How to Tie the Net Making Cross Knot
Usage
The Net Making Cross Knot is what you use to build hand-tied netting — fishing nets, hammocks, cargo and storage nets, and craft mesh. It is tied with a netting needle around a mesh gauge, one knot at every corner of the mesh, row over row, so each opening comes out the same size. It isn't a new structure: it's a sheet bend tied into the bight of the row above, and the "cross" in its name describes the crossing lock formed at each mesh corner.
Why Learn the Net Making Cross Knot?
One knot builds a whole category of gear: fishing nets, hammocks, crab and dip nets, cargo and storage nets, bags, and decorative mesh. The hand movements are hard to put into words — Ashley says exactly that of the mesh knot in The Ashley Book of Knots, calling the movements “not easily described”, and Hunter's 1927 netting manual repeats the same caveat for his own method. Both then add that it ties quickly once your hands know it. Practice cord beats reading here, which is why the Knot IQ Companion Kits pair cordage with the app's 3D animations.
Other Names
Category
Variations
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How to Tie the Net Making Cross Knot
Step 1
Hold the gauge — the spool or flat mesh stick that fixes your mesh size — in your left hand, sitting under the previous mesh's loop.
Step 2
Pass the netting needle through that loop and around the gauge, taking working loops over your thumb, then your ring finger, then your little finger.
Step 3
Pull steadily on the needle while you release the thumb loop first, then the ring-finger loop.
Step 4
Cast off the last loop from your little finger and draw the knot snugly against the gauge.
Pro Tip: The finishing tuck belongs around the front of the loop above, never underneath it — an under-the-loop tuck makes a hidden slip knot that looks fine until the mesh lets go. Keep your thumb pinned on the previous loop as you draw down; that pressure keeps every mesh the same size. If you can't tell which way your tuck landed, the Knot IQ app lets you spin the knot in 3D and see the crossing from behind.
Other approaches are documented — a hammock method worked from a fixed hook, an angling method along a stretched foundation cord, and a double-lock version adding one extra tuck for slick twine. This guide teaches the standard hand method; the others are named here, not taught.
Common Uses
Fishing
- Hand-tied nets with uniform diamond mesh. The knot's core job and its best-documented one.
- Mending damaged mesh. Netters cut back to a clean knot and knot fresh twine in rather than untying. Torn patches are sometimes finished with a Square Knot (Reef Knot) rather than the mesh knot.
- Slick synthetic line. The plain single tuck is reported to slip in monofilament; use the double-lock there.
Camping and Household
- Hammock netting. Full-body suspended mesh, worked row by row.
- Storage and gear nets. Custom nets for vehicles, workshops, and gear walls.
Craft and Decorative
- Bags, curtains, and macrame-style mesh. The same repeated knot builds carry bags, hanging panels, and display netting.
Notable Features
- Uniform Diamond Mesh: The gauge sets the size and the knot holds it.
- Built for Repetition: Compact and quick, with no fussy setup between knots.
- Locks Without Stiffening: Each crossing nips tight while the net stays flexible.
- Tied in the Bight: After the first row is cast on with the classic pole-start hitch, every mesh is tied to a loop, not a rope end.
Similar Knots
Sheet Bend vs. Net Making Cross Knot
- Advantage: Same structure, so learning how to tie the Sheet Bend first teaches your hands the tuck free of the needle and gauge. Its doubled form has its own Double Sheet Bend guide.
- Disadvantage: Different job — the plain bend joins two rope ends; this knot repeats that tuck across a lattice to build mesh.
Square Knot (Reef Knot) vs. Net Making Cross Knot
- Advantage: The reef knot has two genuine netting jobs — splicing fresh twine into a net, and finishing a woven repair patch.
- Disadvantage: It doesn't form the mesh; a true square-knot crossing at each junction would creep and capsize under the uneven, multi-directional load a net sees.
Net Knot (Modified Square Knot) vs. Net Making Cross Knot
- Advantage: A second trade name for the same locking crossing — worth recognising, because netting instructions use both labels.
- Disadvantage: Ashley and Graumont and Robert-Birch both trace it to one underlying trade knot, so there is no second technique to learn here — one knot, two labels.
History
Surviving net fragments put this sheet-bend mesh structure everywhere from the Arctic Circle to Egypt. Hasluck's 1907 manual Knotting and Splicing Ropes and Cordage lays out a full illustrated hammock-netting method built on it. Ashley catalogued it in The Ashley Book of Knots (1944) as the Mesh Knot, pointing it straight back at the sheet bend.
Security Level
Dressed properly it holds: a correctly formed mesh knot distorts before it slips. Nearly every reported failure traces to one thing — the final tuck landing under the loop above instead of around the front of it. In slick synthetic line, add the double-lock. One number worth knowing: knotting a net costs roughly half the strength of the unknotted strands under the fishing-net test standard ISO 1806.
Downsides
- Not an Anchoring Knot: Not built for single-point anchoring or heavy concentrated loads.
- Dressing-Sensitive: Consistent gauge tension and a front-of-loop tuck make the difference.
- Fixed Mesh Size: The gauge sets the opening at tying time; you can't adjust it afterwards without re-knotting.
- Slow at Scale: Quick per knot, but a full net is hours of repetition.
- Bulky When Double-Locked in Thick Cord: In heavy material such as Premium Bushcraft Paracord, use the plain single tuck instead.
When Not to Use the Net Making Cross Knot
Skip it for very heavy or critical-load netting — cargo, dredging, and boarding nets. At that scale the knotted joint is the weak point, and the fix isn't a different knot: heavy nets were historically built with round seizings instead, and modern ones increasingly use metal clips.
FAQ
Is the Net Making Cross Knot a real, distinct knot?
Structurally, no — it's a sheet bend tied with a netting needle around a mesh gauge. Ashley catalogues the structure as the Mesh Knot, and Graumont and Robert-Birch reach the same identification independently.
Why does my net keep slipping loose?
The best-documented cause is tucking the working end under the loop instead of around the front of it. If it keeps happening, the double-lock method adds an extra tuck and is far more forgiving in slick twine.
What tools do I actually need?
A netting needle and a gauge — a spool, flat stick, or mesh board. The gauge should measure a little under half the circumference of the mesh you want, and the needle must pass through that mesh.
Do I need to double-lock every knot?
No. Natural twine and ordinary netting cord hold fine with the plain single tuck. Save the double-lock for monofilament and fine synthetics, and skip it in thick cordage.
Important Notes on Safety
- Tuck the working end around the front of the loop above, never underneath it — the most-reported mistake with this knot.
- In monofilament and other slick synthetic twine, use the double-lock.
- Don't rely on netting mesh for single-point anchoring — it spreads load across the whole net rather than carrying it at one knot.
