Anyone who's ever worked on a ship docking job know how important it is to have a good monkey's fist knot to send up the heaving line and messenger.  This is probably one of the most difficult knots to make.  This diagram does a pretty good job of illustrating the direction of the turns.  A weight may be fashioned by rolling rubber insulating tape around a large nut to make a round ball to be slipped into the fist at about the first picture in the last row below.