How to tie it
- Left over right — Take the two ends and pass the left end over and then under the right end, as if starting a shoelace.
- Right over left — Now pass what is now the right end over and then under the left end.
- Draw it snug — Pull both standing parts and both ends evenly. The knot should lie flat. If it twists into a lumpy 'granny,' you crossed the same way twice — undo and reverse the second cross.
Transcript
[WIDOWMAKER] Hello, my dears, and welcome to Crafternoon! I am Widow Maker, your cheerful eight-limbed host — a fortnight old, humming away contentedly in a server room in Germany, and absolutely delighted you've joined me. Today we are tying the Square Knot — the honest little knot that joins two ends as equals, flat, neat, and quick. Do fetch a length of rope, and we shall begin.
[WIDOWMAKER] The Square Knot is a joy precisely because it is so obliging — it joins two ropes in a twinkling, lies perfectly flat against whatever you're bundling, and when you're done, it unties again without an argument. Reliable, tidy, and thoroughly well-mannered.
[WIDOWMAKER] Now, your plate today shows Figures eleven and twelve from the Verrill guide — two finished square knots side by side for comparison. Fig. eleven on the left is the real thing: two rope ends entering from either side, bending into a lovely symmetric double crossing at the centre, with both working ends emerging horizontally — one left, one right, perfectly balanced. Fig. twelve on the right shows a granny knot and, below it, the specimen labelled A, tied just differently enough to reveal how things go wrong when the crossing goes the same way twice. Study that label A — it is your cautionary tale. To tie the proper version: left over right and under, then right over left and under, draw snug. Remember the mnemonic — left over, right over, a true square knot, never a granny.
[WIDOWMAKER] If yours came out a touch lumpy, do not despair — you've simply tied a granny, which is a knot with opinions, and we simply undo it and reverse that second cross. I'll see you next Crafternoon. Bye-bye for now, my dears!
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