A Clean Knot

I set the wire cutters down and took the trimmed copper fragment from the wooden tray. Nearby sat a small handheld jeweler's pin vise, clamped onto a tiny steel awl. Cradling my red relic firmly in my right arm, I used my free left hand to loop the pliable metal twice around the awl's slender shaft. With a measured twist of my fingers, the coils tightened into a neat, closed spiral, holding its shape without slack. It is a compact, rigid loop—simple, durable, and firmly bound.