How to Tie a Half Hitch (Horizontal Double Half Hitch, 2 Methods)

Before you make a single knot you need to know which cord is which. The leading rope (also called the filler cord or anchor cord) is the one all your knots will wrap around. The working ropes are every other cord in your project - those are the ones that do the actual wrapping.

For method one, pick one of the cords already mounted in your project to be the leading rope. Pull it horizontally across the front of all the other cords and hold it in that direction. It needs to stay pointed the same way for the entire row.

Take your first working rope - the cord right next to your leading rope - and bring it up from behind the leading rope. Curl it up over the leading rope, then bring it back through the loop you just formed.

Pull it tight up against the leading rope. The working rope should now be snug against the leading rope with a single half hitch sitting on top of it.

Same working rope, second wrap. This time bring it in front of the leading rope to form a loop, curl it up and over and through that loop, and pull it tight against the first half hitch.

That's the double half hitch - two half hitches stacked next to each other on the leading rope. Move to the next working rope to your right and do the same two-wrap sequence. Keep going across until every working rope has its double half hitch on the leading rope.

One row of double half hitches gives you a clean horizontal bar. A second row right below it doubles the visual weight and is what most macrame patterns ask for.

Once you reach the end of row one, point that same leading rope back across in the opposite direction. Tie double half hitches with each working rope exactly the same way - one wrap from behind, one from in front. The two rows stack into a thick horizontal band.

Method two uses a fresh cord as the leading rope instead of borrowing one from your project. Bring in a separate piece of cord, lay it horizontally across the front of your working ropes, and hold it firmly in place.

This setup is useful for two reasons. First, all your project cords stay full length for the rest of the design - nothing got committed to being a leading rope. Second, the edge of the knot row comes out straighter because the filler cord doesn't pull at an angle the way a project cord does.

The starting knot of method two is the trickiest part of the whole tutorial. The leading rope is loose at both ends, so you have to hold it steady with one hand while you tie with the other.

Bring the first working rope up from behind the leading rope, curl it into a loop, and pull it through. Hold the leading rope tight and pull the knot snug. Then bring the same working rope around the front to form the second loop, curl behind, pull through, and tighten again. That's your first double half hitch in method two. Every knot after this one ties exactly like method one.

With method two you end up with two loose ends of filler cord sticking out the sides. Trim each one down to about three or four inches.

Wrap a piece of tape - masking tape, painter's tape, even washi tape - around the very end of each filler. The tape stops the cord from fraying into a fuzzy mess and stiffens the tip enough to slide cleanly. Flip your project to the back and tuck each taped end behind the knot row you just made. They disappear behind the work and the front shows a perfectly straight knot bar.