A knot is where a limb or branch grew out from the main trunk of the tree. Knots can take on all shapes and sizes depending on the size and shape of the limb or branch. The image below has a knot above the letter "i" and a knot on the front side of the stool. Damhorst Toys uses only furniture grade high quality 100% wood to create each of our hand crafted items. Because wood is a natural product, variations of wood grain, color, knots or texture may be experienced. Damhorst Toys cannot be responsible for these variations, and will not consider them a defect.