Just found this useful reference site with knot tying animations 
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The most useful ones are
- Round turn and 2 half hitches - for attaching rope to pole, or big metal tent peg
- Reef knot - for tying 2 same size strings together - good for points, necklaces, bunting,
- Adjustible grip hitch - lets you tighten side guy lines if you don’t have a runner.
American term for a reef is Square knot when using above website. Brits call something else a square knot!
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- The round turn and two half-hitches CharlieP mentions: Round Turn & Two Half Hitches | How to tie a Round Turn & Two Half Hitches using Step-by-Step Animations | Animated Knots by Grog
- Never rely on a reef knot! It can be useful, but see warnings at Square Knot | How to tie a Square Knot using Step-by-Step Animations | Animated Knots by Grog
- For alternatives, see others in the “bends” category.
- Depending on what the rope is like, the Midshipman’s Hitch might be better than the Adjustable Grip Hitch: Midshipman's Hitch | How to tie a Midshipman's Hitch using Step-by-Step Animations | Animated Knots by Grog (and I think knots are better than using those wooden sliders for adjustment).
- Those two are essentially the same as the variants of the Magnus Hitch or Rolling Hitch, which I use to hold my tent’s three-piece main pole together: a rope running the length of the pole, tied to each end of of it with the Magnus Hitch, which can be gripped and slid along the pole in either direction but resists sliding caused by rope-tension: Rolling Hitch | How to tie a Rolling Hitch using Step-by-Step Animations | Animated Knots by Grog (it works fine for the wooden pole and natural-fibre rope, but with more slippery materials I’d need a different hitch). I put some wraps along the way, to give places where I can hang things with hooks: see Cable lacing - Wikipedia or http://www.aeroelectric.com/articles/cable_lace/Running_Lace.gif (The same approach is also good for rope wrapping a rolled-up rug or carpet.)
The place where I’d like to learn a good knot is for fastening little drawstring pouches: both the single-loop and two-loop sorts. What I’ve been using is more fiddly and less reliable than I’d like.
Suggestions, anyone?
There is a knot that falconers use to tie jesses to perches while holding the bird. So you can do it one handed, it’s quick release, but tight on the other end. I was taught to do it at an event. I’ll see if I can find out what it’s called.
This one? Falconer's knot - Wikipedia
I shall give it a try: thank you!