Mast Making: Knotty Procedures

I'm not sure if there's a SOP for knots when it comes to mast making. Perhaps the protocol is "just don't buy wood with knots in it." Perhaps making a mast out of a recently felled Sitka Spruce (as opposed to a kiln-dried construction-grade 4X4) would make the knots less likely to rattle their way out as the mast is shaved and sanded into shape.

I personally chose to ignore some knots (like the top one) because they were too shallow to be much of a consideration. One other (the one at bottom) was too deep to be ignored, and has been braced with epoxy and a little scrapwood.If the mast breaks in the middle of the lake and someone takes a gaff to the eye (and dies,) I guess we'll know I did something wrong.