Shady Side Knot Works

Shady Side Knot Works Shady Side Knot Works creates handmade nautical marlinspike knotwork for your boat, cottage, and home. I have always been drawn to nautical art.

I spent most of my childhood growing-up along the Connecticut shore and had the opportunity to spend quite a bit of time admiring scrimshaw, marlinspike works, and other forms of sailor art. I had a great fondness of visiting places like the Mystic Seaport and learning about the whaling and clipper ships that were integral to the area history. I eventually departed to serve in the military, but al

ways knew I would make my back to the water. It took a while, but my family and I were finally able to get back to the water's edge when we settled on Maryland's Shady Side peninsula--immediately taking advantage of all the rich history and activities the Chesapeake had to offer! I started making Nantucket sailor's bracelets for my daughters to wear, just like my wife and I wore when we were kids. I rediscovered marlinspike work and it has turned into a real passion for me and my daughters who now tie their own bracelets, bell ropes, and even knit their personal crab nets. All of our works are made in our home/studio by the bay--handcrafted one at a time with quality materials, workmanship, and attention to detail. We create useful works that are also pleasing to the eye and continue to promote our love of this art form.

Custom ordered 9.5" US Flag bell rope. Fashioned with steel thimble, 16 oyster knot "stars," a hand shaved/shaped taper ...
06/04/2020

Custom ordered 9.5" US Flag bell rope. Fashioned with steel thimble, 16 oyster knot "stars," a hand shaved/shaped taper on the lower rope, and a star knot button on the bottom

9" custom made Stars and Stripes bell rope with brass thimble. Small oyster knots on the upper half and covered in varyi...
03/21/2020

9" custom made Stars and Stripes bell rope with brass thimble. Small oyster knots on the upper half and covered in varying sizes of cotton line.

This bell rope measures approximately 12 inches in length from top to bottom and 1 1/2 inches in diameter across the lar...
01/27/2020

This bell rope measures approximately 12 inches in length from top to bottom and 1 1/2 inches in diameter across the large bottom knot. The knotted covering of the bell rope is tied in a crown sinnet pattern with two graduated steps, each covered in turk's head knots, along its length. The bottom of the rope is capped off with a large turk's head and a five-point star knot button. The eye of the piece is made around a thimble to ensure durability in use. The entire body of the rope is constructed in orange nylon line--from core to covering.

Handmade in orange nylon line with brass thimble. Nylon line from core to covering knots, done in #18 and #24 line. Th...
01/05/2020

Handmade in orange nylon line with brass thimble. Nylon line from core to covering knots, done in #18 and #24 line. The rope over all is just shy of 7" in length.

Just wrapping up building a custom bell rope for client in orange nylon... new type of line presented some challenges, b...
01/05/2020

Just wrapping up building a custom bell rope for client in orange nylon... new type of line presented some challenges, but in the end came together nicely.

Bell rope measuring approximately 7 3/4 inches in length from top to bottom and 2 1/4 inches in diameter across the larg...
09/09/2019

Bell rope measuring approximately 7 3/4 inches in length from top to bottom and 2 1/4 inches in diameter across the large bottom knot. The knotted covering of the bell rope is tied in a crown sinnet pattern with a turk's head knot in the middle of its length. The rope is constructed from tarred nylon line from core-to-covering so as to resist the elements when in use outdoors. The bottom of the rope is capped off with a basket weave covering. The eye of the piece is made around a brass thimble to ensure durability when in use.

This bell rope measures approximately 10 inches in length from top to bottom and 1 1/2 inches in diameter across the lar...
08/22/2019

This bell rope measures approximately 10 inches in length from top to bottom and 1 1/2 inches in diameter across the large bottom knot. The knotted covering of the bell rope is tied in a crown sinnet pattern with two graduated steps, each covered in turk's head knots, along its length. The bottom of the rope is finished with a small star knot button. The eye of the piece is made around a brass thimble to ensure durability in use. The entire body of the rope is constructed with tarred nylon line--from core to covering.

This bell rope measures approximately 16 inches in length from top to bottom and 2 1/4 inches in diameter across the lar...
06/30/2019

This bell rope measures approximately 16 inches in length from top to bottom and 2 1/4 inches in diameter across the large bottom knot. The knotted covering of the bell rope is tied in a crown sinnet pattern with three graduated steps covered in turkshead knots along its length, all in black tarred nylon line. The bottom of the rope is capped off with a basket weave cap. The eye of the piece is made around a brass thimble to ensure durability when in use.

Made to order black tarred nylon bell rope with stainless steel thimble—working ends of the covering knots still need to...
04/01/2019

Made to order black tarred nylon bell rope with stainless steel thimble—working ends of the covering knots still need to be trimmed

Small custom made leater bell pull
04/01/2019

Small custom made leater bell pull

An elegant 3-tiered nautical ship's bell rope crafted in white cotton line. This bell rope measures approximately 15 1/2...
10/30/2018

An elegant 3-tiered nautical ship's bell rope crafted in white cotton line. This bell rope measures approximately 15 1/2 inches in length from top to bottom and 1 5/8 inches in diameter across the large bottom knot. The piece is constructed around a rope-wrapped wooden dowel core to ensure the finished bell rope stays straight when hung. The knotted covering of the bell rope is tied in a crown sinnet pattern along its length. The steps in the rope are covered with turk's head knots and the bottom of the rope is finished with a large turk's head and star knot button. The eye of the piece is fitted with a steel thimble to ensure durability when in use.

09/18/2018

Custom made for a client--Approx 8 3/4" long stepped bell rope. Core-to-covering made from black tarred nylon line with a brass thimble

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Shady Side, MD
20764

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