This is my first Instructable so please bear with me as I try to take you through the steps of creating this below

Step 1: Step One the Tools You Will Need

These are the tools you will need
Paracord
Scissors
Heat source for melting paracord (i Use a candle as I can use the wax around the outside to help shape the melted bit of paracord)
(not shown) you can use some paracord needles (note sure of the name) for the last part tucking the cord back into the Knot

lastly an old Lanyard, I say old as we are going to use all the bits that are still attached to it but in this case just replace the white lanyard. it is important to keep all the fastenings especially the black bit this is the bit that if your lanyard get caught in a lift door then it snaps off without strangling you if you don't keep this bit in then there is a chance that you could strangle yourself, you have been warned.

Step 2: Right Lets Make the Basic Lanyard

Firstly take of the neck safety things and keep to one side, this can be done either by cutting or in this case unclipping.

lay the lanyard out flat and then measure the length of the lanyard
measure 4 times the length of this of paracord
this is to allow for 2 strands either side of the neck safety pieces.

This is where it gets tricky as you can see in the picture below i had the unclip ones (these are probably the easiest), if you have this kind then you can loop the string (divide in half) hold the loop end and clip it into one of the neck clips, then pass through the ends through the badge holder (either the keyring or the badge itself) then clip the two ends in the other side of the neck safety clip things (as in picture two) clip the neck things together.

the other option if you do not have the clasp neck safety things but the pass through is to loop the string through all eyelets and then melt the two ends of the cords together to create a continuous loop.

lastly you are now ready to hang on a chair to aid you to tie the cobra knots (the next step)

Step 3: Tying the Cobra Knot

Firstly the length of cord for the knot depends on the denseness of the cobra knot you want to produce, as this is to go around your neck for long periods of time you want it as light as possible and soft and flexible, in my opinion. Therefore i did ten times the length of onside of the lanyard, later in the evening i did another one and did 12 lengths of one side (i.e. form the neck clasps to the badge holder counted as one side). this seemed to be the maximum unless you want a really heavy knot. (note: you will need two times the ten length (as you have two sides to the lanyard) heat seal the ends to stop fraying

starting this knot is as simple as tying your shoe lace wrap the two left over right, right under left and pull tight see main pic of this step
The most important bit here is to make sure that the two tails of string are of equal length from the knot you just made.

1 next step on the side of the front loop (see comment in picture (in this case the right) to loop the string across the two lanyard strings to make a loop (see second picture in this step)

2 then taking the string not used to create that loop go over the loop making string round the back of the lanyard string and through the loop then pull tight.
3 You should end up with the knot with the front facing loop now on the left (see third pic)
4 Then you start the process again with the front facing loop (now on the left) make a loop take the other string over round the back and through the loop pull tight your now back to one repeat until you reach the top or run out of string

during the building of the knot you can compress the knots down or pull slightly apart depending on how tight you want your wave.

even my 14 year old cat enjoys this

Step 4: Finishing Off the Cobra Knot

In the first picture you can see we have reached the top
there are two ways of doing this using paracord needle things or the hard way

basically all we are going to do is take the loose ends and tuck them down inside the body of the knot
to be able to do this without paracord needle things is to loosen the top 3-4 loops so that you can feed the cord in from the top and down through as in picture 2
once both are through you can tighten the knots back up and pull the ends tightly through as in picture three
all you need to do now is to cut the cord as close to the knot as possible (without damaging the knot)

personally i like to heat the ends up so that they don't fray

there you go that is one side done
all you have to do is the other side now
repeat steps 3 and 4

Step 5: Finished Product

There we have it the finished product
as you can see it is a very loose wave to allow it to be comfortably worn

thank you for taking the time to read all the way down here
hope you enjoyed it