Improvement Tips for Making Cord Rosaries

1. Keep it the same.  On a typical Rosary, all the Hail Mary beads are the same
color and all the Our Father beads are the same color.  Do not change the colors on the
pendant part of the Rosary. The only exception to this rule is when you are making
specialized Rosaries such as Divine Mercy, Holy Souls, World or Country Rosaries.

2. CHECK your bead colors. By placing the beads from the kit on a tray or towel, you can
be sure of the colors you are using.  Mixing bead colors may result in remaking the rosary.

3. KNOTS: The magic number is 4.  All knots should have the

same number of threads around the tool. To make your knots: first
wrap the thread over the tool in an X, each time you wrap the
thread over the tool continue moving to the left until 4 threads are
around the tool.  Hold that 4th thread around the tool before you
go into the channel or think of it as the fifth thread goes through the
channel.

4. KNOTS: No jump-a-rope. Don't allow the

threads to jump over another when pulling it tight.
Hold the knot between your thumb and finger as
you slide it off the tool and then pull the thread to
tighten, keeping the threads in order. Rolling the
knot between your fingers, while you tighten it,
will soften the cord and keep the knot uniform.
Practice until you are able to make smooth uniform knots.

5. Spacing: Just a little will do. After you add 10 Hail Mary beads, make a knot. Add just
a little space (1/4 inch) between the bead and the knot (about the size of 1/2 a bead, no
more than 1 full bead). 

6. Keep Our Father snug. The knots should snuggle up to the Our Father beads on both
sides. 

7. Compare, compare, compare. When you make your second

decade compare it to the first. Does the space between the bead and
the knot look the same for each decade?  If not, adjust the knot to keep
the space consistent.  Compare the 3rd to the first, then 4th decade to
the first. By the time you get to the 5th the Rosary should be
symmetrical - meaning the Our Father beads line up.

8. No curl. As you hold the two ends of the loop together, see that the
loop faces you like a "U". Twist one strand a 1/4 turn if you start to see
a curl at the bottom of the U.
9. KNOT: Magic number is
still 4 - for the center knot. Line
up the U shape and holding the
two strings together, make the
center knot. Wrap the two
strings around the tool twice
resulting in 4 threads around
the tool. Then take each thread
through the channel.  The one thread will go on to make the pendant part of the rosary.
Leave the other loose thread alone until the end. 

10. From Center knot to Our Father. After you make the center knot, continue making
the pendant part of the Rosary by adding the Our Father bead. Remember Center Knot
and Our Father bead are snug to one another; there is no extra knot between Center knot
and Our Father). 

11. Last Our Father and Crucifix - Keep them together.  The last Our Father bead and
crucifix go on the thread at the same time.  Fold the thread back towards the rosary so it
lays it over the tool (crucifix at bottom, rosary at top of tool).  

12.  Final

KNOT: Keep it close. Keep a small distance between the crucifix and the Our Father
bead ideally ¼ inch, no more than ½ inch.  Don’t pull on the crucifix when tightening the
knot as it will increase the space between the crucifix and the last Our Father. Redo this
knot if the space is more than ½ inch.

13. Check It.  Now inspect your rosary: Colors correct? Right number of Hail Mary beads?
Our Father beads in place and line up on both sides of the loop? Knots in right places?
Loop of Rosary doesn't curl? Crucifix pretty close to Rosary?   If you have any questions at
this point, stop and don't trim the threads; bring it back to the class for adjustments.

14. Tighten, Trim, Tuck and Tack. If the Rosary passed your inspection then go ahead
and finalized it. Start with the Center knot thread. Tighten the Center knot, making it snug
to the Our Father bead, use jewelry pliers if necessary. Trim the thread (¼ inch in length,
not too short). Tuck the thread into the Our Father bead using pointed edge or bead hole
punch. Tack it down with a touch of glue (with brush) or clear nail polish. Repeat this for
the final crucifix knot.