>>Dussel+CR
The end result is the same as the regular way of tying it. perhaps you are doing a https://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/crossedianknot.htm by mistake

>>righth+(OP)
Some previous discussions:

2023 >>37646964

"Secure" 2024 >>42155457

"Ian" 2021 >>27728002

"Granny" 2021 >>26867300

"CIA" 2020 >>24091391

>>Dussel+CR

  Makes your laces sit a bit funny compared to regular

The 'sit a bit funny' issue is the classic symptom of 'the granny knot'.

If you have inadvertently been tying granny knots, you may notice:

1) Instead of the bows hanging to the sides, they naturally want to hang along the length of your show (one pointing diagonally away from you, and the other diagonally towards you).

2) Your shoelaces get undone often, unless you do a double knot.

The fix (whether you tie your bow using the regular way, bunny ears, or Ian Knot) is to reverse the direction of your initial knot.

If you watch this video I made, you will see that the Ian Knot (when done according to the instructions on Ian's site) results in the laces sit just how they should: https://youtu.be/JaBmehtalAY

>>righth+(OP)
I recently wrote an article about the Ian Knot, and what I’ve done with all the extra time I’ve gained from learning it:

https://blog.klungo.no/2025/12/31/two-years-of-the-ian-knot/

>>righth+(OP)
I haven't mastered the Ian's knot (the super fast one) yet, but I've been tying the "Ian's Secure Knot" [1] for years. I try to teach parents on my kid's soccer team as well, because in my experience, half use the "standard shoelace knot" which is mediocre at staying tied, and the other half tie the granny version of the same, which comes out in about 5 minutes.

This seems very much like the kind of thing that a kid probably learns and is drilled on in late preschool in Japan, and given how much time must be wasted daily by even grown adults re-tying shoes it makes me wish we taught kids practical skills like this. (Yes, I know scouts learn knot-tying in general, but a lot of kids don't even get to do scouting).

P.S. to be honest, I've started buying and installing the sets of elastic laces with buckles (they're only a couple bucks) every time I get a new pair of shoes, so I don't tie shoes anymore, except for things like soccer cleats.

1. https://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/secureknot.htm

>>righth+(OP)
If you have trouble with toe nail trauma (all chipped for instance) check out heel lock lacing. It will prevent your toes to hit against the front of the shoes.

One example here [0] for running shoes but it's useful also for normal walking. Ian of course has his own entry about this [1]

[0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OBbc6TackDQ&t=68s [1] https://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/locklacing.htm

>>righth+(OP)
Recently interviews by Chris Person in Aftermath: https://aftermath.site/ians-shoelace-site-is-still-the-best-...

>>righth+(OP)
you lot are obsessed. https://www.google.com/search?q=site%3Anews.ycombinator.com+...

>>righth+(OP)
I love this site so much. I learned that there are two typologies of shoelace knots -- one falls apart instantly (https://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/grannyknot.htm), and the other is as secure as a double knot. I also learned the fast way to tie shoes, https://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/ianknot.htm. The latter is fun, I have used it every day for decades and people are always amazed when you teach them.

>>Andrew+kS1
Same. I also use Ian's Secure Knot in places where you'd use a double-knot https://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/secureknot.htm

>>oldand+Xk2
The Ian knot is just as likely to come untied the knot formed by the regular method or the bunny ear method. Because all result in the same knot.

If you noticed a change after you switched knots, you might have been inadvertently creating granny knots:

https://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/grannyknot.htm

>>zkmon+xK1
If you read his support page it's apparent why not. This is a labor of love which he can still hardly keep afloat after trying a variety of income sources such as ads and direct sponsorships.

https://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/support.htm

Why Support Ian?

I've devoted two decades of mostly altruistic labors to the niche topic of shoelaces. I spend probably 60 hours a week continuously improving this website, answering visitors' questions, solving their shoelace problems – even granting permission for my material to be re-used by other educators.

All of this effort earns me less than 1/5 of the Australian National Minimum Wage.

I'm thinking of calling this my “Million Dollar Website” – not because it's worth a million dollars but because it has cost me a million dollars compared to what I could have earned at a regular job (based on an average Australian annual wage of $50,000 × 25+ years).

Any support that you can give will be gratefully accepted and warmly appreciated.

>>squigg+h42
The searchbox at the bottom of the page here is more accessible:

https://hn.algolia.com/?query=fieggen.com

>>jimmyd+2S2
There are laces designed to convert a shoe meant for regular laces into a slip-on, such as https://www.locklaces.com/

I've used them and they worked pretty well.