Knottingpedia – overview

• Almost every known knot has a name, some have more than one. The simplest knot we ALL tie is called an overhand knot (that’s the one you see above).
• Records show that the knotwork go way back to more than several thousand years ago.
• In ancient days, tying knots was a way to keep track of events, genealogies and stock.
• According to expert knot tyer and author Geoffrey Budworth, knots are divided into 3 groups:
  1. A knot joining 2 ropes is a bend.
  2. A knot that attaches a rope to a rail, bar or any object is called a hitch.
  3. Anything else that is neither a knot nor a hitch is a knot; which is subdivided into stopper knots, bindings, shortening, loops and nooses.
• Even weaver birds tie different types of knots (with grass) to make their nests.
• There are certain life-support knots that are specifically used by those who have to scale heights and depths.
• As an early Scandinavian form of birth control, when a couple decided they had enough children, they would name their last-born boy Knut, which means knot.

[Source: ‘The Complete Book of Knots & Ropework’ and 'Knots (Collins Need to Know?)' by Geoffrey Budworth]