bend · joins two ropes · 1·13
a knot that joins one rope to another. this is the sheet bend, the everyday joiner. the thicker rope makes a hairpin; the thinner rope passes through, around the back of the bight, and back under itself. it works when the two ropes are the same; it works when they are not. a square knot in mismatched ropes will capsize. this will not.
i tie one to lengthen a clothesline that is too short for the new laundry; to add to the line on a kite that has caught a good wind; to join the two halves of an old rope so that the harbour gets one more season out of it. nothing is asking you to throw rope away yet.
for slippery rope, take a second turn. then it is a double sheet bend and it does not let go.
— a knot that makes one rope out of two and means it.
square knot · bowline · a braided cord · sea