How to Make an I-Cord on a Loom
Even non-knitters are familiar with I-cord--take a look at your shoelaces. I-cord is a tube of knitted stitches sealed at both ends. It can be stuffed with thin batting to make a stiff string (like a rounded shoelace) or flattened to make a wide band of double-thick, knitted fabric for sewing piping or flat shoelaces. Traditionally, I-cord is knit on two needles, but it can be knit easily and quickly on a knitting loom. No matter how many stitches you use--three, four or five--the process is the same.
Other People Are Reading
Things You'll Need
- Yarn suited to your project (finer yarns will produce finer I-cord)
- Knitting loom, round or straight
- Loom pick
Instructions
-
-
1
Cast on for your I-cord, for example, cast on three stitches. Tie a slip knot in your yarn and put that over the right-most peg of your loom. Wrap the working end (the end that leads to your skein or ball of yarn) around the peg to the left of the slip knot, wrapping it so the working end lays over the yarn from the first peg. Repeat the loop over the peg to the left of your second stitch.
-
2
Wrap the working yarn around all three pegs and back to where you started. This will take the yarn around the back of the loom (the side away from you), around the front and back to hang over toward the back.
-
-
3
Use your loom tool to pull the bottom loop of yarn on the right most peg--the slip stitch you used to start your cast on--over the top strand of yarn on the peg, over the top of the peg and off. Repeat this procedure on all three pegs.
-
4
Wrap the working yarn around all three pegs again and knit off (pulling the bottom loop of yarn over the top strand, over and off the peg top) all three stitches.
-
5
Tighten your I-cord by pulling on the tail end, or the knitted portion of the I-cord, periodically. This will pull the stitches together and remove the ladders (extended strings between the stitches; they look like ladders, hence the name) from your I-cord.
-
6
Repeat steps 4 and 5 until you have a long enough I-cord to suit your purposes.
-
7
Cast off your I-cord by cutting your working yarn, leaving a 4- to 6-inch tail. Move the loop on the center peg (peg 2) to the first peg (the right-most peg) and pulling the bottom loop (peg 1's loop) over the top of the peg and off. Move the new loop to peg 2. Put the loop from peg 3 above the loop on peg 2 and knit over (pull the bottom loop over the top loop, over and off the peg). Wrap the tail around the peg, knit over and remove the last loop from the peg. Pull the tail through the loop and pull to tighten.
-
1
Tips & Warnings
Smaller I-cords are made by using finer yarn and fewer pegs, heavier I-cord can be made with thicker yarns and more pegs.
References
- Photo Credit Jupiterimages/Photos.com/Getty Images
