Granny Knot
Also called Lubber’s knot
The square knot tied wrong: both halves twisted the same way. It is shown here so you can recognise it and retie it. It either slips or jams, and it sits twisted across the knot instead of lying flat.
- Difficulty
- ●○○ Easy
- Security
- Poor
- Untying
- Jams or slips
Drag to turn the knot. Scroll or pinch to zoom.
- 1Make a bight in the left-hand end (yellow).
- 2Bring the blue end in from the right, under the yellow curve and over the lower leg.
- 3Take it round the neck of the yellow bight: over one yellow leg and under the other.
- 4Bring it back out. Its two parts now come out on opposite faces of the yellow bight.
- 5Pulled tight, the knot twists across its own length instead of lying flat. That is the sign of a granny.
Arrow keys step through. Tags show whether the moving end passes over or under.
Use it for
- None that a square knot does not do better. Learn it so you can spot it.
Watch out
- It can slip under load or jam so hard it has to be cut.
- Check: in a square knot both parts of each rope lie side by side. In a granny they cross.
Untying
If it has not jammed, push the two bights toward each other and pull them apart.