Effect:
The magician ties a knot into the center of a handkerchief. Then by simply blowing upon it, he magically causes the knot to dissolve leaving only the handkerchief behind for examination.

Secret:
This is a standard false knot described in many publications, most notably "Mark Wilson's Complete Course in Magic." Through repetition I have changed the handling a bit. I offer that handling here. I have sequenced the demo pictures to make it easier to learn. This description goes a lot smoother with a silk handkerchief in your hands. Otherwise it can be quite confusing. I offer it more to clarify the pictures than anything else. The moves are way easier than they sound. In any case, here goes.

     After displaying the silk, hold it by a long corner in the right hand. Draw a few inches of that corner between the first and second fingers of the left hand (fig 1a). With the right hand, obtain the lower corner bringing it up through the left middle and ring fingers to be gripped between the thumb and first finger as before (fig 1b). Reach through the loop with the right hand grasping the corner that was placed between the first and middle fingers (fig 1c) pulling it back through the loop (fig 1d) while maintaining a hold on the silk's middle with the left ring and middle finger. As the resulting "slip-knot" tightens enough to hold itself, release the grip with the left middle and ring fingers (fig 1e).

Performance:
     Tie the knot this way during the performance. Display the knot clearly to the spectators by holding the silk by one corner up where everyone can see. If you lower it to just below your face and blow straight down upon the knot, it will fall out. You can also give the silk a gentle whip-snap or shake which will also dislodge the knot. What I have tried to get away from here is the way a layperson (the regular person) removes a slip-knot by pulling the two ends. I didn't want them to associate this trick with a slip-knot in any way. Instead it should look as if you dissolved the knot by magic. So whether you blow, snap, or shake doesn't matter, just don't pull.