[QUOTE=willferg;5776049]I was baffled at first, and then I thought of how I make knots when I'm embroidering – I wrap the thread a few times around the tip and then slide the wraps (which become the knot) down over the eye of the needle, down the thread, till it's a knot at the end.
I never would have described it the way she did, but like you said, you find all kinds, and not just in Boston!
I do my knots just like you do. It's called a quilter's knot and I've never heard of putting your needle through the knot. I'd say just count that as one strange encounter and go on about your business. Sounds like yet another kook loose in the world!