Thursday, March 16, 2006

How to tie your shoelaces

As a father to a young child, I'm constantly worrying about all the things I should be teaching him to equip him for the big, wide world.

I tied his shoes this morning, only for him to have untied them in seconds with the laces still an object of fascination. On the walk into work, my shoelaces came undone once again. Hardly satisfactory.

I've tied my shoes up in exactly the same way for as long as I can remember, with the only change being a double knot if I'm feeling particularly diligent.

With my nautical upbringing I've learnt and forgotten countless knots, so why did it never occur to me to try and tie my shoelaces in a different way? Sometimes it pays to look at things through the eyes of a child.

I was interested therefore to read in a several different posts about Ian's Shoelace Site with the amusing tagline 'Bringing you the fun, fashion & science of shoelaces'. I've experimented with the tricky but recommended Ian Knot and in the interests of 'fun, fashion & science' have tied one lace with that knot and the other with a conventional knot.

I'll let you know which comes undone first. Riveting stuff, I'm sure you'll agree.

The internet is wonderful for finding this kind of niche information and a reminder not just to keep learning, but to keep challenging what you have already learnt.

A good lesson for youngster and not so youngster alike.

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