http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v438/KarenLynn/Updos/knotbun1.jpg

Gather hair into ponytail, put two fingers over it, and loop the ponytail over your fingers. Wrap the length clockwise (twist if you like, but it's not necessary), grab it with your left thumb, and move right hand around to grasp the tail from the other side.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v438/KarenLynn/Updos/knotbun2.jpg

Now, grab the length with the two fingers that are in the loop, hold the loop with right thumb and index finger while pulling the length through it. Flatten the loop, and insert hair toy of choice across it. And that's all! I'm just leaving the ends sticking out, at least for now. There's just a couple of inches of them anyway.

A bigger pic of the finished style.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v438/KarenLynn/Updos/Pic129.jpg

It can also be secured with a fork, hair sticks, etc.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v438/KarenLynn/May%202006/Pic132.jpg

Depending on length, you can wrap it twice around before pulling it through the loop, or pull it through first and wrap it another round afterwards.


Edited to add pictures by Amari and her explanation of how she uses a stick to secure it. Thanks, Amari! The pictures are clickable thumbnails.
[/URL]
[URL="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v404/jgmckillip/stickithere.jpg"]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v404/jgmckillip/th_stickithere.jpg (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v404/jgmckillip/stuckitthere.jpg)
Here I've made the knot and pulled the loop through. I stick a fork in where my finger is pointing. The knot kind of turned a little bit.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v404/jgmckillip/th_stuckitthere.jpg (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v404/jgmckillip/stuckitthere.jpg)
Finally, I've stuck the stick through the loop, across the back of the knot and came out on the other side just above the first loop on the left.

All of my forks are too dark to show up well so I used a light colored stick.

Hope this helps.

I love this style. Looks gorgeously elaborate, yet is quick and easy to do, once you get it down.

Thanks for posting such excellent directions! (Love the ficcare, too!)

Very clear instructions and nice updo :) Thanks!

i dont get it, how come yours is so snug? i cant make one that doesnt fall apart :(

Wow, I just tried it. So easy and fast.
The pictures are fantastic

I secured it with a Ficcare beak and it worked great.

I love how it looks sort of braided.

I know how I'm wearing my hair tomorrow.

Thankyou :bowtome:

I'm glad you like it!

joyinc - I wrap it fairly snugly over my fingers, and quite tightly around before pulling it through the loop. I still prefer a Ficcare type thing over sticks/forks to hold it, though I know some consistently make the latter work. I have to admit I'm actually not sure how they do it!

This has become one of my favorite buns, KarenLynn!

oooh! I can't wait to do this one! I love buns and knots and I feel more confident in doing them, so this will be one to try!

This is my favorite style. I've been wearing it since you first put the instructions up.

I use a fork to secure it by sticking it in where the length becomes a loop after pulled through. (Gah! There's no way to make that sound right.)

Amari - you'll have to illustrate, then. :gabigrin: The few times i've used a fork or sticks, I've inserted them in the loop (the one the length later gets pulled through) and out between the base of that loop and the wrapped-around length.

Y'know, that probably didn't make one bit of sense either. :lol: Not that it matters much, as I can't make it either comfortable or secure that way. It just seems like the logical place to put it, but it clearly is not the optimal place.

I'll see if I can get a decent picture to show how I do it. Give me a bit.

thanks KL :) I'll have to give it a try with a ficcare

oh I can't wait to try this. It's beautiful! Thanks for the post!

I wore this style all day yesterday and it felt like it wasn't even there. I didn't get the usual pulling, soreness, or sensation of having a rock tied to my hairline. It's my new favorite! Thank you!

KarenLynn, I finally have almost decent pictures. Where do you want them?

Amari - thanks for taking pictures! :flowers: It'd probably be good to edit them into the original post, if that's ok with you? Maybe you could post them here, and I could just copy them to the first post.

No problem. Keep in mind that my claim to fame isn't photography.
[/URL]
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v404/jgmckillip/th_stickithere.jpg (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v404/jgmckillip/stuckitthere.jpg)
Here I've made the knot and pulled the loop through. I stick a fork in where my finger is pointing. The knot kind of turned a little bit.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v404/jgmckillip/th_stuckitthere.jpg (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v404/jgmckillip/stuckitthere.jpg)
Finally, I've stuck the stick through the loop, across the back of the knot and came out on the other side just above the first loop on the left.

All of my forks are too dark to show up well so I used a light colored stick.

Hope this helps.
[URL="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v404/jgmckillip/stickithere.jpg"]

joyinc - I hope you can make it work!

Amari - thanks so much for posting your pictures. I've edited them into the first post as well.

I'm having a little bit of difficulty finding a comfortable way to secure the bun. I'm guessing because it is so compact, it is harder to find way to distribute the weight. I tried with some Amish hair pins, and that seemed to help a little bit once my scalp adjusted to it. I've tried adjusting the height with little success. Any other ideas?

icydove - not off the top of my head, I have to admit. Well, maybe... The only thing I can think of is doing a half-up first, and use that clip to anchor the knot, essentially what I did in the as yet unnamed predecessor to the KL knot here. (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showpost.php?p=743043&postcount=193) You could make the half-up lower, and still pull the ends through like for the knot.

Hope that helps some! (I'd love to hear if it does.)

Woohoo, got it! Nice knot, thanks a lot for the explanations. That makes 4 different updos I can do with my ficcare!

Man, I must be functionally retarted on this one. I can NOT get this thing to work. I sort of get the right shape, but it's huge and loose and the tail flops out all strange and it doens't look right once it's tucked behind. I think I've got it up through the pull through part, but somewhere around there through the flattening of the loop, something is gong wrong. Any suggestions?

I tried this and it worked. :) Although it's very thick, stands about 3" from my scalp. I think my hair is too strong to be flattened down. There's no way I can secure it with a Ficcare, but hair forks worked pretty well. Nightshade I think the trick is to pull the hair through without loosening the knot.

Thanks for the great pics, KarenLynn!! It makes it so much easier for those of us (like me) who are so very challenged when it comes to visualizing written instructions!!! :)

GG

Nightshade - I'm not sure I have any better ideas than what sapphire-o suggested. Maybe pulling gently on the tail would tighten the loop a litte?

Celtic Queen, sapphire-o and Gaelic Girl - I'm glad it worked for you!

My new-found goal is to have hair long enough to do this absolutely gorgeous knot!

Oh man, how on earth am I supposed to do this with BSL hair? I just canīt do it. Not enough hair to pull through the loop.

I hope this means I have thick hair rather than Iīm too dumb. :pinkgrin:

whew! I think I'm going to need classic length hair or longer to pull this one off. I'm almost waist length again and I can't even get my length wrapped around the loop. :shake: I love my thick hair, but I'm having some serious hair envy here. I want to be able to do these neat knots that you ladies are accomplishing with ease!

I had better luck using a combonation of this style and this one (http://www.dressytresses.com/hair/gallery/instruct/hair-knot/)over at dressy tresses.

Well, I guess that's one advantage of thin hair. I care barely do this and my hair is i/ii at BSL (if stretched, but that's what counts for updos anyway). I notice that I can't do it low at the nape though, only if I put it higher on my head.

I GOT IT! I GOT IT!!

Where the hell is that dancing bananna!? Ahh... :hollie: there he is

I wasn't folding the main loop downwards. I love this bun :D

Calista - I can imagine BSL hair would be a bit short for this. Mine was... *checks chart* about 29 inches when I first tried it, and I only had about an inch worth of ends sticking out. As always, though, it depends on thickness.

Nightshade - woo! :hollie: I'm glad you could make it work. :gabigrin:

Thicker-haired ladies, you could try it as a half-up, or making one knot above the other. For what it's worth, I wouldn't mind trying out some more thickness. ;)

Nightshade - woo! :hollie: I'm glad you could make it work. :gabigrin:
It took me three tries last night and today I had it well enough to wear it to work secured with my black widow fork (http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f80/SaliceMalkin/BWHairComb.jpg). Very comfortable and very secure. This is a perfect time for me to learn a new bun as I have enough growth that my other standard bun is starting to get wonky and I don't know what to do with it yet. :rolleyes: I just hope that when I hit my goal length all my favorite styles still work.

Can you post pics in article threads? Here goes..

http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f80/SaliceMalkin/KnotBun.jpg

I somehow ended up with four or five loops in there (prehaps because I tucked the tail and wrapped it?) Anyway I like my Gordian Knot :D

gorgeous knot! and i got it on the first try. yay me! i'm wearing it to class tomorrow.

Nightshade - those 'eek, all my styles stopped working' lengths really are something, aren't they? Thanks so much for posting your picture. It looks wonderful! :D

coffeemachine - glad you could make it work! :thumbsup:

I wear my hair this way with a ficcare allll the time. :) It took me a little while to figure out how to get it reasonably tight, and I have yet to be able to secure it with a hairfork or stick, but I'm still working on it. It looks a bit silly on me, though--I have several inches of ends hanging out and since my hair does the corkscrew curl thing at the ends, I basically have a corkscrew curl sticking straight out of the back of my head, parallel to the ground! It bounces when I walk--I can occasionally see it in my shadow. My friends think it's hilarious. :)