Page 91 - Geoffrey Budworth, Jason Dalton "The Little Book of Incredibly Useful Knots"

Spanish bowline

This is a classic twin forked-loop knot from the days of sail, when it was used to improvise a

rope chair to hoist crewmen aloft, or to suspend them over the side on ladder staging. It is tied
(and untied) in the bight—that is, without the need to use either end of the rope or cord. With
practice it is easier to tie than it looks; but, as with all knots, make one wrong twist or tuck and

something else (or no knot at all) will result.

Locate the middle of the line and bend a bight backward down behind the twin standing parts to
form a couple of loops (1). Twist the left loop clockwise and the right loop counterclockwise (2).
Then pass the left-hand loop up through its right-hand partner, from back to front (3). Taking hold
of both sides of the large lower loop, pull a bight from front to back through each of the smaller
upper loops (4), and then tighten the knot (5).