It is safe to state that not one per cent of persons using a hammock or handling a fish net know how to mend them should they get torn or damaged in any way.

Whether the tear is a large or small one, the meshes or small squares of which the net is made must be cut out, until a symmetrical figure is made, as shown in Fig. 296: i. e., there must be a single square or mesh and a double one on opposite sides of the tear.

Fig. 296 - How to repair a hammock or fish net.

Fig. 296 also shows the commencement of the mend and the tear completely mended.

Always commence in the middle of the double mesh, and end in the opposite one. Each successive stitch and knot is numbered in the illustration from 1 to 18.

The knots are formed by pinching the meshes, as at 5, for instance, into a loop, as shown in Fig. 297 at A. Then threading the cord through the loop, a knot is made, either a flat or true lover's knot, as shown at B, or better still a fisherman's bend knot, as shown at C. The latter is not only more easily made, since it only passes through the eye once, but it will not slip so easily.

If the tear is a large one, it is well to make a needle, as shown at D, which is made from a piece of thin wood, about 5 or 6 inches long by 3/4 of an inch wide, cut out as shown. The cord or twine is wrapped around this needle, and as the stitches and knots are being made, is unwound.

Fig. 297 - How to knot the cord.