How to Tie a Surgeon's Knot

In medicine, a surgeon's knot is used to secure suture threads during surgical procedures. However, it's also one of several types of knots useful for making jewelry and working with beads. It's similar to a square knot, but it has an extra pass-through on the first half of the knot. This makes the cords less likely to slip, both while you are tying the knot and once the knot is complete.

Surgeon's knots are a good knot to use with elastic cord. The extra pass-through at the base will help to keep the knot in place while you are tying the second half of the knot. It also makes the knot less likely to untie. Depending on the beadwork stitch being used, a surgeon's knot may be used to join two ends of the beading thread together, such as when tying off the threads or adding a new thread. Using it in this way would depend on having enough room between the beads to add the knot.

Surgeon's knots work well with beading thread such as Nymo or FireLine. They can be used to add a thread to a component, as in brick-stitched bead-wheel earrings. A surgeon's knot can also be used on the thread end to make a bulkier knot that resists slipping through the beading foundation when doing bead embroidery.