Page:String Figures and How to Make Them.djvu/83

52 Bend each thumb away from you, and pull down the lower near string of the four strings forming the two loops held out by the loop passing around the thumb and index (Fig. 105, Right hand), and extend the figure between the index fingers and thumbs, holding the palms of the hands away from you (Fig. 106).

On the completion of this figure, you will want to have the string again as a single loop, but unless you are careful it will get very much tangled. The way to

prevent this is as follows: Place the completed figure on your lap, and draw apart the straight strings which form the top and bottom of the figure; then the string will pull out into a single loop. This is true for practically all string figures. I have put "Many Stars" as the first of a series of ten Navaho figures, which are all done in much the same way, but come out in characteristic patterns in the

end. They all start with Opening A, or a modification of it; after that, however, some go on as "Many Stars," but end differently; others have a few new movements and then end with some from "Many Stars," while others begin and end as "Many Stars," but have different intermediate movements.