Clifford Warren Ashley (December 18, 1881 – September 18, 1947) was an American artist, author, sailor, and knot expert.

In the summer of 1901 Ashley, along with friends N.C. Wyeth and Henry J. Peck, studied under George Noyes in Annisquam, Massachusetts.

[3][4] Pyle helped secure commissions for his students, and Ashley's early work included book frontispieces and illustrations for magazines such as The Delineator, Leslies, McClure's, and Success.

However Ashley's initial foray as a knot author occurred with the 1925 publication of a series of articles in a Street & Smith pulp called Sea Stories Magazine.

[6] In 1922, Ashley was granted Patent US1433868A for [7] "A novel method whereby sennits of any desired cross-sectional shape may be plaited without the necessity for a core."