CELTIC AND ASTURIAN KNOTS

Reecntly posted 12 knots to Aidan Meehan Celtic Design on facebook , (Recent Artwork album, #s 64-75)

(if you are on Facebook, you are welcome to join me there)

Celtic Knot, showing 5 x 2 dot grid and a breakline joining 2 dots in the middle of the grid, forming the path of the knot. This is the method of Celtic knot design used in the earliest Celtic manuscripts, from about the mid-7th century (from Book of Durrow onwards).

Asturian Knot #1 showing the same method of construction, based on a 10th-century manuscript from Spain.

Asturian Knot #2.

Same method, based on a 9 3 dot grid, with 3 horizontal break lines on the across the middle, and 2 horizontal breaks above and below. The top and bottom break lines span 3 dots each, the ones in the middle join two dots on either side, and 3 dots in the middle.

 You can count the number of spaces by reading at the dots from left to right along the middle. 

On the far left is a free-floating dot, followed by a break line connecting 2 dots, then a longer break across 3 dots, then another 2, and lastly another free single dot: 1+2+3+4+1=9. Since each of thse dots is a mid point of a square, you can tell this is a squre grid of 9 cells across.  

If you look at the ends on this knot, you can see 3 dots clearly visible one above the other, and so the grid is 3 rows deep and 9 column across. That's what I called this a 9 x 3 grid.   Given the grid, you can reproduce the dots, and join the corresponding dots on your grid where you see the breaklines on this knot. Then you can trace the path of the knot around the dots and breaklines,  with a pencil, and weave the knot with pairs of  lines running parallel to the line of the path. Then ink the crossovers sectment by segment, and fill in the background.  With practice, you can do this without pencil.. place dots with ink, and do it all in one go. 

(to be continued)

These knots have been posted to eBay a few dasy already,  auctions closing in the next day or two<: CHECK IT OUT!/p>