When times got tough, Roy Chapman decided to tie knots.
Three years ago, while weathering tough economic times, Chapman, 65,
and his wife Alice sold their home in Marblemount and moved to an
apartment in Coupeville. Eventually, they found that living on Social
Security wasn’t enough, and Chapman decided he needed to find a way to
earn some money.
For 37 years, Chapman had worked as an engineer for the Bell
telephone system. No longer physically able to dig ditches or perform
other manual labor, he decided to focus on a skill he had always
enjoyed and was good at: tying knots.
“I thought, what can I do?” he said. “Here I have an already existing skill, and I applied it to make a dollar.”
For the past two years, Chapman has been selling his knot creations
at the Coupeville Farmers Market. Chapman uses knots to enliven a wide
range of items, from fishing floats and beckets – handles for a sea
chest – to a vintage-style grab strap for a 1934 Pierce Arrow
automobile.
He also finds new ways to use traditional knots such as key fobs, dog leashes and floor mats.
The beauty of his craft is reflected in the intricate mesh knot nets
that cover traditional Japanese fishing floats or give shape to
ornamental crosses and striking bracelets and necklaces.
Chapman’s passion for knots began when he was very young.
“I started when I was five,” he said. “My granddad taught me to
splice hay rope, and all the farm knots to tether animals and bundle up
things.”
As a boy he would earn money by gathering scraps of baling twine
from local farmers and using it to make rope. He would take it back to
those same farmers, and they would pay him money for what had been
turned into something they now found useful.
“That was before we invented the word ‘recycle,’” Chapman said with a laugh.
More intricate than rope, Chapman now creates both art and useful
items using his knotting skills. Among his most popular creations are
his dragonflies; the whimsical and dainty creatures adorn his hat like
a fisherman’s flies. Last year he sold about 300 of the hand-crafted
specimens at the Coupeville Farmers Market. However, the economic
recession seems to be having a bit of an impact on sales. So far this
year, he said, he has sold only six.
“People are beginning to know me, and I’m getting more big-order
projects and less impulse buys,” he said. “The markets are changing.”
In addition to selling his knot creations every Saturday for 10 a.m.
to 2 p.m. at the Coupeville Farmers Market, Chapman enjoys teaching the
skill to others. He has taught classes and tutorials for making mats
for mugs or floors and teaches practical knotting as well. An
accomplished knot tyer, he is a contributing writer for Knot News, a
publication of the Pacific Americas Branch of the International Guild
of Knot Tyers.
Chapman also gives lectures on the history of knotting and how it
has developed over time, and how humans have used the skill pretty much
since the dawn of civilization. In addition to appearing at the farmers
market every week, Chapman will show off his skills and creative
knotting at a booth at Whidbey Island Race Week on Saturday, July 17
and Sunday, July 18 at the Oak Harbor Yacht Club.
Chapman said that since he became a vendor at the Coupeville Farmers
Market, he has encountered a wide range of people who are interested in
learning to tie knots – from doctors to lawyers, and Native American
tribal leaders to interior decorators.
“Their eyes widen when realize what a wide array of things I do,” he said.
Chapman said it makes his day when a person shows an interest in knots and appreciation for his skill.
“There are many side benefits to being at the market. Meeting with
the community and people who are complimenting and recognizing the
skill feels good,” he said.
“And if they say you are really, really good, you begin to think, ‘Maybe it is OK.’”
He also appreciates the community of vendors he has become a part of at the market.
While he has taught many people the skill of knotting, his own
daughters and his wife’s children, grandchildren and
great-grandchildren haven’t learned to tie.
“This is the Nintendo age,” he said. “Kids just don’t have an
interest. And it’s just one of those things you can’t generate
interest.”
But that’s OK with Chapman. He recognizes many of the things that
once were made of rope have been replaced by something else, and that
even boaters hardly need to know how to tie a knot anymore.
Even though the skill has become a bit old-fashioned, he knows his
work finds an enthusiastic and appreciative audience at the market.
Still, creating art or useful items out of knots is not going to make
him rich.
“It’s a hard sell, but I love it,” he said. “It’s in my blood, it’s in my fingers.”
If you are interested in learning to tie knots or schedule a class, Chapman can be reached at 360-678-9032.
