The clove hitch is probably my number one favorite macrame knot in its various forms. A single clove hitch knot is nice, but many clove hitches next to, and below, each other create beautiful clean lines, horizontally, vertically, diagonally, and gorgeous surfaces to add that little extra je-ne-sais-quoi to your design.

To avoid confusion, you should knot that the clove hitch is often referred to as double half hitch or cow hitch as well. The abbreviation for the clove hitch or double half hitch is CH as well as DHH.

Is clove hitch an easy knot to learn?

In theory clove hitch is super easy to make – it's nothing else but two rounds of working cord around a filler cord. The problems with clove hitch arise when you need to change direction, which happens in almost every design that uses this knot. This can get confusing. In the video I show you how to make a clove hitch towards right, and then towards left.

The solution to making perfect clove hitches lies in your filler cord, aka the cord that the clove hitch is knotted around. This is the NUMBER ONE most important advice I like to give beginner macrame learners:

Know which cord is your filler cord & keep it straight inside the knot.

Too often the issue is that the working cord and filler cord switch places and your knot will not look right.

Step by step instructions

You'll need two cords to make a clove hitch: one working cord and one filler cord. Here I'll be making a  clove hitch to the right and I keep my filler cord straight, but in a 90 degree angle so I get a diagonal clove hitch.