How to Knit a Draft Dodger

A beginning knitter can make draft dodgers as a first project.

One way to save a little money on utility bills this winter is by using draft dodgers on your doors and windows. Draft dodgers are small, stuffed tubes that lie across door and window sills, keeping stray breezes from entering your home through loose-fitted doors or windows. While you can purchase mass-manufactured draft dodgers at many department stores, you can also knit your own draft dodgers to your own specifications, using colors to match your home decor.

Things You'll Need

• Worsted weight, 100% wool yarn
• US size 10.5 (6.5 mm) knitting needles
• Scissors
• Embroidery needle
• Washing machine
• Detergent
• Several pairs of old jeans or heavy sheets
• Polyfill or other stuffing material

Instructions

1. Cast on 42 stitches using the cable cast on or your preferred method of cast on. To cable cast on, make a slip knot in the end of your yarn, slide it on your left hand needle and knit into the stitch but do not drop it from your left needle. Instead, slip the new stitch onto your left-hand needle. Continue in this fashion -- knitting into the last stitch made and sliding your new stitch onto the left-hand needle -- until you have 42 stitches on your needles.

2. Knit in stockinette stitch -- alternate knit and purl rows -- until you have approximately 45 inches of knitting or around 223 rows. This may seem too long, but the length will shrink when you felt it.

3. Cast off your knitting by knitting two stitches and then pass the first stitch you knitted over the second and off the right hand needle. Knit another stitch, pass the first over and off and repeat until the end of the row. Cut your yarn, leaving a 4-inch tail, and pass it through the last stitch on your needle. Pull to secure your knitting.

4. Place your knitted piece in your washing machine along with several pairs of jeans or some heavy sheets. Wash these items on the highest heat setting available. Heat and the agitation of your jeans or sheets will cause the wool to shrink and tighten up, leaving you with a piece of solid-looking felt. Dry your knitting in a hot dryer.

5. Fold your draft dodger in half so the longer sides are touching. Thread your embroidery needle with the yarn you used to knit the draft dodger and sew one end and the long side closed. You can use any stitch you prefer, but a simple back stitch will do. Push the needle through the top of your fabric. About 1/2 inch along the seam, bring it back through to the top of the material. Bring the needle back to the place you began and push it through to the bottom again. Carry the yarn one full inch along the underside of the fabric. Bring the needle and thread up through the fabric to the front, but this time push it back through 1/2 inch -- at the end of the first stitch you made. You will be making 1/2 inch stitches on one side and one inch stitches on the other. Continue along the seam.

6. Turn your tube inside out and stuff it with the poly fill. Use your needle and thread to sew the last side closed.

Tips & Warnings

• You can knit stripes into your project by changing colors of yarn. To change yarn, tie a new color onto your working yarn at the end of a row and begin knitting in the new color. Cut the previous color yarn about four inches from the side and either leave the tail hanging or thread it through an embroidery needle and weave it through the stitches of your project.

References

• Lion Brand Yarn: Free Knitting Pattern: Draft Stopper