Page:String Figures and How to Make Them.djvu/167

134 and moving the hands away from you, release the loops from the little fingers and draw the strings tight.

You now have a loop on each thumb and a loop on the left index. The loop held by the teeth makes one twist near the mouth, and then the right string passes to the far side of the right index, around that finger and to the centre of the figure, while the left string goes at once to the centre of the figure and then to the far side of the left index, to form the left index loop.

Fifth: Turn the hands with the palms toward you and close the middle, ring and little fingers of the left hand down on the palm, over the thumb and index loops; and close the middle, ring and little fingers of the right hand down on the palm, over the near index string and the thumb loop (Fig. 296). Now put the tip of the right thumb against the tip of the. right index, and the tip of the left thumb against the tip of the left index, and turning the hands with the knuckles toward one another, and the palms down, put the thumb and index (still held together) of each hand down between the two strings of the loop held by the mouth, below (to the far side of) the twist in the loop (Fig. 297 ), The middle, ring and little fingers must be kept closed on the palms throughout the following movement.

By lifting the elbows and bending the hands down at the wrists, direct the thumb