Thegranny knot is abinding knot, used to secure arope or line around an object. It is considered inferior to thereef knot (square knot), which it superficially resembles. Neither of these knots should be used as abend knot for attaching two ropes together.

Granny knot
Names	Granny knot, false knot, lubber's knot, calf knot, booby knot
Category	Binding
Origin	Ancient
Related	Reef knot,thief knot,grief knot
Releasing	Often jams
Caveat	Should not be used as a bend. Inferior to reef knot for binding purposes, it can release suddenly and unpredictably.
ABoK	#3, #80, #186, #464,#1206, #1405, #2553

The granny knot is also called the false, lubber's, calf, and booby knot. Patterson'sNautical Encyclopedia calls it "old granny knot" and Sir Edwin Arnold calls it the "common or garden knot." The name granny is given inVocabulary of Sea Phrases (Anonymous, 1799) and Roding pictures the knot in 1795.

The granny consists of two identicalhalf knots, one tied on top of the other. It has but one practical purpose that I know of and that is to serve as asurgeon's knot. Formerly it was employed for tying up parcels in five-and-ten-cent stores, but the practice was given up and paper bags substituted as they were found to be simpler.

— The Ashley Book of Knots^[1]

Called the "granny's knot" with references going back to at least 1849, the knot was so-called because it is "the natural knot tied by women or landsmen".^[2][3]

When attempting to tie areef knot (square knot), it is easy to produce a granny knot accidentally. This is dangerous because the granny knot can slip when heavily loaded. A tightened granny knot can also jam and is often more difficult to untie than the reef knot. It is better to tie a reef knot in nearly all circumstances. One way to distinguish them is that in the reef knot each loop passes completely over, or completely under (not through) the neck of the other.

The reef knot is commonly taught asleft over right, tuck under thenright over left, tuck under. The granny knot is the first step repeated twice,left over right, tuck under. This is a very common mistake made by people learning to tie a reef knot.

In heraldry, the granny knot is known as theBourchier knot, due to being aheraldic badge of theBourchier family.^[4]

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  Reef (square) knot
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  Thief knot
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  Granny knot
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  Grief knot
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  Surgeon's knot

• List of binding knots
• List of knots

• "The Reef Knot FamilyArchived 2013-12-03 at theWayback Machine",NotableKnotIndex.webs.com.