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.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~