LLX > Neil Parker > String Figures > Jayne
1. Opening A.
2. Pass thumbs over far thumb string and under index loop. Pick up far index strings, and return under near index strings. Release indexes.
3. Transfer little finger loops to thumbs.
4. Insert little fingers from below into lower and middle thumb loops, and then to the far side of the upper far thumb string (that runs straight across). Hook little fingers down over this string, and pull it down through the middle and lower thumb loops.
5. Insert index fingers from above into upper and middle thumb loops, and then to the near side of the lower near thumb string (that runs straight across). Turning indexes away and up, pull the lower near thumb string up through the middle and upper thumb loops, so that it becomes the new near index string. Release thumbs.
6. Pass thumbs between palms and near little finger strings (the ones that run up toward the indexes). Then bend thumbs toward each other and then toward you, picking up the near little finger strings. Release little fingers.
7. You now have a figure with two large double-walled diamonds in the middle. Insert little fingers from below into the diamonds (each little finger into the diamond nearest it), and hook down the pairs of diagonal diamond-wall strings nearest the thumbs.
8. Combine thumb loops by transferring left thumb loop to right thumb, and then inserting left thumb from below into both right thumb loops.
9. Insert thumbs from below into index loops and return, pulling near index strings through thumb loops (which slip off), the near index strings becoming new near thumb strings.
10. With hands positioned so that thumbs are pointing up and little fingers (hooked over their strings) are pointing down, place the figure on your lap or a table, and completely withdraw your fingers from the strings.
11. Pointing little fingers away from you, pass them from below into the near (former thumb) loops, and hook them over the near (former thumb) string. At the same time pass thumbs from above into the far (former little finger) loops, and pick up the far (double, former far little finger) strings.
12. Separate the two near thumb strings so that the loops hooked around them in the middle are not tangled up with each other. Then pass indexes from above into upper thumb loops, and pick up the upper near thumb string. Release the upper loops from the thumbs, and separate thumbs and indexes widely.
To dissolve this figure without making tangled knots, first release little fingers and separate the hands.
[Jenness 1924]'s figure XLVIII ("The Kayak") produces the same (or almost the same) result by a slightly different method:
1 through 4. The same as steps 1 through 4 above.
5. Bend indexes down in front of all strings, and then away from you and up into all three thumb loops from below. Release thumbs.
6. One of the three near index strings goes straight across between the indexes, with no other strings looped over it. With the thumbs, push this string, and no other, off the indexes onto the far side. Then pass thumbs away through index loops, and catch on their backs the string just pushed off, and return through the index loops. (This is a rather difficult move...I find it helps, when pushing the straight near index string off, to catch it with the middle fingers so that it doesn't fall too far to be picked up by the thumbs again.)
7 and 8. The same as step 8 and 9 above. (In step 9 there are two near index strings - pick them both up as if they were one string.)
9. The same as step 12 above.
LLX > Neil Parker > String Figures > Jayne