DBRT 004: The art of the self-tie

It’s time to begin the actual tying part of this journey! Luckily, as an assistant and apprentice to TheDuchy, I already have a good understanding of the basics. I’ve got the Foundations class down pat. Lark’s Head Single Column, Lark’s Head Double Column, the Four Fundamental Knots, the Shinju, the Crotch Rope….I mean *Unchastity Belt* of course. ::sigh:: I hate to say it but, stop trying to make “fetch” happen, Lazarus <3.

Ahem, anyways! I can also do a basic Hishi Karada, a few rope corsets (probably?), and all of the various scenes that can be crafted from those basic ties. Unfortunately, now I have to use my brain and try to come up with a few scenes that will be emotionally transformative, physically impactful, not awkward, and within my skillset – not too hard, not too easy. I also need to look and feel extremely cool while doing all of it. And I need to feel comfortable being in someone else’s personal space.

……..I don’t know how to do any of that.

Maybe I need to set the bar a little lower. Maybe I just need to practice putting rope on a body. Maybe I just start with my body.

I’ve done a few self ties in the past when I’ve gotten a bee in my bonnet about learning how to tie. I did a Shinju in the past for a Rocky Horror Picture Show screening in red nylon which looked quite nice over my black turtleneck. I also got a compliment on it from one of the actors in the show which was such a treat! I love meeting freaky people in the wild. With the help of a mirror, I was able to do most of the harness on my own, but I did ask Master for some help locking things off in the back.

I’ve also tried to do some “chaos rope” on myself before, but I don’t know enough of the principles of frictions and diametric tension to meaningfully improvise. You need to learn what the rules are before you can break them.

Having done a little more self-tying last night, I am reminded of how much less fun it is to tie on myself. Well, to be fair, I didn’t exactly make an evening out of it or anything. If I really wanted to make it a fair comparison, I would set aside a specific time where the mood is set and nothing else is pulling my focus but me and the rope. I would also have a better idea of what I actually want to do. I just messed around with some Lark’s Head Extended Double Columns and a Single Column collar and lead.

Take two: I set aside some time on a sunny day to mess around some more with my ropes and this time was much more successful! Here’s what was different:

1. I started tying when I was already in a good mood. Why was I in a good mood? Because I felt cute. Sometimes taking a shower and prettying myself up does wonders for my outlook on life.
2. I tied in a cosy little corner with no other distractions around (other than my phone goddamnit). I didn’t have to run around to get a meal started or feel time pressure to get ready for bed. I wasn’t half paying attention to a movie or being interrupted.
3. I had a plan, kind of! I’d written out a list of ties I already know how to tie, and marked which ones I couldn’t tie from memory. Then I picked one of those ties and looked up a tutorial on TheDuchy and did my best to follow along. I think I did it right? This time I chose the Swiss Seat, which I first tied at a workshop at Ropecraft taught by Shay Tiziano. That was also my first self suspension (yes, I realize that’s kind of wild to say given that I consider myself to be a “Baby Rope Top”, but in my defense, I didn’t actually want to self suspend that day. I just sort of fell into it due to a slight miscommunication on my part. Also, I had the direct supervision of a very experienced rope Top, though I was still sweating bullets the whole time. Talk about jumping into the deep end!).
4. I set the mood. Again, kind of. Music is a big part of my life, and part of the fun of getting excited to start creating my own rope scenes is making playlists! So far I’ve made two; “Casual Rope ” and “Vibe-y Rope” because I couldn’t come up with a better name. I think that gets the point across? Not sure. Anyways, I put on my “Casual Rope” playlist and had a lovely time listening to my tunes. It was very … “Gen-Z-child-of-Boomer-parents-with-a-Millennial-sibling” if you know what I mean? An eclectic mix.

I would say this second round was far more successful than the first self-tie attempt.

Takeaways:

• Set aside some time and space that is pleasant and unhurried for self-tying since it’s harder to keep my spirits up when I’m not playing off of another person.
• Overhand knots are harder to pull through than Matthew Walker knots, so that’s got to be something to learn soon.
• Use the bathroom *before* tying a hip harness!
• Maybe have a snack or beverage on hand next time?
• This rope does like to twist around and isn’t very tightly twisted, so it hyper-threads easily. Now I see why Master didn’t use the ropes from this spool for teaching. It’s definitely a beginner set, and not something that I’ll tie with long term. But it’s enough for now!

This writing is part of a series called “Diary of a Baby Rope Top” by Kajira Blue, the rest of which can be found at TheDuchy.com/blogs.