Learn How to Tie a Sliding Knot

Falling in Love with Beads

I was lying awake in the dark this morning thinking about the first time I really fell in love with beads. Oh, I’d learned how to string macaroni on yarn and fell in love with the process of beading pretty early on, but I’m talking about really falling in love with the beads themselves. And, as often happens in the middle light of a groggy dawn, I had the most wonderful memory.

When I was about 8, my brother had a friend, Al, who was just like family. You know, the kind who walks in the front door unannounced, opens the fridge, and asks “What’s for dinner?” Al was like a brother to all of us, and when he took a trip to Peru he brought back gifts for the entire family. I received a leather cord bracelet with large wooden beads.

Knowing what I know now, the bracelet probably came from a street vendor who had a thousand of them for just céntimos a piece. But at the time I thought this bracelet was magical. The beads were plain: dark brown, wooden, with one simple circle carved into each. They felt very exotic and, in our family of seven kids, there wasn’t a whole lot of exotic to go around the table.

I had a hard time figuring out how to put the thing on, though. It had a sliding knot clasp that I’d never seen, and my exotic deprived family members certainly weren’t any help. It wasn’t until Al came over again to show me how to slide the knots toward each other to loosen it, away from each other to open it, that I could put it on. I loved this bracelet and wore it until it fell apart. It looked great with my purple bell-bottoms and Holly Hobbie sweatshirt.

How to Tie a Sliding Knot

Tying a sliding knot is a little tricky, but a great technique to add to your bag of tricks, especially if you use leather or satin cording. If you don’t use cording that often, you might want to consider incorporating it into your stash. It adds a different texture to jewelry and is quite inexpensive. Designers such as Candie Cooper, who used it in her Sunny in the Outback necklace for Stringing Summer 2009, make me want to run out and buy a whole host of cord colors. And in that same issue, Margaret Sherman shows off a great-looking bracelet that incorporates both leather cord and wire, giving me ample ideas for other finishing techniques. Why not subscribe to Stringing and be inspired, too?

While you’re waiting for your first issue of Stringing to arrive, pull out some leather cord and try this knot. It can be done in a couple different ways, but here’s how I do it: 

	1. Measure your desired bracelet or necklace length and double it (or triple it if you want the knots to sit fairly close to one another when the piece is worn). Cut that length of cord. String any wide-holed beads you want to add to the cord.
	2. Loop the cord into a circle. Grasp the cord that’s lying on top 5" from its end; make a fold so the cord bends back onto itself (this will be your working cord). You’ll have 3 cords side by side.
	3. Loop the working cord around, to the back, and underneath the other cords.
	4. Wrap the working cord around the other cords again. Note that you’re moving away from the bend, not toward it.
	5. Make at least 2 more wraps as before. Be sure you’re wrapping 2 cords, not just 1.
	6. Pass the working cord’s end through the wrapping, exiting from the initial bend.
	7. Pull the working cord’s end to tighten the knot.
	8. Turn the piece over. Repeat Steps 2 to 7 to form a second knot.
	9. Trim the cord ends close to the knots. Slide the knots along the cord to open and close the piece.

Pretty cool, eh? Did you already know this knot? If so, what have you used it on? Share your knottiness on the website. In the meantime, I think I’ll put this bracelet on and see if I can rustle up some cola-flavored Bonnie Bell lip gloss, just for old time’s sake.

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