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#8, the simple noose! This is much easier to tie with two hands, haha. Notice that if you pull the standing (long) end the rest of the way through, you'll end up with an overhand knot. I think that's the easiest way to tie this one - start like you're tying an overhand knot, but then just pull through a bight instead of the whole standing part. This is more properly explained at #1114, which I'll get to in a few years at this rate.

#simple noose #noose #one handed

#7, the marlingspike hitch. A marlingspike (or marlinespike/marlinspike, as they’re usually called today) is one of a sailor’s multipurpose tools. It can help pry apart stubborn knots, as well as untwist and tease open gaps between strands when splicing. But it gets its name from the use we see here. Marline is a wrapping of smaller, thinner rope or thread around the end of a larger rope. Like a splice (or melting the end of synthetic rope), this helps keep the rope end from fraying. The marline needs to be pulled tight, and that’s easier to do with a handle.

Lay your marlingspike (or desired handle) perpendicular across the line. Bottom of line in left hand, spike pointing left. Make a full loop with the line, up and over the spike. Then use the spike to come around behind the upper standing part of the line (from the right) and pull it through the bight. Push the spike further through, to hold this new bight in place.

The full entry for the marlingspike hitch is #2030. The multitool pictured above is an inexpensive rigger’s knife.

#marlinspike hitch #marlingspike #marlinspike #marlinespike #riggers knife

#6 The sheepshank knot is used to shorten a rope or work around a damaged section. But it has a couple of important downsides: it’s not great with modern synthetic rope, and it can easily slip or capsize if not under constant load. For me, I think its most useful feature is adding a couple of loops to the middle of a rope.

#sheepshank

#5 Ashley briefly lists this knot among #3-11 while criticizing the errors and poor naming choices in the 1866 “The Book of Knots” by ‘Tom Bowling’ (Available free from Google books). Ashley gives the English names “Bale Sling Hitch or Ring Hitch” for this knot. The general form is usually called the cow hitch, or lark’s head (from Bowling’s transliteration from French). It’s usually called a bale sling hitch specifically when being used to lift a bundle or object, and would usually have the shorter working end secured to the standing part.

The cow hitch, as we’ll see later, is a very ancient knot, often tied with a bight when using a closed loop (like a rubber band).

#cow hitch #bale sling hitch #ring hitch #lark's head

#4 The Overhand Knot, or Simple Knot.

#overhand knot #laziest possible knot #the knot we deserve #but not the knot we need right now

#3 The Granny Knot. The Reef Knot is preferred over the Granny as a binding knot (one tied around an object), and neither should ever be used as a bend (to join two ropes together).

#2 The Weaver's Knot is "structurally identical" to #1, the sheet bend, but the method is not. Ashley points out that while the sailor's sheet bend is ideal in most circumstances for its economy and simplicity, the weaver's knot is often preferred with small thread and yarn. If you try them both out, I think you'll see what he means.

#weavers knot #sheet bend

#1 The ubiquitous sheet bend, used to join two ropes, especially of different thickness. In these photos, both free ends are on the left. Most people would probably consider this the same knot as #2, the weaver's knot, but Ashley declares:

"A different way either of tying or of applying a form generally constitutes a second knot."

#sheet bend

To me the simple act of tying a knot is an adventure in unlimited space. A bit of string affords a dimensional latitude that is unique among the entities. For an uncomplicated strand is a palpable object that, for all practical purposes, possesses one dimension only. If we move a single strand in a plane, interlacing it at will, actual objects of beauty and utility can result in what is practically two dimensions; and if we choose to direct our strand out of this one plane, another dimension is added which provides opportunity for an excursion that is limited only by the scope of our own imagery and the length of the ropemaker's coil.

Clifford Warren Ashley (1881-1947), The Ashley Book of Knots, page 8.

#knots #poetry

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