הלכות ציצית פרק א’

ז) וְלוֹקֵחַ חוּט אֶחָד מִן הַלָּבָן וְכוֹרֵךְ בּוֹ כְּרִיכָה אַחַת עַל שְׁאָר הַחוּטִין בְּצַד הַבֶּגֶד וּמַנִּיחוֹ. וְלוֹקֵחַ חוּט הַתְּכֵלֶת וְכוֹרֵךְ בּוֹ שְׁתֵּי כְּרִיכוֹת בְּצַד כְּרִיכָה שֶׁל לָבָן וְקוֹשֵׁר. וְאֵלּוּ הַשָּׁלֹשׁ כְּרִיכוֹת הֵם הַנִּקְרָאִין חֻלְיָא. וּמַרְחִיק מְעַט וְעוֹשֶׂה חֻלְיָא שְׁנִיָּה בְּחוּט שֶׁל תְּכֵלֶת לְבַדּוֹ. וּמַרְחִיק מְעַט וְעוֹשֶׂה חֻלְיָא שְׁלִישִׁית וְכֵן עַד חֻלְיָא אַחֲרוֹנָה שֶׁהוּא כּוֹרֵךְ בָּהּ שְׁתֵּי כְּרִיכוֹת שֶׁל תְּכֵלֶת. וּכְרִיכָה אַחֲרוֹנָה שֶׁל לָבָן. מִפְּנֵי שֶׁהִתְחִיל בְּלָבָן מְסַיֵּם בּוֹ שֶׁמַּעֲלִין בַּקֹּדֶשׁ וְלֹא מוֹרִידִין. וְלָמָּה יַתְחִיל בְּלָבָן כְּדֵי שֶׁיְּהֵא סָמוּךְ לִכְנַף מִינָהּ. וְעַל דֶּרֶךְ זֶה הוּא עוֹשֶׂה בְּאַרְבַּע הַכְּנָפוֹת

ח) כַּמָּה חֻלְיוֹת הוּא עוֹשֶׂה בְּכָל כָּנָף. לֹא פָּחוֹת מִשֶּׁבַע וְלֹא יוֹתֵר מִשְּׁלֹשׁ עֶשְׂרֵה. וְזוֹ הִיא מִצְוָה מִן הַמֻּבְחָר. וְאִם לֹא כָּרַךְ עָלֶיהָ אֶלָּא חֻלְיָא אַחַת כְּשֵׁרָה. וְאִם כָּרַךְ הַתְּכֵלֶת עַל רֹב הַצִּיצִית כְּשֵׁרָה. וְנוֹי הַתְּכֵלֶת שֶׁיִּהְיוּ כָּל הַחֻלְיוֹת בִּשְׁלִישׁ הַחוּטִין הַמְשֻׁלְשָׁלִין וּשְׁנֵי שְׁלִישֵׁיהֶן עָנָף. וְצָרִיךְ לְפָרְדוֹ עַד שֶׁיִּהְיֶה כְּצִיצִית שְׂעַר הָרֹאשׁ

Hilchot Tzitzit, Chapter 1

7) He takes one white string and makes one wrap with it around the other strings, close to the garment, and leaves it there. He then takes the Tekhelet string and makes two wraps with it next to the white wrap, and ties it. These three wraps together are what is called a chulya.

He leaves a small space and makes a second chulya using only the Tekhelet string. He leaves another small space and makes a third chulya, and continues in this manner until the final chulya. In the final chulya, he makes two wraps of Tekhelet and the final wrap with white.

Since he began with white, he also finishes with white, because we go up in matters of kedushah and do not go down. Why does he begin with white? So that the string closest to the corner of the garment should be of the same type as the garment itself. He follows this same procedure on all four corners.

8) How many chulyot should he make on each corner? No fewer than seven and no more than thirteen. This is the preferred manner of performing the mitzvah. However, if he made only one chulya, it is kosher. Likewise, if he wrapped the Tekhelet over most of the length of the tzitzit, it is kosher.

The ideal appearance of the Tekhelet is that all of the chulyot should occupy one-third of the hanging strings, while the remaining two-thirds should be left loose as the anaf, the free-hanging portion. The strings should also be separated from one another so that they resemble strands of hair.

Notes:

1. To form the first chulya, take one of the white strings and wrap it once around all the other strings. Then take the Tekhelet string and wrap it twice around the remaining strings. The white string and the Tekhelet string are then tucked together through the wraps, forming a knot and securing the chulya.
2. The eleven middle chulyot are made by wrapping the Tekhelet string around the other strings three times. The end of the wrapping string is then tucked through the wraps to form a knot. The Tekhelet string being used for wrapping is called the shamash, and it is generally used for all of the remaining wraps as well, although there is no halachic requirement to continue using the same string.
3. The final chulya is made as follows: make two wraps with the Tekhelet string and one wrap with a white string, and then tuck the strings together through the chulya to form a knot. In other words, the final chulya is essentially the same as the first one, only in reverse order.