Chinese/Celtic Knot Feature!

As someone of Chinese descent, I have always dismissed Chinese knots that you see splashed around Chinese restaurants and Chinese New Year as common, cheap, easy to make things. However, a look around the DA gallery (Everything looks better on DA for some reason) opened my eyes to some wonderful possibilities with Chinese knots, particularly in Jewellery:

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Some Tutorials:


At the moment I'm reading a book from the library and I'm attempting to learn how to do some of these knots. It's proving very tricky and difficult! I think some of the diagrams in my book might be wrong but I may need some better "beginner" string. I've tried with thick cord and that was too thick and I've tried with yarn (It was lying around my house) and that's proven too soft for me to see the detail or what I'm doing. Do the pros have any recommendations on which string material is best for a beginner that is also cheap? Preferably a type of material that isn't too floppy either. The help would be much appreciated!