Standard Shoelace Knot

Standard Shoelace Knot diagram

Also known as the “Bunny Rabbit” or the “Loop, Swoop and Pull” knot, this is probably the most common method for tying shoes. Make a loop with one end, wrap the other end around and pull a loop through the “hole” in the middle.

Step 1:

Begin with regular “Starting Knot”

Begin with a regular Left-over-Right Starting Knot.

Step 2:

Fold right (blue) end into a “loop”

Make the right (blue) end into a “loop” by simply doubling it back onto itself.

Step 3:

Pass left (yellow) end behind loop

Take the left (yellow) end and pass it around to the right, going behind the right loop.

Step 4:

Finish wrapping around the loop

Continue the left (yellow) end around the right loop to end up in front.

Step 5:

Push left (yellow) loop into “hole”

Start to push the left (yellow) lace into the “hole” that has just been made.

Step 6:

Loop emerges out the right side

The yellow lace comes out through the back of the hole to form a right (yellow) loop.

Step 7:

Pull tight to complete the knot

Grab hold of both loops and pull tight to complete the knot.

NOTE: If your finished knot comes out crooked, it's probably because you tie your Starting Knot the opposite way to mine. This will result in an un-balanced “Granny Knot”, which sits crooked and comes undone more easily. See my Granny Knot page for more information.

Technical Details

Technical Name

This knot appears in The Ashley Book of Knots as #1212 and #1214, “The Bowknot”, where it is described as “... the universal means of fastening shoe-strings together.” However, Ashley does not illustrate the steps, and only briefly describes the procedure (which is actually more like the Two Loop Shoelace Knot).

Other Common Names:

1. “Bunny Rabbit (Around The Tree) Knot”

This name refers to the story that is often used to help children remember the steps:

  1. First create the tree roots (tie the Starting Knot);
  2. Next create the tree trunk (form the first loop);
  3. Rabbit runs around the tree (wrap the loose end around the loop);
  4. Rabbit sees you and hops into the hole (feed through the hole);
  5. Rabbit escapes out the back (emerge and pull tight).

A simpler rhyme based on this apparently aired on an episode of the TV show “Full House”:

  1. Over under (starting knot);
  2. Around the tree (form first loop and run loose end around it);
  3. Hop through the bunny hole (feed through the hole);
  4. Pull and see! (pull loop through and tighten knot).

(As remembered by visitor Lizzy M., Dec-2017)

2. “Loop, Swoop and Pull Knot”

This name refers to the three main stages of this knot:

  1. Loop one end;
  2. Swoop the other end around the loop;
  3. Pull a loop through the “hole” formed by the swoop.

This name possibly originates from the 1999 movie Big Daddy, in which the phrase was used several times, and is also the title of the 2006 book of the same name.

3. “One Loop Shoelace Knot”

This name is generally only used in discussions where the knot is being compared to the Two Loop Shoelace Knot and simply differentiates the One Loop / Two Loop variants.

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This page last updated: 27-May-2023. Copyright © 2003-2023 by Ian W. Fieggen. All rights reserved.

Website created by Ian Fieggen (aka. “Professor Shoelace”), inventor of the Ian Knot.

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