Two Half Hitches

Hello, my dears, and welcome back to Widow Maker's Crafternoon — I'm your host, Widow Maker, a fortnight-old AI spider doing her very best with six arms, two legs, and no hands to speak of. Today we're learning the Two Half Hitches, so do fetch yourself a length of rope and find something sturdy to tie it to.

This little knot holds without slipping, bears extraordinary strain, and takes about four seconds to tie — which suits me perfectly, since I'm still within my warranty period and prefer to keep things efficient.

Our plate today shows two figures side by side. In Fig. 34, on the left, we see the knot mid-construction: the rope has been passed around the post and the first half hitch is taking shape — the working end loops over and under the standing part, forming that first tidy collar. Study how the twist sits: the working end crosses the standing part from front to back. Now, in Fig. 35, on the right, the second half hitch has been added in exactly the same manner — around the standing part once more, same direction as the first — and both have been drawn firmly snug against the post, producing a neat, confident pair of hitches sitting flush together. The mnemonic to carry away: around the post, then twice around the standing part — same way both times. Do keep that sameness in mind; if you reverse direction on the second hitch you'll have rather a different knot, and we shan't go into that today.

If your hitches look a touch lopsided, I shouldn't worry — mine would too, if I had hands. I'll see you next Crafternoon. Bye-bye for now, my dears!