"ooh! where can I down load knot info sheets/ cards?"

A couple of links:

http://www.layhands.com/Knots/Index.htm scroll about 2/3 way down to "Site Map" for easy navigation

http://www.realknots.com/links/A.htm A fairly comprehensive A-Z listing

http://www.earlham.edu/~peters/writing/explode.htm some pretty neat "easy to untie" knots

The heavyweight in the printed book category is "The Ashley Book of Knots" (often referred to as "ABOK") by Clifford Ashley. This thing probably weights more - and costs more - than your car, but well worth it if you're really into knots. My first impressions of this book were "I think I paid too much for this". It doesn't have the fancy color pictures of other knot books (drawings only). It also contains things that you'll initially write off as "I'll never do that". But as I've read and used it over time, you couldn't pry it from my fingers now.

Another quite decent book (with lots of pretty pictures!) is "The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Knots and Ropework" by Geoffrey Budworth. The good thing about this one is that you'd be hard pressed to NOT find it in your local Barnes and Noble bargain section for under $10 (sometimes under $6 for smaller versions - same content, just physically smaller) While the pictures are pretty, sometimes the photographer has zoomed in too close and you can lose track of where you are in the knot. This is fairly minor and I really had no trouble working from the photos.

"The Directory of Knots" by John Shaw can be a relatively easy find in the Borders Bookstore bargain section for under $10. This one uses drawings rather than photos to illustrate the knots, so the wow factor of the photos in Budworth's book isn't there, it's probably easier to follow the sequence. This one is spiral bound, so it will lay open flat to every page, which is a big bonus when both your hands are working with the knot.

"The Morrow Book Of Knots" (correct title?) is another bargain section find that I've heard many people like, but I don't have it. I've seen it, but decided it was too much duplication given the other books I own. This one is inexpensive also.

My initial learning came from the Budworth book, then the Shaw, then Ashley's. I know Budworth has lots and lots of other knot books published, but I can only comment on the one I mentioned above.