During a recent trip to Europe one of my sub-projects was to collect some pictures of knots "in the wild" for this thread.
The trip primarily saw me in Amsterdam and Prague, which is where all of the following pictures were taken.
Bravo, DFred!!
The canals of Amsterdam, and more specifically the boats moored in them, provided many chances to observe knots in the wild.
Mostly it was standard bowlines, eye splices, random agglomerations of turns and tucks -- the standard stuff one sees anywhere.
Although, if more attentive observation and analysis of such knotted structures is made,
it might become understood that there is more of a (natural?) pattern to such workings
than might be superficially presumed.
E.g., I'll have a point re this on the loosely formed hitch below.
I did note that only one of the many bowlines I saw in NL was of the so-called Dutch variety. 
Which says MUCH about the knotting LITERATURE & hearsay, and much less about de knoop Nederland--
NB!Of all the knots I saw on the canals of AMS this was the most notable: a Lobster Buoy Hitch (#1839).
Are you
sure of this--i.e., did you examine it more closely than from the photo's perspective,
to ascertain w/certainty the path of the parts?
For I don't see #1839 here: I see the SPart (or
hoofdtouw) making a HHitch turn around a line, as, indeed,
like the start of 2HHs--same orientation to object, i.p.--, and that denies it being a Lobster Buoy Hitch. In fact,
it is what I've called (on my own discovery--"invention"--of it) a
"Collared Half-Hitch" noose, albeit not in the exact
geometry that would readily reveal the motivation for this name, where the hitch is slide up snug to a hitched ring.
The end is jammed up into the intial HH turn.
But, admittedly, the path of the two ends (SPart & loose/cut end) is ambiguous; the eye can follow either
to either turn of the knot. BUT, there are reasons to believe my assertion--see below.
Given the otherwise non-notable state of knots on this boat,
Oh, but re another hitch you've captured nicely to share w/us might tell
directly upon this question!
I was left wondering if this was an intentional use of the LBH, or simply a statistical fluke where a random attempt
at a two-half-hitches class knot ended up as a LBH. Hard to say, but still a LBH observed in the wild...
--and not knot-imaginations of an author! --parrotings from past parrotings from ...
Scrutinize that old, growth-decorated (
enhanced/camouflaged) rope; see the portion just beyond
the hitch--there is a distinct slight dog-led bend in it, starting w/the 3rd strand on upper side & thereabouts.
This, I submit, indicates a preliminary state to achieving the knotted structure that resulted.
.:. If one were to (re- (!!))capsize this hitch by pulling on the end etc., it will take the form of a ...
SquaREef knot (forming the eye). And that, I submit, is the genesis of what you saw.
For that is a traditional or
natural tying method (or, in Pieter van de Griend terminology,
algorithm);
and what the same sort of tying & capsizing would take to get #1839 is anything but natural
(just as tying a Thief is more trouble than tying the Reef). And see below, as forewarned ...
(Incidentally, CLDay's
Art of Knotting & Splicing has a different orienation of the so-called
Lobster Buoy hitch than Ashley; and Day's version could be differently dressed, to boot.
Day's image matches what THIS image would be showing were my arguments above wrong
(but I think not)--in any case, a Cow Hitch in reverse orientation to noosed object, the end lying
parallel to SPart, rather than taking a pass on one or the other side of the SPart. Ashley, in
contrast, definitely positions the end tp run out between SPart and over part, whereas it could
also go on the other side, between SPart of
noose & SPart of noose's
hitch--the former
seems maybe less secure.)
While I saw many less-than-stellar examples of knotting, most seemed up to the task at hand, if only by virtue of the number of wraps and tucks. However this knot seen in Prague's Old Town wins for the worst knot I saw on my trip. It appeared this hook was actually used for hoisting stuff to the top of a 6-7 story scaffolding. I seriously thought about retying it with something more reasonable, but figured it was best to avoid the possibility of some Czech construction worker coming over and roughing me up for messing with his equipment.
Well, here is clear evidence of the
natural way of casting multiple "overhand"/simple knots
to form a hitch. If the force were adequate to capsize these multiple knots, you'd find here
possibly THREE HHitches--nb: the Simple knots combine in the
Granny orientation to each other.
In fact, such multiplicities often capsize into rather surprising loopknots, with the SPart staying
turned and the end jerking straight, at the eye/object-end of the structure. One can find various
results, and variously of the "Cow (Reef)" vs "Clove (Granny)" orientations.
This image and the next two were taken at the Prague Castle complex, within the "Powder Tower" where an exhibit of "Military headgear through the ages" was taking place. . . .
And HERE, we must invalidate your passport into the Practical section!

And finally, one knot of my own making... I carry a roll-up toiletries kit which when unrolled hangs very nicely from horizontal towel bars. However since many hotels, homes, etc. don't have a horizontal bar in a reasonable location I carry a short length of braided cord (lawnmower starter-cord for the curious) which I used to hang the kit from whatever is available.
A knotter must carry cord--passport to persistent pleasures!
--dl*
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