# Ian's Shoelace Site

10 Hacker News commenters recommended Ian's Shoelace Site and 1 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 4 of 13 months. It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule.

**Verdict:** Free, long-running site that teaches shoelace tying and lacing clearly; people recommend it for its usefulness and its old-web feel.

## Why people recommend it

- Teaches knots, including the Ian Knot (3 comments): "I wish I knew about this site when I was trying to teach my kids to tie their shoelaces." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48288178)) "I learned the Ian Knot from this site. I've used it ever since." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46855443)) "Since then, I've very rarely had to tie my shoes :)" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48402309))
- Loved as a classic old-web site (3 comments): "it's a reminder of what the internet used to be" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46856464)) "the Internet's #1 website about shoelaces" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48288157)) "I love this site so much." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46857211))
- Fun for checking how people tie (2 comments): "This site made it my habit to search for granny knots on people's shoes on public transportation." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46854025)) "anybody who is genuinely interested in whether they've been tying their shoes wrong will enjoy" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46323890))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Sheldon Brown's Bicycle Technical Info](https://hackerapproved.com/p/sheldon-brown-s-bicycle-technical-info.md): 49 recommend
- [Animated Knots by Grog](https://hackerapproved.com/p/animated-knots.md): 14 recommend
- [OEIS](https://hackerapproved.com/p/oeis.md): 9 recommend
- [RF Cafe](https://hackerapproved.com/p/rf-cafe.md): 9 recommend
- [Snopes](https://hackerapproved.com/p/snopes.md): 8 recommend

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Ian's Shoelace Site", https://hackerapproved.com/p/ian-s-shoelace-site/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).