Black and grey shaded Celtic knot tattoo of an interlaced triquetra with pointed leaf-shaped loops on skin.

Celtic knot triquetra with leaf loops

Black and grey · Photo

A black and grey tattoo of a Celtic-style interlaced knot, with a triquetra-like base and three pointed, leaf-shaped loops rising through the centre. The linework is bold and outlined, with soft grey shading along each band that gives the knot depth and a slightly three-dimensional look. The design is centred against plain, evenly lit skin with a soft, neutral background.

Knot Triquetra Celtic knot Loop Leaf

Find an artist for this

Take it to an artist as a reference. A good artist will make it yours rather than copy someone else's tattoo.

A story inspired by this tattoo · fiction

Mrs Abernethy's rope went up over the tent pole every evening at seven, and every evening Tomas Vell watched her tie the same three-loop knot before the ropewalker stepped out. He was twelve and had been sent to fetch lamp oil, not to stare, but the stall was on the way and she never looked up.

Keep reading

"Three ends," she said one night, without turning. "Each one has to go round the other two and come back to where it started. Pull one and the others tighten. That's the trick of it."

"Does it ever come undone?"

"Only if someone cuts it." She drew the loose tail through, slow, leaving three leaf-shaped eyes open at the top like small flames. "My mother said it was sewn on the wagon curtains back home. Not for luck. For reminding you who's holding the other end."

The fair packed up in the rain the week after the carousel horse went through the canvas. Tomas found the knot again in the ash of the stall, scorched but whole, and carried it in his pocket to the station at Carlisle, turning it between his fingers until the rope was soft as cloth. He never learned to tie it properly. He still counts the loops when he cannot sleep, one, two, three, and back again.