There are two knots that are very useful when it comes to babywearing: the square knot and the slip knot. I’m going to give you a short tutorial on both this week.
Sometimes when you’ve been babywearing for awhile, you think you know quite a bit: and then someone comes along and shows you a trick. The attendants at the Die Trageschule babywearing course showed me a few tricks last week and this was one of them: teach people about knots using a wrap with two different colours. So here goes!
The square knot is useful as an alternative to the usual double knot. It sits much flatter against the back and makes it much more comfortable for the wearer. It’s very easy to do. Start with both ends of your wrap.
Cross them over as you would when you start a new knot.
Then fold the black tail under the green tail and through. You have a half knot.
If you can tie your shoelaces, it’s been easy so far. Now, this bit is different. Place the black tail over the green side again, bringing it back to its original side.
Fold the black tail through the hole and tighten. You have a square knot.
It sits very flat, and is much more comfortable if you are tying behind yourself and want to sit down and lean backwards. Like most things in baby wearing, it’s ridiculously simple when you know how.
If you’d like to practise with your own “knot-learning wrap”- just grab two different coloured scarves and knot them together at one end. The loose ends can be used to practise your knots.
Tomorrow, we’ll try the slip knot. Once you’ve mastered that, you’ve mastered every knot you’ll ever need while babywearing. Easy!
