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I hear the knots on authentic knotted prayer ropes are very difficult... Looked at the pictures on the website I posted earlier and it looked so confusing I didn't even try!

However, the current issue of Beadwork magazine has an article on Felted Beads. From the sounds of the article, a felted bead is a lump of wool fibers rolled into a very tight ball. I'm a bit skeptical, but going to try making some of these beads and see how they hold up. If they hold up well, I may start making chotkis out of them.

Woolen beads that are not knots... It might be an interesting alternative. As long as my husband doesn't leave his in his pants pocket when it goes into the laundry!

Dear Friends,

I still can't recommend the "knotted cord rosary" highly enough!

The Confraternity of OUr Lady, Star of the Sea, sells them at two bucks U.S. per pair.

My entire family - and friends - now have one and they love them!

I would love to know how to tie them.

I read on one site that this knotted cord rosary was what the Dominicans and other religious initially had - and that they all wore them wrapped around their wrists like the Orthodox priests and monastics do today.

Alex

Alex,

Would you please post their address again ? Thanks

Alex,
I'm not sure if this is what you have in mind for "knotted cord rosary" but here are directions for making the knots between beads on cord rosaries. I have seen directions for rosaries where the knots ARE the "beads" and they are tied the same way...
The Rosary Shop - Cord Rosary Knots [rosaryshop.com]

Oh, and here is a site for an organization that makes the ones where the knots ARE the Beads... They have videos, too.
Rosary Army [rosaryarmy.com]

Tammy

Dear Tammy,

Yep, you got it!

There was a tradition in England to sign one's letter: Your humble beadsman.

To be a beadsman was the lowest paid position in European society at one point. A lord could pay a beggar to follow him around while praying for him on rosary beads all day . . .

To say that one is another's humble beadsman meant that one was offering to do that service, praying for them, free of charge - and so it was at once an act of great humility and piety.

And the word "bead" although today meaning the knot or wooden bead, was formerly the old English word for "prayer" from whence "beg" comes from as well as in "St Bede the Venerable."

Your humble beadsman,

Alex

Alex,

I think I heard that somewhere about "bead" coming from "bede" which meant "prayer"... I find etymology quite fascinating. Modern English has so many roots that it is fun to try to guess where some words come from! And some, like "bead", you'd never guess without a little history lesson like that!

I have a knot-tying tool I bought for less than a dollar at The Rosary Shop. But they charge $6 S&H on every order so you need to buy other stuff with it or it's costing a fortune! They do sell cord to make the rosary with, too

I find the difficult part of tying the knots is getting them where you want them without messing them up. I hear it just takes a little practice. I haven't gotten much practice yet because I usually make chain or flexwire rosaries with glass or wooden beads (and I'm expanding my line to include stone beads). My chotkis are strung on nylon "fishing line" or on flexwire. One of these days I'll sit down and really practice the knots!

Tammy

Slava Isusu Christu!

Friends,

I think the most amazing thing about making chotki are the knots themselves and the mind that came up with these knots in the first place. Such a mind makes that of St. Thomas Aquinas look simple! :-P

In Christ,
mikey.

Dear Tammy,

I'm sure all your work in this regard is "knot-bad!"

I'll get myself that tool and some supplies.

I love fiddling around with things like that - I could leave the computer key-board alone if I got into a hobby like that!

I'm the son of a seamstress, you see, nervous fingers . . .

Alex

Dear Mikey,

Yes, that story about how St Pachomios fought with the evil one who kept breaking up his knotted cords until Pachomios made nine knotted beads and the evil one couldn't bust those up.

Poor Pachomios - he had a devil of a time . ..

Alex

Alex -

I love to work with my hands. If I had anyone to study with, I'd be an iconographer! But, alas, all I've got is a book on it, very little talent at drawing the human face, and no information on the spiritual side of iconography! (I know you're supposed to pray and fast, but are there specific prayers you pray? How long do you fast, and what kind of fast - simple abstinence, strict abstinence, etc.?)

So for now I've settled for rosaries and chotkis while my paints beckon from the bedroom shelf...

Tammy

Hey, everyone!

I made my first sale of a handmade chaplet to a friend at work, and now he is commissioning a rosary too! Meanwhile, I will be listing a rosary on eBay today for the first time.

I'm so excited to be starting my new business! I've even got a name - "Chaplets & Chotkis". It's slow going because I don't have the capital to buy beads for a lot of rosaries and chotkis at once. But at least I finally made a sale!

Tammy

Dear Tammy,

So could you review what kind of chotkis you make?

Alex

Wood bead ones like the ones they make in the Carpathio-Rusyn mountains (showing my Ruthenian side!) and Czech fire-polished bead ones which I don't have any tradition for, I just like them 'cuz they're pretty! Haven't tried the knotted style yet.

Glad you're back on the board. Good luck on the job hunt.

Dear Tammy,

Thanks!

How much do you charge for chotki of the wooden style?

Or is that something I should speak to you about privately?

Alex

I suppose the administrators would prefer that we conduct business transactions privately . I PM'ed you my email address last week - if you don't have access to it anymore, PM me and give me yours.