For a long time, I’ve been aware that my ability to tie knots is limited. I’ve got a few I can do easily, like the shoelace bow (pretty much every day for decades) or the reef knot (my standard when I need a knot), and I’ve learned one or two others (like the bow tie knot, which I am now fairly confident I have grasped). However, there are plenty of applications, like tying up structures and plants in the garden, where I could do with a few more that I can use without painstakingly following instructions. Better yet, enough of a repertoire that I can pick a good knot for each situation rather than just bodging along with the ones I know.

To help towards this end, I’ve invested in a small pack of paracord lengths in various colours. Paracord is quite thick and easy to handle and the colours will help when I’m following multicoloured diagrams. I don’t think I need to get to the point where I am a walking encyclopaedia of knot-tying but a wider vocabulary would be a useful aid to fluency.