Some jewelry makers love this little gadget, and others hate it. For me, I like it because while I do knot, I don’t do it that often. From what I’ve heard, if you are a regular bead knotter and have your system down, then the tri-cord knotter is not for you. However, if you are new to knotting or like myself just do it now and then, you might like this handy tool.
You can find instrucitons (illustrated even) for using the tri-cord knotter at the Jewelry Artist web site.

For those who want a more intensive lesson on knotting and some practice to boot, you may want to consider taking one of my two free knotting e-courses. Pearls aren’t the only beads you can knot between, and if you’ve been stringing for awhile (in fact, I recommend you know how to do bead stringing first before signing up for one of these), then learning to knot between beads can take your stringing skills to the next level:

Crash Course Bead Knotting: You’ll get a lesson a day, so this is a course designed for those who want it now, now, …read more

For those traditionalists, you can find instructions here: Traditional Knotting. Pearls can be delicate and you don’t want them to rub together too much, so knotting is a good way to keep a little distance between each pearl bead. Knotting is also helpful in case a necklace breaks. This will keep the beads from going all over the place. If you wear your pearls a lot, then normally it’s a good idea to reknot them about once a year.

This is one of the first methods I learned for knotting between beads. Pearls, in particular, are good to knot with, and actually, due to their delicate nature, it is a good idea to knot between them. I learned this from an intensive jewelry making I class I took many years ago, and the instructor called it “the cheater’s way to knot.” If you’ve been wanting to try knotting, this might be a good first step. You can find instructions here: Knotting for Cheaters.