It wasn't until I had to teach knots to Cub Scouts that I realized my life was a lie, at least when it came to tying shoes. I was the object of ridicule for 50 years but now I walk with confidence, and always-tied shoes.
What does that even mean? lol. The Ted way still works and the shoe laces have not come undone in 10 years since I've been using it, so why would I change method?
I came here to post this one. For about 25 years of my life I was tying my knots the wrong way and I just thought shoelaces just had to be re-tied periodically. I don't remember where I learnt to just tie the loop the other way. Now strain on the laces just serves to tighten the knot.
I was also about to post that, and note that my wife who is japanese told me that in japan the correct way to tie shoelaces was taught at school, and she laughed for about a week when I told her that at 40 I didn't know that.
Learning the Ian knot was life changing for me -- not only did it automatically correct the bow being in the correct orientation, but it doesn't take an inconvenient amount of time to tie my shoes anymore. Esp. when walking with a group, if a lace comes untied I can fix it without losing more than a couple paces.
The knots being discussed are similar with one small difference: the direction you wrap the shoelace during one step.
The "incorrect" knot still works relatively well and looks almost the same as the "correct" knot. The "incorrect" one also requires significantly less finger dexterity which is why children tend to prefer it.
