I call my attempt a qualified success.  Granted, my patience was pretty well shot after an hour of sitting there untying knots.

Though, actually, I can’t believe my monkey’s paw (or monkey’s fist, whichever you prefer) knot turned out as well as it did. It ain’t perfect, but hey. . . I do see a new key fob in my future!

Thanks, Pintester, for giving me an extra shove!

Here’s hoping this post will inspire someone else to try tying this *&%#$ knot, or at least to step outside of their comfort zone.