The knots build in one direction: the overhand shows how a knot jams shut, the square knot shows a binding knot that needs tension on both ends, the bowline shows a loop that refuses to jam, then the hitches show gripping and adjusting. Learning a knot without a job attached is why most of them get forgotten within a week. Each step here names the purpose before you tie.
Step 1: The stopper every other knot starts from
Start here because the overhand is the shape every later knot is built from or deliberately avoids: the square knot in step 2 is two overhands, and the bowline in step 3 exists mainly to be a loop that will not jam the way this one does. Take about 60cm of 5-6mm cord, cross the working end over the standing part, tuck it under, and pull through. Tighten slowly by pulling both ends and the knot will roll into a compact lump. Its proper job is as a stopper, the bulge at a rope end that stops it running through a hole, a grommet or a block. The usual error is treating it as a general-purpose joiner. Once loaded hard, an overhand welds itself shut, so a knot that took two seconds to tie can take a knife to remove.
Step 2: A binder, not a rope joiner
A square knot is not what most people think it is. It is a binding knot, designed to hold when both ends stay under tension against something, originally a reefed sail, not a bend for joining two ropes. Tie it as two opposite-handed overhands: left over right, then right over left. The check is instant: if both working ends exit on the same side, parallel and neat, you have it. If they stick out at opposing angles, you tied a granny knot, which slips and capsizes under load. You learned in step 1 how an overhand rolls itself tight; the square knot is the same mechanism twice, so whatever you tie it around must stay under tension. Use it on bandages, bundles and packages. Never tow, haul or climb on it.
Step 3: A loop that never jams
Now that you know how a loaded knot can jam itself shut, make one that cannot. The bowline gives a fixed loop that stays open under load and still unties with a flick afterwards, which is why it is the knot for tying a line around a person, a tree or a ring you must release later. Make a small loop in the standing part, bring the working end up through it, around behind the standing part, and back down through the loop. Before loading, dress it: the tail should finish inside the loop, running parallel to the standing part, not outside it. The outside version holds a steady pull but can shake loose when the loop is repeatedly slackened and snapped tight. Load it hard once by hand, then look at it again.
Step 4: Grip a post, leave in seconds
Attaching a rope to a post, rail or ring, then removing it in seconds, is a different job from the fixed loop you just built. The clove hitch does it with friction alone. Form two identical loops and slide the second over the first and onto the post. It shines as a temporary tie-off and as the opening grip of a lashing. Learn the half hitch alongside it: one turn around the post with the working end trapped under itself. That is the sixth knot, and doubled into two half hitches it becomes a reasonable tie-off when a clove hitch keeps creeping. Remember that a clove hitch holds by pinching the object, and it slides along a smooth pole when the pull runs parallel to the pole rather than across it. Leaving it as a permanent tie-off is where people get caught out.
Step 5: The knot you adjust after tying
Every knot so far is fixed once tied. The taut-line hitch is the first one you adjust afterwards, which is why it belongs after the two fixed hitches: you need to have felt how a hitch grips before you trust one that is meant to slide. Rig a guy line: pass the cord around the stake, then wrap it twice around the standing part inside the loop and once outside, finishing back through the loop. Pull it to set the coils. Those coils must sit on the loaded side, or the knot releases under tension. On slick cord, add a third inner wrap. The mistake people make is testing it by tugging gently on the knot instead of leaning hard on the far end of the line. Load it the way it will actually be loaded, then see whether it holds.
Step 6: Recall all six, no instructions
Memory is the point of this step, not the knots. Tying a bowline with the instructions open and tying one at dusk on a cold campsite are separate skills, so from here you tie all six cold, then name the job for each: overhand for a stopper, square knot for a bundle, bowline for a loop that must not jam, clove hitch for a temporary tie-off, half hitch as the quick grip, taut-line for an adjustable guy line. Use ordinary cord first, then something thin and slick, and notice which knots hold and which need an extra wrap. Repeat at one day, three days and a week, since spacing beats one long session. Tape a label with the name and the job to the end of a practice cord, and load each knot once so you learn which ones fight you on the way out.
A reminder on a phone disappears the instant it is dismissed, so nothing records whether the bowline was actually tied today. A paper strip taped by the hook where the practice cord hangs stays visible, gets shorter line by line, and is only gone when the last knot comes out of memory. Keep a labelled cord beside it.