New Thing #131--Tie it Right

My tennis shoes are forever coming untied. It doesn't matter if I'm just walking down the street or exercising at the gym, if I don't double knot them before I start I'll have to stop and retie them. Someone pointed out to me that the floppy lace problem was because I was tying my shoes the wrong way, so today I learned a better way to tie my shoes.

I actually found a Website that's dedicated to the art of tying shoes! Ian's Shoelace Site discusses the difference between an insecure Granny Knot (which is what I've been using all these years) and the more secure balanced shoelace knot, which sits flat across the shoe. I tried his suggestions today. My bows came out straight, flat, and balanced. More importantly, they did NOT come untied during the hour I had my tennies on.

There's only one difference in the knots. In the first cross-over of the shoestrings, before you make the loop, if you normally cross the left lace over the right, then switch things around and cross the right lace over the left then tie the loop part like you always do.

From now on, I'll use this ditty to help me remember the correct method:

Right over left, left over right,
Makes a knot both tidy and tight.

Maybe it will help me when I tie other types of bows too?