Letters to Monk, Practicing Solo

Monk - I've been following you on twitter and watched most of your vids, so thank you for being such an inspiration!

My question is tied to my circumstances, but it boils down to, how is it possible for a person to start practicing ties and knots *without a partner*?

Yes, the knee-jerk reaction is "find someone to play with!" and thanks, I've read that in every forum I've searched. But sometimes that is not an option, to wit: I live in a small Southern town with no real "scene" to speak of (I know what scene there is here, all three of them); I'm a grad student on a very tight budget, so I can't afford to travel much less pay for shibari clinics/training; I'm recently divorced and very much NOT into developing sexual/romantic relationships with anyone right now. Heck, I barely have time for my friends.

I'm also a bit of a control freak (yes, really) and I don't want to worry about my partner's situation during play while I'm trying to figure out a damn knot.

I've thought about mannequin torsos, life-size rag dolls (not that I've found any), practicing with thin rope on teddy bears...seriously, I've considered options. But surely I'm not the only person in this situation? If you have any advice particular to this, I'd love to hear it. Thank you!

I remember my friend Sam used to practice her ties on the back of a wooden chair. She would joke “If I can top a chair, someday I might be able to work up to a person!”

In all seriousness, this is a common question even for those who have a regular practice partner. Everyone needs to learn the basics, those fumbling first ties can be intimidating and even with your regular lover, who wants to worry about the whole “bunny goes out of the hole, around the tree” thing? No way, you want to do the fun stuff. I’ve seen many a scene become mired and stall due to the top becoming obsessed with the technical and forgetting that there is a living, loving human they are supposed to be interacting with thru the rope.

Here is what I did. Vending at classes and conventions means lots and lots of down time behind the table waiting for classes or end/ vending hours to start / etc. In those days I would pass the time practicing my single and double column ties on my legs. Part of how I developed my own personal style of fast bondage was due to this practice. Over and over, tying the same thing till it was reduced to muscle memory and not something I had to “think” about.

I will pause here and caution, using your legs to practice ties on and “self bondage” are very different things. I am not a fan of self bondage and would urge you to read up on the topic. Some very well informed people have made this argument far better than I.

As for mannequins, rag dolls and stuffed animals? I’ve heard of folks using these methods too. In the end, it is all about rope on the body. Substitutes will help you gain the confidence in your technical ability, but in the end you will want to put that rope to good use on a person.

The rope, she sings to me.

"I just don't understand the appeal of it," he said to me as his powerful shoulders echo the confused scrunch of his brow, "the whole ascetic, I just does not sing to me..."

I hear those words, spoken to me at a party recently, and they just make me confused.
Confused, yes. Why you ask? Because his words are right now getting drown out by the siren's call of the rope to me. I handle the stuff all day, my hands scared and stained from the caress of raw hemp, but still the rope sings to me. Calling to me like a warm lover, still in bed, on one of those golden Sunday mornings that seem to last forever.
Right now its song is one of longing, to come play. No performances, no demonstrations, just to put rope in hand and follow the curves of a warm body. No destination, save the exhausted sighs of release when finished. The rope knows where to go, my hands just need to follow it's song... wrap after wrap against skin. Till that song is drown out by the rush of blood in my ears.
I love my toys, my sharp steel razors, wicked single tails and other devious devices. Alas, these are just tools, extensions of my skills and hands. I enjoy them, they bring me great pleasure, but they in the end are just tools, objects to be cleaned, sharpened, and stored for another day.
My rope? My rope is my lover, my sex, my ego and frailty all tightly woven into thick, soft coils... longing to be unfurled and run along skin.
I must answer the siren's call, soon.

Rope tops, an experiment for you to try

Ok rope tops, I have a challenge for you. Go grab your favorite rope bottom, a hunk of your favorite rope, and practice doing a basic chest harness like the one I demo here.

Got it? What was it like" Ask your bottom how she felt about the experience.

Now try this, take a caribeiner (or short hunk of rope) and loop one end though the back belt loop of your bottom and the other through the front of yours. You should now be tethered about 4-6 inches from your partner.

Tie the harness again.

What changed? While the most obvious observation will be that tethered like this you have less room to move and navigate around the bottom. This may seem frustrating, however ask the bottom what changed for her (or him) I think you will be surpized.

Rope is all about connection, the strands of hemp are an extension of your want for the other, wrapping them, protecting, taking them on a trip with you.

Monk, a tease? Never!



I've been hinting at this new, top secret, dye process for the last week. This would be our prototype results... black with bright metallic copper highlights. The keyword here is BRIGHT. My goal is to have rope that reflects stage and photo lights with stunning effect. We seem to have gotten past stage one, getting a metallic pigment to bond to the rope fibers and not wash or wear off. Next steps will be to test the ever living fuck out of the rope in order to see how well the color will wear and stand up to what our customers regularly put their rope through.

This means Monk has a lot of bondage to do next week... a LOT.

Twistedmonk.Com Celebrates Independence Day with FREE US SHIPPING

This weekend, while the other guys are too busy trying to blow their thumbs off with illegal fireworks, click over to Twistedmonk.com and celebrate your independence from mediocre rope and second rate gear. To celebrate Independence Day we are waiving the shipping fees on all US orders. So now you can swagger like Will Smith after he kicks some alien/vampire/cgi thing’s ass, knowing you have a rope bag full of the most popular hemp rope in the world.

Spend too much on bottle rockets but still want some good rope? Check out our new “Val-u-Line” rope kits, same great rope but at a price that can’t be beat.

Rope questions I’ve been emailed as of late:

We were wondering if you do custom thicknesses for the rope as well? Something in the range of 10-15mm. And what the price difference for that thickness would be?

The machinery that I use can only finish up to 8MM thickness. We have done 10MM in the past and it really sucked. Most hemp rope enthusiasts don’t use much thicker rope than 8MM as the 10-15MM thick ropes are far too bulky and unmanageable. Also the knots end up being HUGE! While a lot of MFP and synthetic rope fans encourage the thicker widths, once you make the switch to hemp you will find that thinner lines and more wraps are much more enjoyable and easier to manage. That said, if you are dead set on 15MM thick hemp, you might want to do a google search for raw hemp in that thickness and finish it yourself.

Is it possible to get a section of Bavarian Blonde rope in a 5 foot length? My fiancé and I are going to be married/handfasted in a few weeks and 10 feet just seems like an awful long length for the job.

I just did a hand fasting. 5ft seems a wee bit too short as I was able to do 3 passes over the couple's hands and have JUST enough to do a square knot. However there was not much extra line to hang down and drape nicely. I'd say 6ft is about perfect really.

We can sell you a custom length, $2 per foot. To place an order just call the Abbey 206-938-7527

I was wondering if you could help me with a quick rope question. I've seen pictures of a girl being forced to walk along a rope with periodic knots. The idea being that the knots will stimulate her clitoris. My question was, what type of rope is best for this sort of play. I want to torture my girl, but not cause rope burn. I was thinking linen or silk, but wanted to get your expert opinion before I tried it out.

An excellent idea for a scene and good call on the avoiding of rope burns. As you may know, all rope has what we call a "burn rate" that is how fast the rope must be pulled across skin before the friction causes discomfort and burns the skin. Synthetic ropes have a very low burn rate, that is it does not take much friction before it burns. Add to this a damp, sensitive skin area and you may find yourself with one pissed off bottom.

One of the major selling points for finished hemp is that it has a very high burn rate. It takes a lot of force to create friction and irritate the skin. Not saying that it can't happen, just that it is much more forgiving that synthetic.

Good call on the silk and linen options. In addition to being very soft with an insanely high burn rate, they are both very washable and can be put back to use after a quick hang dry. I'd opt for the linen as the silk has a bit of natural flex to it so you might get some unwanted slacking in the line while the linen will hold the tension more consistently.

Dear Twisted One :)
I am really sorry to bother you, I am sure you get heaps of emails from lots of silly subbies like myself; …
My birthday is coming and I will be celebrating my 34th at a play party, the Host has kindly offered to dress me in a rope corset for the occasion (I am stoked!). We had a 'practice' last night but it didn't go to plan, I was hoping you may be able to suggest some links or ideas that might help?

OK, the problem was.. i have curvy hips - i am an Aussie size 12; we don't have easy access to hemp or jute and are using a 6mm cotton cord type stuff/ 50ft. -Preference is knot to have joins as I would like to wear it as long as hygienically possible and may be sleeping in it. When we did it as per your video, there was bunching at my hips due to my shape, which looked a bit ewww, well, allot ewwww. I would like to still keep length in the corset.

I've been racking my brain trying to think of ways around it - and slicing bits off myself is knot an option! The best I could think of is to move the seam to the side so it runs down my hip and gives it more support, like boning. Then maybe have another seam down the other side. I only have limited knowledge (being the riggee knot the riggerrrrr), and I think this would take two people to do, and am knot sure if it would be logistically possible

The tie in question is a rope corset, like the one I showed off on this video.

Yes, unless you are tying a man, or a woman with no hips, you are going to run into some bunching along where the midsection meets the hips. This is a very common problem. No, just tying it tighter won’t help; it will still bunch up and be extremely uncomfortable too. Option one would be to tie a shorter version of the corset, and make it more a waist cincher, but it sounds like you want something that flows over the hips. You are on the right track with the “boning” idea. Take some thin line, like a 4MM, and starting just under the armpits weave down the body of the corset. A simple over under will do, then when you reach the bottom, reverse and go back up the way you came, but going under the lines you went over and vice versa. Make sense? Depending on the length of the corset, I’d say about 10 ft will do the trick. The nice bit also is that if you have line left over, you can easily hide it under the armpits or tie it off into the back of the harness. posted a photo once of a scene I did where she was wearing a rope corset with garters. If you look close at the photo you can see the weaving pattern. No you don’t need to go all the way down to garters, but if you are hoping to wear this for an extended period and even sleep in it, then you might consider that route over the line between the legs method I show in the video. As it will make things like using the bathroom and sex much simpler and hygienic not having a line between your legs. Also, Lee Harrington’s awesome book, Shibari You Can Use, has several variants of the corset tie with “boning” weaves as well.

Now before I close I do want to get on my soapbox, I am really not a fan of the term “subbie”. Why this term is in the SM lexicon befuddles and annoys me. The act of submission is a powerful and wonderful gift that one person can give another and referring to someone who gives this thing as a “subbie” just grates me, I feel it cheapens and demeans the gift, and in turn the giver.

Bondage with one in the oven…
From the inbox:

Hi Monk, firstly thank you for your fantastic site and especially your videos. We are yet to purchase any rope from you, because just as I was going to...we fell pregnant. Which is GREAT but I'm getting sick of abstaining from my favorite, rope play.

Any chance you know which bits are safe etc?

Thanks for any help you can give us...

First off, congratulations, the whole “kid thing” scares the bejesus out of me, so you are a far braver soul than I am for undertaking such a daunting task. Now onto your question; I’ve had the opportunity once, a long time ago to do bondage on a pregnant woman. This was pretty early in my (and this blog’s) career so the ties were more decorative. You can see a shot here. I must admit that I find pregnant woman insanely beautiful, recently a friend showed up at a party proudly displaying her swollen, third trimester tummy and I was all but transfixed by it. I’m almost embarrassed to admit that I sheepishly asked to touch her tummy like a shy schoolboy getting his first kiss.

But I digress.

Not having enough direct experience to answer your question I polled the various kinky moms I know as well as a photographer friend, Jim Duvall, who in addition to being a very respected bondage instructor and community mentor has also done a lot of work with pregnant women and rope. So here is the skinny, as it were, as reported to me.

Pregnant women start producing a chemical called Relaxin. This allows the pelvis to expand to let the baby out. It also lets their other joints get really flexy. You can often do things with a pregnant woman’s knees hips shoulders and elbows you could never do before. That said, flexibility in the torso is restricted (for obvious reasons) and pressure against the abdomen should be avoided.

Also, later in pregnancy, any ropes around the breasts need to be looser than usual, because the glands around the area are swollen and she might be sore (in a not nice way) afterwards. As on put it, “Beware of milk. Boobs are huge and sore. And they squirt milk.”

Oh and, Bondage or SM that takes a person into stressed condition such as fight or flight should be avoided as it can influence the pregnancy SM is not a good way to induce labor.

So there ya go, I would say stick to limb ties. Keep pressure away from the abdomen, watch the tightness on the chest harness and watch out for squirting milk (or watch for it if that is your thing). Oh and as for suspension, I’d say no. My friends gave me a mixed result. Some did it (clear up to the end of the second trimester) and said that it was hard but ok. Others said “no way in hell”.

Anyone want a cool Valentines Day gift?

Remember those cool wood box combos we offered over Christmas? I'm sitting here with the very last one in my hands. A customer ordered one in red, added an extra 15' in of 6MM and 5' of 4MM and then had the nerve to try and use a bad credit card to pay for it. Hell has a special place for those who try to stiff small business owners.

Now I could easily redistribute the stock to fill existing orders, but it sorta seems a shame. The whole thing is all nicely wrapped and sealed, just ready for a shipping label in fact. Seems like it could make for a cool valentines day gift for some happy rope fan. So tell ya what, the first one who contacts me can have it for 125.00 (that includes domestic shipping).

Like I said, I have ONE left and no immediate plans to offer this style box again in the near future.

UPDATE: The box (and its contents) have sold.

The wrong side of the tracks

“shh, you hear that? Is that someone coming?” I whisper in her ear.
The light rain pattering off the hulking steel of the train cars makes it hard to tell if the sound is actually feet, crunching along the rail line or just a trick of the night. Either way, the warning worked. Her body stiffens and lets out in voluntary shudder as she does her best to stifle her moans.

Danger, especially the danger of getting caught can be a powerful aphrodisiac.

Me? Me I’m wondering to myself, “I certainly hope that I got the right set of rail cars and picked the two that are on the unused line…”

It all started with a request, she loves the thrill that one gets when there is a potential for discovery, that danger that spurs your adrenaline on. “Some place in the open, someplace dirty” was what she said. Good thing the neighborhood surrounding the Abbey becomes an industrial wasteland after dark, perfect for what I had in mind.

The first problem when planning a good scene is location. Much like real estate, it is all about the location. Where you play impacts how you play. A seedy motel room sets a far different tone than the loft over a painter’s studio. While I have a number of secret hot spots that I can draw from when planning a scene, outdoor and industrial takes a bit more planning. One has to factor in not only the obvious danger, getting caught, but also the dangers inherent to life in the industrial district. Are the people living in the abandoned warehouse you are planning on using? Is the property you are on owned by the port authority and patrolled by homeland security?

This and more went through my brain as I cruised the back streets and rail spurs late one night looking for the perfect location. I eventually found it, a storage spur once used by a sugar refinery to fill tanker cars, now abandoned, save a string of storage cars. Their giant rusting hulks would provide excellent cover as well as hard points for what I had in mind.

Yes, I said hard points. If you are gonna do a scene, go big or go home. My victim would be suspended between said rail cars.

Next problem, the bottom. Take care of, she sought me out and saw to it that I would be well rewarded for the application of my devious talents.

Then there came the problem of the actual tying. While I am known for the speed at which I tie, suspension bondage is a time consuming thing and something that requires a focus and attention to detail if one wishes to not hurt their partner (in the non-planned way that is). Now I knew we would not have a ton of time to play, the part of the rush of public play is the pace, that frenetic “OMG what if we get caught” feeling. Add the chill of the night air against naked skin and even the most flushed of souls won’t last long.

Nope this would require pre-rigging.

I have a special fondness for tying rope against skin and then dressing the person up and taking them out into public. There is something delightfully devious about sitting back and watching your bottom smile and squirm as they sip their coffee, all the while a tell tale strap of hemp peeks out from the neckline of their clothes.

I would take this premise a step further and tie a set of thigh harnesses into a corset tie.


On the night in question, the rain had just paused as we pulled up to the spot. Killing my headlights before rolling to a stop, I look over at her. Under her trench coat she wore the rope harness and nothing else, save a few objects that I, being the gentleman that I am, won’t divulge save that they made her eyes cross every time the car hit a bump along the drive.

Taking her hand, we strolled casually along the tracks as they lead in between the massive warehouses, our feet crunching along the gravel that fills the track lines. Once at our destination, I set to work. In the bulging pocket of my BDU pants are several lengths of rope. I pull one after the other and begin to secure her in between the massive, rusting cars. Just as I pull her last foot up off the ground and secure it, the rain starts again. Cold and spattering it echoes off the rail cars and streaks her flesh. Coat open to the elements, there she hangs. Legs spread wide and trussed up between the cars. Open and ready for the entire world to admire.

Of course there were no footsteps, no errant homeless soul about to wander into the scene. Of course this did not stop the actor in me from suggesting that it could happen at any moment, Noting any sound and whispering just how dire her plight would be if someone were to find us and how I would have to offer her up in hopes of us both avoiding incarceration should we get caught.

Yeah, I’m a bastard.

When the rest of the game played its course and the time came to bring her down, I quickly cut away the lines that connected her to rail car and wrapped her shivering body in to the thick blanket I brought along and gently guided her back to the warmth of the car.

Days later I would return to the site in hopes of recovering the bits of rope I left tied to the rail cars only to find them gone. Not the rope, mind you, the cars themselves. Somewhere out there is a pair of tankers with several pieces of hemp rope dangling from them.

Gawd, I am such a size queen!
The last thing I pack when loading out for a show is my personal rope kit. By this point, as much possible luggage space has been devoted to the show stock. Each case, carefully loaded to the just shy of the maximum allowable weight save one with just a sliver of space set aside for my personal gear. It is always a game of attrition when it comes to just how much of my on, for play, kit I can bring to any event. Do I pack my extra tall boots or an extra hundred feet? My current minimalist style of bondage was not borne out of any artistic direction, rather necessity. A kit made from German 4 strand? No way, to heavy. I can pack almost twice the rope if I go with standard stock. While the rope bulky, the stuff that really kills is the suspension hardware. Carabineers, the suspension ring, swivels, top lines all add up. This is why I was beside myself with delight when my steel guy delivered this little beauty to me this week.



Look closely now, why am I geeking out on it? This would be a 4 inch, ultra light, aircraft aluminum ring fused with a brand new Petzl, mountain rescue grade, frictionless swivel. This little unit just replaced three items in my rigging kit and weighs in at, get this, less than 12 ounces. On top of that, the integrated swivel / ring removed the need for a carbineer to connect them and buys me an additional three inches of clearance. May not seem like much, but if you have ever found yourself in a cramped play-space somewhere with your hardware clunking against your bottom’s skull as you worked you will join me in a chorus of, “hook me the fuck up!”


I will have a limited number of these micro miracles on sale this weekend at the Flea.

Allergic Reactions and Rope Washing Question

Hi Monk - Enjoy your website and the youtube videos - my boyfriend has literally thanked me a dozen times for showing those to him...it was totally selfish on my part, so I just smile. To the question at hand, I have very sensitive skin (chronic hives) - so I like my robe to be of a softer quality but I want some color. And Christmas is coming up! Do you have a recommendation from your website of what is the best rope for me? Something soft but colorful. Judy

Skin sensitivity is one of the major reasons why I have spent countless hours refining our process and moving away from older, less hypo-allergenic methods of rope finishing. Today I only use allergen free, animal free oils (a common skin irritant for many sensitive customers) as well as a dye process using some of the highest quality dyes available, not that cheap RIT crap the bleeds and comes off on your skin. Even with all this, everyone’s skin is different. My recommendation would be to purchase on of our sample kits, it contains a 6’ length of each of our colors offered. Test it against your skin and see what your results are.

Rope gets softer with age, through play the rope softens and absorbs body oils. The weave relaxes and the fibers become more and more soft. A well loved piece of rope will resemble your favorite wooly sweater in no time. Repeated manual washing can also accelerate this process. It is important to note that while this will soften the rope, it will also reduce the overall tensile strength. Our process is intended to get the rope soft enough that it feels great against skin but not so soft that the fiber strength becomes dangerously degraded. For most bondage uses repeated washings are just fine and your rope will last you for years, however if you intend to use your rope for load bearing play like suspension bondage then you will need to be extra careful and using this rope. (it goes with out saying, but I’ll say it anyways. Suspension bondage is dangerous. Seek proper training before attempting and always inspect your rope and hardware before use. When in doubt, replace it.)

To wash your rope, knot your dirty rope as shown in my “rope handling” video.

Stuff the rope into an old pillow case and tie off bag. Don’t mix your rope colors when washing as there may still be trace amounts of dye that might bleed. ( While we thoroughly wash our ropes after dying, this is still a hand dyed and washed product so it is best to err on the side of caution just in case and save yourself any potential problems.)

Wash the ropes on the shortest, gentlest cycle possible using cold water. If you have a color safe bleach that works best for your allergies, use a very small amount.

When done, don’t try and unknot the wet rope. Wet hemp is next to impossible to untie. Rather, let hang for a day or two.

When the outside of the rope feels dry, unknot and let dry for a few more days.

To re-oil use a mineral oil or scent free baby oil, DO NOT USE PLANT OR SEED BASED OILS THEY WILL EVENTUALLY GO RANCID AND DESTROY YOUR ROPE.

If there are none available or you are unable to find any that do not irritate your skin, use the rope on skin or run the rope thought your hands while watching TV. This will also transfer your body oils to the rope.

Ok boys and girls, here we go.... Monk's Big-Assed 2007 Holiday Gift Roll Out

It is that time of year again, the holiday season, and everyone at TwistedMonk.Com have been working overtime to bring you some great gifts for the rope fanatic on your list.

* New Steel Items: Check out our new line of steel toys as well as our expanded line of suspension hardware.

* New Clothing: You asked, we listened. More styles, more sizing options and best of all FREE SHIPPING.

* 2007 TwistedMonk.Com Gift Box with DVD combo: Priced at just $99.99 this gift is perfect for those folks who want to give their sweetie that gentle nudge. Rope, our "Getting Started Volume 1 DVD" and a beautiful wooden gift box make this an awesome gift idea. Supplies are limited, so don�t wait!

* Speaking of the DVD... Again, you asked and we delivered! We have taken our amazingly popular web videos and complied them onto a DVD. Originally shot in High-Def, they are brighter, clearer and more useful than ever. The best part? WE ARE GIVING THEM AWAY WITH EVERY ORDER OVER $124.99.*

* Save the headache of wrapping and show them that you got the very best with our Premium Gift Service. Only $6.50!

The Nitty Gritty:
High quality rope takes time. Our "Official" stand is that orders take 14-21 days to fill. Truth is that we fill most orders in 7 days or less. However stock shortages and such things happen so we opt to give our customers a worst case and delight them when it gets there sooner than expected. With the holidays means lots of orders to fill and an overwhelmed postal system. We encourage customers to not wait and place their orders early and avoid the worry altogether.

For those who have to wait till the last minute, any order domestic placed on or before December 12th will be delivered in time for the holiday. Orders placed after that time MAY be delivered, and are available for rush processing for an extra fee. Due to customs and shipping delays, the cut off for international orders is December 5th.

*Free dvd offer on all orders over 124.99 before shipping. Limit one per customer, while supplies last.

How much would you pay?

I need your help again folks, as we continue to draw up the holiday plans here at the Abbey the topic of gift wrapping came up. What we can’t quite figure out is just what kind of gift wrap you, the customer, wants. My general idea is to offer a complete gift service where we will box and wrap your gift, generate a custom card and send the invoice to a separate address.

The question is this, do you want it wrapped so it looks just like any other gift sitting under the tree? This does open the risk that said wrapped gift might be confused with that one from aunt Mildred and on Christmas morning, hilarity ensues. In the past we have offered a more stylistic wrapping, using Kraft paper boxes, jute twine and wax to seal the package. Very cool looking, but a bit more conspicuous. Then there is the option of just being conspicuous and slapping a big old Abigail on the front of the box so your intended recipient knows you loved them enough to get the very best.

What say you?



And since we are doing this to make a profit, what would you think is fair to charge?


Thanks gang! Your feedback is so valuable. Based on what you told me about the holiday gift package, we have something really amazing in the works.

Building a better mousetrap

Today is my last full day in the Abbey before heading south to SF and the debauchery that is the Folsom Street Fair. That of course means things are a wee bit on the wacky side here as I dash about getting ready and such. Of course, with Folsom also comes, in my opinion, the end of summer and the eventual rush to the holiday season.

Now here is the thing, every year we try to come up with cool some very cool gift items for the holiday. Right now we got something cool in the works, but the problem is I’m just not sure what the proper mix of things needed are. Here is what I want; I’m envisioning a gift that you might give your kink inclined partner or friend. Not someone who would normally go to play parties or shop at stores like Mr. S leather, but rather maybe this gift is something that you will give your lover in hopes of nudging your sex life down a more, shall we say, creative path. Not some lame feather and cinnamon dust gimmick in a cardboard box that you find at the linger shop in your local strip mall. Some cheap something made in china that you may use once (if you are lucky, or really bored) and then stuff in a closet, but rather something that will inspire customers to send me cookies next Christmas.

So, if you were to build a gift box of rope based kink and wanted to spend about 100 bucks, what would you have in your box? Feel free to add suggestions for other items, within reason of course (ya big bunch a perverts!)

On the mend

My collar bone is on the mend and looking better every day, thanks to everyone who have sent me cards, e-mails, hugs and to that special someone who has discovered my weakness for good whiskey and fine chocolates… darlin you are in for one hell of a treat. The shoulder is on the mend, seems like every day I’m gaining more and more movement. I must be driving my partners nuts. Well more than usual, here is a typical exchange.
Exited Monk: “LOOK! LOOK WHAT I CAN DO!!!”
Slightly confused long suffering lover: “what, all you are doing is brushing your teeth?”
Monk: “I know, but look closer…. I’m using my RIGHT HAND!”
Astounded, long suffering lover: “Wait a sec, you could not do that yesterday?”
Monk: ”I could not do that this MORNING!”

While I seem to have been blessed with the ability to heal at a slightly faster rate than most, these things still take time. Sure I wish I could rip off this damn brace and just be done with things, but that is not the case. 3 more weeks, and a few more doctor consults, before I can resume my regularly crazy life.

I will confess to you this; the thing that is driving me nuts is not the pain of a still knitting bone or the soreness from constantly having to wear this damned brace. No, what is driving me nuts is not getting to sling rope now for three weeks. This whole not getting to play for three weeks and the prospect of at least another three before I can safely wrap rope around someone I love and dangle them from the ceiling has me just plain old put out. I know that I will very soon be back in the swing of things, heck we are already on the downhill side of things. Still I feel like a junkie in need of his fix. My rope bag sits forlorn, unused since the night before the accident. Just watching others play with rope makes my palms itch with anticipation of when it will be my turn again.

Patience Monk, rest. Recover, regain the lost strength in your shoulder and then, when they give you the green light, hit that hard point with a vengeance.

From the inbox...
"Hi Monk,

I've often said that with enough rope, you have all the sex toys you need. Mentioning this to a friend led to one of those "Put your money where your mouth is" scenarios, which I'm proud to say I have won outright.

Yes, that's a piece of your 15" 4mm hemp rope. Yes, it's been macramed into a dildo. Get it wet to stiffen it and put a condom over it, and you're ready to go.

I swear, your rope can do anything except pass a bar exam.

Cheers,
G"

June's Color of the Month

It would be impossible to stock all the unique colors that folks ask for on a regular basis. So instead we now offer a new and unique color every month.

We made this color in early May and chose to sit on releasing it. With the mad dash that was the preparations for Shibaricon, we opted to take a month off from releasing a new color till after we returned. Let me tell you, the rope almost did not make it to you. On several occasions I (or others who visited the shop) tried to make it theirs.

This is a great, rich red color. Closer to a brick red than our standard crimson (that has more orange tones in it). A color that could best be described as "Strawberry Red"

This is a limited, one time color run. Once the color has been sold out, it is sold out for good.

New Exotic Rope

I’m always on the hunt for cool new ropes to offer as part of our “exotic” line. Folks really love our previous finds like the German 4 strand or Handmade Silk. At this year’s Shibaricon, we introduced a rope that we are calling “White Linen Hemp”

So why would someone want to add this rope to their toybag? Right out of the package it is soft, soft like a cotton cord or our raw silk. However unlike cotton, it has all the knot holding properties of hemp. It also does not burn skin like cotton or nylon when you run it though itself, rather it also has that “vibration” that hemp is famous for. Next cool thing, the rope does not need to be oiled after washing, making care a snap. This makes it great for use in play where your rope will get messy (read CBT and other such types of play. Matisse has been road testing this stuff for weeks with her clients and loves it.) Toss it into the wash, hang dry and use it again.

I play with every rope we sell, well not every rope but rather I test out all the ropes we plan to carry. If I don’t want it in my toybag, I’m not going to sell it. So what about the this new rope?
I’m not a fan of it for general body ties, while my test subjects liked the feel against skin, it was just too thin for my tastes. Suspension? No way in hell. The linen fibers are too thin and weak. I did a test hang with it on myself, and it stood up to the test, but I would advise against it. Now crotch ropes? Nice, very nice. Again, highly washable makes for easy care and re-cleaning.

Where does it really shine? Face bondage. Like, wow this shit is AMAZING. Take a look for yourself.


The softer fiber makes for fewer “hot spots” on the face where the knots may lay against pressure points, the slightly more stretchy nature of the linen gives the subject the ability to shift if things become uncomfortable, and the rope feels great against the skin. All the qualities of a soft cotton or parachute cord coupled with the qualities of a high-end hemp rope. What is not to love?
You can get some for yourself by ordering it here. Or order a sample pack and we will send you 6 inch samples of all our ropes.

I keep telling my lovely wife Tambo that she is a better rope top than I

Here is proof. Where I’m happy to tie someone into a ball and toss him or her about the room, she is so very mindful and precise. When she is doing head and face bondage, she becomes so graceful. It is quite beautiful to watch.

These shots were taken during Michele and Delano’s last visit to Seattle. One of the things that really strikes me is that this image was taken not 24 hours after Michele shot Alex and I. She also shot Puck not an hour before too, all part of a 24 hour shooting marathon. What just amazes me that the tools used in all these shots are the same.

Rope.

Same photographer, same basic lighting setup, same basic premise (two people interacting via rope) yet such different outcomes.


Fascinating.


OK, must get back to work. For those keeping the death-march score, yesterday I consumed over 7 shots of espresso in an 16-hour period. Today is a short one, only 11 hours in the shop for me.