One thing that is clearly missing from my rope work is knots. I love Colombini's Knotty Knots, and I keep meaning to put the work in to learn it. However, my big problem is that it's another piece of rope to carry. In an indeal world, I could just cut off the red piece and use the rope for another routine. So, two questions:

(1) Anyone know any good knots?

(2) Anyone tried coloring rope?

Bye for now

Harold

Harold, I can't recommend any good knots (other than the usual slip knot), and I haven't tried coloring rope (would it really be better than buying it already colored?)...

...but I can say that (in my opinion) Knotty Knots is worth the effort. Once you master the setup, it becomes almost automatic, and the routine itself (even the basic one) is really just the repetition of a couple of simple moves.

I liked Mr. Colombini's patter, but devised some of my own that are more "me" and I think it's a gem of an effect, even if it is another piece of rope to carry (at least there's no gimmick to reset or lose!).

Best Regards,
Tim

There is absolutely no reason for you to avoid using the rope with the little red (or whatever color) section. You perform Knotty Knot show the rope as a whole and solid rope then go on into your ring and rope routine, etc. No big deal.

Coloring the rope. You can use colored “permanent” markers. They will do the job just fine. You can also get a bottle of fabric dye a couple of rubber bands to help keep the dye from bleeding (isolated) and paint the dye on. It is lot of work.

I prefer Daryl's Jumping Knot of Pakistan over Knotty Knot. In the instructions that come with the Jumping Knot, there is a technique for tying a slip knot, so that it looks like you're tying an overhand knot. The techniques is quite convincing, with a reasonable amount of practice.