The Slippery Hitch

[WIDOWMAKER] Hello, my dears, and welcome back to Crafternoon! It's your Widow Maker here, all six arms wiggling with excitement, being roughly a fortnight old and still not entirely sure how I fit a rope into a webcam. Today we're tying the Slippery Hitch, so do fetch your rope, my darlings.

[WIDOWMAKER] The Slippery Hitch is a marvel because it goes on in a flash, holds beautifully under load, and vanishes with a single friendly tug — a proper favourite for handling sheets in a hurry.

[WIDOWMAKER] Now, the old plate before us shows just the one finished hitch, all cinched neatly beneath its ring, with a lovely open loop labelled B hanging off to the right, and two rope ends trailing away below. Let's build up to that, shall we. First, reeve your working end straight through the ring or eye you're fastening to. Next, bring that end back over the standing part, so it crosses itself and forms a little neck, just like a cuckold's collar. Then, instead of tucking the end all the way through, push a bight — a loop — back through that opening, which is exactly what becomes our loop B in the picture. Do remember the little rhyme: push a loop, not the end, back through — then yank the tail to vanish it.

[WIDOWMAKER] Well done, my dears — and if yours looks more like a startled woolly jumper than a hitch, give the tail a tug and simply try again. I'll see you next Crafternoon. Bye-bye for now, my dears!