Thursday, March 8, 2018

A Trick for Improving I-Cord Tension

Here's a little teaser for my upcoming I-cord series....

I-cord made with knitting needles or a crochet hook often looks like this:

Tidy front, laddered back

The standard treatment for laddered I-cord is to tug firmly at both ends to even up the stitches. Let's see how that works:

After tugging: stitches are even, but tension is poor

Is there a way to make firmer I-cord without using a special gadget? Yes. You can try working more tightly. You can switch to smaller needles or hook.

Or you can use this simple trick:

Starting at the bottom, hook up the ladder-like strands,
one at a time, into an extra column of stitches.

Bingo!

Firmer I-cord

Mind the Gap: Using this trick creates a hole at the starting end of the I-cord. Stay tuned for a full tutorial that will show you how to bridge the gap.
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11 comments:

  1. I think cording is very cool. The applications for this is endless! I look forward to the next installment. ((hugs)), Teresa :-)

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    1. Thanks Teresa! The next installment should be up in a few days. :)

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  2. Grazie mille per il tuturial, un saluto dall'Italia!

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  3. So that is how it is done! It was so fast and easy on my knitting machines.

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  4. I Find that quite interesting! I am trying to learn cording with a loom.

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    1. I hadn't heard of cording with a loom - shall have to look that up! Is it anything like making lucet cord?

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  5. Love your hook and ladder trick lady!

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  6. Awesome! What a great way to spend the winter months... playing with i-cords and coming up with new tricks!

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