Tom fool's knot Tom fool's knot The Tom fool's knot is sometimes considered a handcuff knot but is somewhat inferior for this purpose to the knot which usually bears that name. It is a good knot with which to commence a slightly fancy sheepshank. It is also used as a trick knot due to the speed with which it can be made. Tom fool's knot is believed to be the knot "epankylotos brokhos" described by the 1st Century Greek physician Heraklas. It is formed by making two loops, not exactly overlaying each other. The inner half of each hitch or loop is pulled
Mutation (knot theory) endpoints of the tangle. There is also a rotation that results from composition of the reflections. A mutation replaces the original tangle by a tangle given by any of these operations. The result will always be a knot and is called a mutant of "K". Mutants can be difficult to distinguish as they have a number of the same invariants. They have the same hyperbolic volume (by a result of Ruberman), and have the same HOMFLY polynomials. Mutation (knot theory) In the mathematical field of knot theory, a mutation is an operation on a knot that can produce different knots.