A detailed analysis of the optical polarimetric variability of the TeV blazar 1ES 1959+650 from 2007 October 18 to 2011 May 5 is presented. The source showed a maximum and minimum brightness states in the R-band of 14.08±0.03 mag and 15.20±0.03 mag, respectively, with a maximum variation of 1.12 mag, and also a maximum polarization degree of P =(12.2±0.7)%, with a maximum variation of 10.7%. From August to November 2009, a correlation between the optical R-band flux and the degree of linear polarization was found, with a correlation coefficient rpol=0.984±0.025. The source presented a preferential position angle of optical polarization of ∼153°, with variations of 10°-50°, that is in agreement with the projected position angle of the parsec scale jet found at 43 GHz. From the Stokes parameters we infer the existence of two optically-thin synchrotron components that contribute to the polarized flux. One of them is stable, with a constant polarization degree of 4%. Assuming a stationary shock for the variable component, we estimated some parameters associated with the physics of the relativistic jet: the magnetic field, B ∼0.06 G, the Doppler factor, δ₀ ∼23, the viewing angle, Φ∼2.4°, and the size of the emission region rb ∼5.6×10¹⁷ cm. Our study is consistent with the spine-sheath model to explain the polarimetric variability displayed by this source during our monitoring.