The "Ian Knot"[0] (which, I just discovered, was invented by the author of that site) is quite possibly the coolest and fastest way to tie your shoes.
The hardest part about this knot is making sure that somebody is watching while you do it. Every time I tie my shoes alone, I feel an upwelling of regret, as if there has been an opportunity lost.
grab the inside of 2, invert, shove into the inside of 1.
do the same for 3 into 4.
now you have a sheet folded in half, with two pairs of corners together.
grab the inside of 1+2, invert, shove into the inside of 3+4.
now it's folded to a quarter, and all the messy stuff is together.
lay out flat, straighten messy stuff a bit, so you can do the next step more easily.
grab the whole thing, chuck into the closet.Step 2: There is no Step 2
(I do fold sheets for the guest bed but that’s because the alternative set might spend months on the shelf. Most of the time the same set is washed and put straight back on the bed.)
But let's say your washing process is different to mine. I'd still rather do two trips upstairs than fold sheets.
(btw I use Ian's knot)
I've been using the Ian knot for probably 10 years now, if anything it's easier to tie it tight since you can keep the tension on the first not held until the very end.
Re people saying the Ian knot doesn’t come undone: neither do my normal ones.
If you're doing it right, the result is not like keeping a finger on the slipknot - it's better (and simpler, faster and as taut as you want).
I’m a runner and it’s important for my laces to be exactly as tight as I need them to be. I’m wondering if others here aren’t as exacting with their knot tension needs.
The technique I use looks like this: https://youtu.be/_aAeI7p-Tkc?t=11
The "Ian knot" that people are discussing is neither square nor granny knot in and of itself, but how you make it: The technique of having a loose loop in each hand and "pulling both through each other", which is much faster than tbe "ordinary" ways of making each that he presents on each separate knot's page. Topologically it results in the exact same end result: Do it the right way around and you get a square knot; the wrong way, a granny knot.
A bit weird of the tomtenisse to link to that exact page of the site; granny knot / kärringknut is the absolute worst result you could end up with. The whole site is pretty much about how to avoid ending up with one. (OK, slight exaggeration there.)
If you want to use the "bunny rabbit" method, the easiest way to turn your granny into a bow is just to switch which way you tie the laces over each other at the beginning – that is much easier than trying to invert the bunny ear thingy.
However, the even easier way (and what GC was pointing out) is the "Ian" method, where you pull the bows through each other simultaneously, which (with practice) is faster and always guarantees a bow knot.
Mr Fieggen's site is a lot older than that, so possibly "parallel thinking"... But because of the cutesy story, cheesy layout, and above all, "Freedom Fries!" name, I'll go with knock-off.
I've used this method to tie all my shoes for more than a decade and it holds much better than the granny knot, which I'd guess is probably 50% of people (as whether not you end up with a granny or a bow knot is just the toss of a coin). The benefit of Ian's tying method is that it is impossible to end up with a granny knot.
My shoes never* come untied, without needing to resort to a "double-knot".
* Except my Sperry Docksiders, which have leather laces and don't seem to keep any kind of knot very well.
Maybe I did the Ian knot wrong. Don't have a problem with the knot I use so not investigating further.
I don't know why anybody makes round laces, especially out of a material that slips.
I have a pair of dress shoes that came with round laces. Even with a "correct" knot, even with double-knotting, they always came undone. I replaced the laces with standard flat laces. They might not look as good, but they look better than having to re-tie them every 30 minutes.
I will say that I cinch the knot tighter with leather laces than any other material because, like you mentioned, they are fussy.