Cross-Knot Cross

In the mood of the holiday I decided to post this. I had developed this cross a while after the first version, and I am finally publishing this version to mainly give people a more practical key fob. It has a cleaner feel and better rigidity than the first version, but takes about 10-20 mins to finish (considerably longer than the first version). I think it is worth the extra time for a nicer look.

1-2 colors of 550 paracord (gutted is better in my opinion) 2ft each

Scissors

Lighter

Needle nose pliers or something similar

Something metallic and flat (optional)

Hands Ready to Tie and a bit of patience

Here is my version to tie the cross knot; I'm too lazy to take pictures again of the archaic version... I should make a lefty version sometime...

Eyeball the gutted paracord into 3 equivalent sections, and start a little more than a third (shorter end) in the palm. Follow the inside strand "over under under" by weaving into the fingers or perform two twists to the left and one twist to the right.

Next, feed the top leading end around the bight made around the ring, then loop underneath between the middle and ring finger. Pull the bight made up and through the bight around the index finger.

Pull the remaining cordage through, then feed the working end through the top of the bight around the ring finger.

Work out the slack of the knot and tighten moderately.

Start with the knot leading from the palm. Then tie another, tighten a bit, and then repeat once more.

Start with the three knots above the index. Next, continue tying the same knot another three times.

Basically we are tying the same knot but instead the layering of the knot is different. If you tie a single knot, and flip it over from the back you will see a loop then a cross with the vertical spine on top. This variation is tied where it would instead have a horizontal spreader on top. With this we can tie two very similar looking knots that can be intertwined from the back.

The pictures show it best... Start with the back side of the cross and work the second color in using needle nose pliers. Feed first under the vertical spine of the first knot with the loop on the left. From here fold the two ends over to create a "S" shape (a mirrored "Z" would be more appropriate). The larger portion of the paracord needs to feed out towards the right. Pull around the right side of the loop, then through the loop. Go under, over and then completely under the left side of the "S", and out the top. Next, go over, then under on the right to complete the knot. Tighten a bit.

For the next two knots the direction that the cordage is fed through the knots on the back is specific. Look at the first picture; this is how you should start. Tie the rest like the previous knot.

When there are three completed knots: be careful to note that the paracord coming off the right side is fed under the left side of the vertical spine of the fourth knot. Next, make the "S" by folding over, then follow under, over, under all (except the horizontal spreader) & out the top, over, and under.

Continue tying as before. Start and pull out slack.

Continue tightening up by pulling the slack to both ends. I would recommend using the needle nose pliers to tighten it so that the cross holds it's shape. I tightened about 3 times.

Cut and singe the bottom of the cross. Smooth with a flat object (pic 3)

I only cut the right sides of the cross to form the loop for my keychain, but you can choose whatever figuration you like. I just prefer this one as it looks really clean, and it sticks out from my keys. I left about .75 to an inch of working end on each side to form my loop, it can be a tight squeeze for those with bigger hands to melt and stick both the ends together.

Here is you completed cross and a few pictures I took that didn't quite make the cut.

If you liked this; please vote for it in the Hand Tools contest!

Thanks for reading! If you have any questions, just shoot me a comment down below; I will do my best to answer them. Or, if you don't get any immediate answers taking a look at Cross-Knot-Cross might answer your question as it is highly detailed.