Mr. Green's Essential Knots
What I be meanin' by "essential" knots are those few what I use all the time and could not do without.  There be hundreds of useful and decorative knots.  If ye want to larn more that what I show here, ye cannot go wrong by lookin' into Mr. Ashley's book.
Ashley's Book of Knots
Reef Knot
Used to tie packages and sea-bags (and to reef sails).

�Right over left, left over right, makes a reef knot tidy and tight.�

Lubbers call this a square knot, but it does not look square to me.  Care must be taken or ye will end up with a Granny knot, which will either come undone under strain or bind so tight ye will need a fid to undo it.
Bowline
Used for a loop knot that will not jam.

Form a small loop, making the end pass over the standing part.  Form a bight on the standing part and put through the loop.  Make a large loop by putting the end through the bight.  Tug on the standing part to pull the bight back through the small loop to �capsize� the knot.

Lubbers mutter some foolishnes about a rabbit running about when they tie this knot.  The way I have shown here be much better if ye be belly over a yard, 40 feet above the deck.
Timber Hitch
Used to tie spars or timber when more of a grip is required.

Loop the line around the pole and make a second loop around the standing part.  Tuck the end around the standing part of the second loop four or five times.  Pull the standing end to tighten.
Clove Hitch
Used to secure a line to a spar or piling.

Wrap the line around the pole, so the end passes under the standing part. Make a second loop, going in the same direction, above the first loop.  Make the end pass under the standing part of the second loop.  Pull both ends to tighten.
Buntline Hitch
Used as a slipknot when you want it to hold and don�t care if it jams.

Make an overhand loop and bring the end behind the standing part.  Bring it over the big loop, then under and through.

This hitch be nothin' more than a clove hitch tied on the standing part.
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