Using Beads in your Practice

Tutorials

Paper Beads

Barrell Knot Beads

Knotting Between Beads

Chotki Knott

Paper Beads
Beads can be made of almost any kind of paper and in many different shapes. They can be blank or printed or handwritten-on, and there are many ways of finishing them. In this video, I show you a simple paper bead template and how to roll them by hand. There are many options available for tools, but you can get started with just some scrap paper and a paper clip!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRNPioVaEOQ

Barrell Bead Knots
Barrel bead knots are good when you don't have anything handy but string, or you're worried about the safety, noise, or inflexibility of regular beads. They can be made different sizes by varying the number of twists, which is useful for projects like all-twine rosaries for soldiers, or making inexpensive malas to hand out to those in need.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rYLfqRn9HcU

Further Reading

Making an All-Twine Rosary

Knotting Between Beads
Knotting between beads keeps you from losing the entire strand if your string breaks! It's also a very meditative practice that looks lovely. It spaces the beads out so they don't bump together. This extra space also has a tactile effect on the turning of the beads from one to the next, further engaging your practice.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7zuNk3OLnmE

My favorite all-cord beaded string, the chotki (among other names) is used in many orthodox Christian traditions and is made of beautiful and complex knots.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=poP7Fu_jqrU

Further Information

The Orthodox Prayer Rope (pdf)

How to Tie Prayer Rope

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https://youtu.be/N1X_oDUo5yk