Many people know that you can form a pentagon by tying a strip of paper in a simple overhand knot.

Stephen Bleecker Luce’s seamanship manual of 1863 tells how to fold a blade of grass into an octagon (below):

It is first doubled short over itself, then 1 under 2, — leaving a space, then 2 over 1, and down through the centre of the triangle; next 1 over 2, and down through the centre, coming out on the opposite side, and so on until an octagonal figure is formed.

That’s pretty terse, but I think I’ve almost managed to do it tonight. Keep your eye on the drawing of the finished piece, and don’t form and flatten the finished shape until you’ve done all the weaving.

(Via The Ashley Book of Knots.)