unless it's a simple knot
"Simplicity" is a complex thing - and that is true for knots, too.
Mathew Walker 2-stand bend looks like a pretty "simple" knot, but it is difficult to dress correctly. The
falsely tied Zeppelin bend is more symmetric, so more "simple", than the Zeppelin bend, yet it is a lousy knot, for reason we do not quite understand. The
Tumbling Thief knot is the most "simple" bend possible, but the way it works is difficult to analyse, so there is a discrepancy between the "feeling" of security it conveys and the actual security it delivers. On the other hand, a retraced stopper turned into a bend ( as the fig.8 knot, for instance ) is "complex" in topology and appearance, yet it is easy to tie, because all one has to do is to make the Working End of the second link follow the Standing Part of the first link.
Also, what seems "simple" to one person, may not look so simple to another. The tying methods of the
Ampersand bowline and the
pet loop seem pretty simple to me now, but perhaps that is due to my recent understanding of the working of those knots, which did not come without some previous preparation, on other, similar knots. The "haltered collar" method of inserting the Standing and the Tail Ends into a collar looks like a very easy thing, but it was not understood, or appreciated, by me, until I had applied it many times, in many other knots. The "three bights" method of tying the
pet loop was implemented in ABoK many times, but I had not realized how productive it was until I had tied many TIP loops following it. So, "simplicity" needs time to reveal itself - but when it does, man, it is a most beautiful sight one can watch, which he can/will never forget.