The Backward-Forward Knot: Right Edges and Mirror Turns

Right-hand edges, the right side of a diamond and any spot where a color arriving from the right has to stop: these are the places for the backward-forward knot. It is the last of the four knots most people learn, and the quickest, because it is built from two motions you have already practiced. This guide explains the knot as the mirror of its partner, shows how to tie it, and looks at how the two turning knots work as a pair.

The Mirror Case in Plain Terms

A backward-forward knot is one backward half hitch followed by one forward half hitch, both tied with the same working string around the same neighbor. The working string starts on the right, steps to the left, steps back, and finishes on the right again.

• The two strings do not trade places.
• The knot shows the color of the working string, which is the string on the right.
• On a chart, its arrow goes to the left and then bends back to the right.

Compare that with the forward-backward knot, where the left string does the tying and returns to the left. Same idea, opposite side.

How to Tie a Backward-Forward Knot

Use two practice strings about 30 in (76 cm) long, knotted together at the top and taped down. This guide uses charcoal gray on the left as the holding string and rose pink on the right as the working string.

1. Hold the charcoal string taut. Pull it straight down and keep it steady through both halves of the knot.
2. Tie one backward half hitch. Lay rose over charcoal in a backward “4”, with the end pointing left. Pass it under charcoal and up through the opening, then pull it up to the top. Rose is now on the left of charcoal.
3. Tie one forward half hitch. With the same rose string, make a regular “4” over the same charcoal string, pass it under and up through the opening, and pull it up against the first half hitch.
4. Check. There is one rose bump, and the rose string hangs on the right again.

If the first step feels shaky, it is worth going back to the plain backward knot for a few repetitions. The first half of this knot is exactly half of that one.

Right Edges: Keeping a String on the Outside

In a plain diagonal pattern, strings arrive at the right edge one after another, so the edge shows every color in turn. Some designs want a single border color instead. To get it, the rightmost string ties a backward-forward knot around the string beside it each time that pair comes up. The border string shows its color, turns around, and stays on the outside for the next row.

The same move finishes a line of color that has traveled leftward and needs to stop. A run of backward knots carries a string toward the left. If the last knot of that run is tied by a different string coming from the right and it should not continue, a backward-forward knot places the color and sends the string back.

Pairing It With the Forward-Backward Knot

The two turning knots are partners, and symmetrical patterns use them at mirrored positions: forward-backward on the left half, backward-forward on the right half. If a design has a border on both sides, the left edge string ties forward-backward knots and the right edge string ties backward-forward knots, and the bracelet stays framed in one color.

They also give you a choice in the middle of a pattern. When two strings meet and neither is supposed to move, either turning knot keeps them in place. What changes is the color you see.

Closed shapes rely on this pairing. In a diamond friendship bracelet pattern, the outline spreads outward, reaches its widest point and comes back in. The turning knots sit at those widest points, one of each kind, so the outline strings change direction instead of running off the sides.

Common Problems and Fixes

• The working string ends on the left. Both half hitches were tied backward out of habit, which makes a full backward knot. Undo the second half and tie it forward.
• The knot is the wrong color. The left string did the tying instead of the right one. The strings are still in the right places, but the dot of color is wrong, so unpick it and start with the right-hand string.
• The knot looks lopsided. The two halves were pulled with different force. Tighten the backward half up and to the left and the forward half up and to the right, with equal pressure.
• The right edge is bumpier than the left. Your two turning knots are not matched. Tie a few of each, side by side, and adjust until they are the same size.

For edges that are already uneven several rows down, the guide to fixing friendship bracelet mistakes explains how to unpick back to the problem row.

A Two-String Drill for Both Turning Knots

This short exercise practices the pair together and makes mistakes obvious.

1. Keep charcoal on the left and rose on the right.
2. Tie a backward-forward knot with rose. You get a rose bump, and rose stays on the right.
3. Tie a forward-backward knot with charcoal around rose. You get a charcoal bump, and charcoal stays on the left.
4. Repeat steps 2 and 3 ten times.

The result should be a straight column of alternating rose and charcoal bumps, with the two strings never changing sides. If the colors stop alternating or a string ends up on the wrong side, one of the knots was tied in a single direction.