How to Tie a Double Half Hitch Knot (for Macrame) | Step by Step Guide!

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Are you struggling to figure out the double half hitch knot? It’s one of the trickiest knots for beginners, I struggled at first too!

I’ll break it down for you step by step, plus I’ll show you a few different ways you can use it in this complete guide to Double Half Hitch Knots for Macrame.

Want to remember this? Post this Double Half Hitch Knot tutorial to your favorite DIY Pinterest board!

Pinterest pin for how to tie a double half hitch knot post

When you’re first starting out with macrame, the double half hitch knot (also called a clove hitch knot) can be a real pain in the you know what.

Everyone makes it look so simple, but it’s really confusing until you get your brain wrapped around it.

To help you out, I made a video showing how to do this tricky basic macrame knot that’s slow and easy to follow. I’ll walk you through the whole process step by step for horizontal double half hitches and diagonal double half hitch knots.

You’ll also find a few other helpful techniques related to this important macrame knot linked down below!

showing how to tie double half hitch knots in a zig zag pattern

Related: Macrame for Beginners // the Ultimate Guide!

How to Tie a Double Half Hitch Knot – the Basics

First, let’s talk about what a double half hitch knot is and how it’s done.

Below is an illustrated diagram from my free 5 Basic Macrame Knots guide that demonstrates how to tie a clove hitch or double half hitch knot.

illustration showing how to tie the double half hitch knot

In this example, the left most cord is used as the filler cord and held horizontally in front of the working cords, making a number 4 shape.

Then the first working cord is wrapped up in front of the filler cord and then you pull the end down through the loop that’s formed.

Then you use the same working cord and repeat that process again just to the right of the first hitch. Tighten it all up and you’ve made your first double half hitch knot!

If you want to grab your own copy of that illustrated macrame knots guide, check out my Macrame for Beginners post!

How to Tie Horizontal and Diagonal Double Half Hitch Knots

Now that we got the basic idea down, check out this video showing how to tie horizontal and diagonal double half hitch knots (nice and slow!)

Related: Best Macrame Cord and Supplies (& Where to Find Them)

How to Tie a Vertical Double Half Hitch Knot

Another way to tie double half hitch knots is vertically. With this technique you can make really cool pixel designs, like this Macrame Ghost wall hanging!

Check out this video to see how to tie that knot (skip to 7:51 for the double half hitch) and several other basic macrame knots.

How to Tie Reverse Double Half Hitch Knots

Reverse double half hitch knots look really pretty and they’re super simple to make. You can either flip your work around and just tie double half hitches on the reverse side (so the back side of the knots will be displayed on the front), or just tie them backwards!

Check out this video to see how to tie them in reverse.

Free Macrame Projects that Use Double Half Hitch Knots in Some Way

The double half hitch is used in SO many macrame projects, it’s super important to get it down.

The best way to improve your double half hitch skills is with lots of practice. The free projects below use double half hitch knots as well as other basic knots and they’re perfect for beginners.

In Summary

I hope this tutorial has helped you out and you’re feeling more confident in your double half hitch or clove hitch abilities!

Be sure to check out some of the other related posts below for more macrame fun!

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3 Comments

  1. I’d LOVE some help knowing how much cording is needed per craft, like how to know how much to macrame a belt, a bag. Especially if there’s an equation we could use that shows how many feet per macrame finished product feet-say a 36in/3 feet. How much cord do I need??

  2. Thank you so much for this video!!! I’ve watched numerous ones in patterns and this one is by far the easiest to follow and helped me figure it out!! Thanks again!!

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