You need to begin with something that can be tied.. you can use this as a great correspondance feature to make the spell more your own.. anything that can be tied will work just fine, for example, if you're doing the spell for someone else, you could use something that reminds you of them or something that belongs to them like a winter scarf or a neck tie..
Hold the item and think about your goal, start tying knots and whispering your goal into the binding eight times (eight is the number of completion and fulfullment). Continue holding the item and pouring in energy until it's full. To release the magic, untie one knot..