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One Handed Shoelace Knot
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Here's the ideal way to tie shoelaces with one hand: Lace the shoe with the bottom end permanently tied off, then
secure the top end with a simple loop knot.
NOTE: The following lacing diagrams are upside-down compared to the other
Lacing Methods on this site, as they are drawn from the perspective of tying the shoe.
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Step 1:
Start by tying the shoelace onto one of the eyelets nearest the toe (top left in the above diagram). Lace the shoe
similar to
Straight Easy Lacing until the lace is fed into the last eyelet (bottom left in the above diagram).
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Step 2:
The loose end (yellow) is now fed across and back out through the opposite eyelet (bottom right in the above
diagram). This second pass of shoelace through the eyelet keeps this knot nice and tight.
NOTE: When loosening the lacing to remove the shoe,
don't pull this lace all the way out, as it's difficult to feed in each time.
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Step 3:
Create a loop with the loose end (yellow) sitting across the final straight section of lace (blue). This is easy
to do by holding the loose end between the right thumb and forefinger, then forming the loop around the right thumb.
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Step 4:
Feed a new loop of lace underneath the straight section (blue) and out through the previous loop. The lace is fed
underneath with the right forefinger, meeting up with the thumb (which should still be inside the previous loop).
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Step 5:
Start to pull the new loop downwards and across to the right. Take care not to pull the loose end all the way out!
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Step 6:
Continue pulling the loop until it sits snug and close to the eyelet.
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Finished Knot
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When pulled tight, the knot should be tightly bunched against the eyelet, which will then stay quite secure
(unlike many other one-handed shoelace knots). |
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Technical Details
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Even / Odd Number of Eyelet Pairs:
For shoes with an EVEN number of eyelet pairs (such as the four pairs in the above diagrams), the knot that anchors
the start of the lacing should be diagonally opposite the finishing knot.
For shoes with an ODD number of eyelet pairs (such as the five pairs in the photo at left), the anchoring knot
should be on the same side as the finishing knot.
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Variations:
1. This lacing favours the right hand because the knot ends up on the right side. Simply reverse the instructions
(mirror image) to end up with the knot on the left side.
2. The recommended way to anchor the start of the lacing is to feed the lace through the eyelet and then tie the
lace back onto itself. In other words, knot the lace onto the eyelet (as shown in the above photo). Alternatively,
the lace can simply be knotted and fed through the eyelet from underneath (which hides the knot, but which can feel
uncomfortable) or from above (which is more comfortable, but which looks messy).
3. While the recommended lacing method is
Straight Easy Lacing, other lacing methods can be used instead, particularly
Shoe Shop Lacing. The reversed
One Handed Lacing can also be used, with the otherwise loose end passed all the way back up the shoe to emerge
from the last eyelet.
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NOTE:
This knot is mainly for the benefit of people with limited capacity, either temporary or permanent, who are unable
to use both hands to tie their shoelaces. It's not intended as a cute one-handed "party trick" for able-bodied
people! As anyone who tries it will soon discover, it's still a fairly tricky knot to tie (though hopefully easier
than some of the other one-handed shoelace knots that I've seen).
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If you do choose to give this knot a rating (below), please consider how it rates as a serious one-handed shoelace
knot, not how it rates as a "party trick".
