How to Make and Use I-Cord

I’ve probably mentioned that I’m teaching some fiber arts classes for kids this summer, and one of the projects we are going to tackle is making spool knitters and making knit cord.

Of course you can do the same thing with knitting needles, and it’s called I-cord (check this tutorial from Nemcsok Farms for the details if you don’t know how) and you can do the same sorts of things with your finished cords regardless of how you made them.

But what exactly can you do with knit cord?

Knitting-and has a list of 101 uses for knit cord (that actually only has 35 items), from holding two mittens together to making a coiled basket from a really long piece.

The cool thing about it is that you can make it different shapes to form words and images that can be applied to knitting or, if you string a wire through the cord, can stay in shape on their own.

You can braid lengths of it together to make a bracelet or a headband, which is probably one I will do with the kids. Or you can make one long piece and make a wrap bracelet.

Need more ideas? I found two great Pinterest boards on the subject of using I-cord: I-cord Ideas and Knitted I-cord Uses (love the Celtic knot keychain linked there!).

Do you have fun uses for knit cords? I’d love to hear them!

Looking for more Knitted Headband Patterns? Check these patterns out on Etsy. Headbands are a great gift idea as they knit up fast and are well received by friends and family. Everyone loves wearing Knit headbands right?

The butterfly on this piece — the Owl Butterfly Playmat by Sophie’s Stitches — caught my eye before I even knew what the project was. Now that I’ve give it a closer look I’m still not 100 percent sure what it is meant to be for, but I still love it.

I think it’s maybe to give you a flat surface to roll dice or play cards on, but there are no images of the project in use so I’m just speculating on that. If you know what it is, be sure to let me know!

What it physically is is a worsted weight mat (the sample is worked in cotton) that measures 14 by 24 inches, or 35.5 by 61 cm. The impression I get from the pattern notes and the photos is that you knit the rectangle plain and the butterfly is stitched on after using duplicate stitch, which is provided as a chart.

Of course you could choose to knit some of the colorwork as you go, either using stranded knitting or intarsia techniques, or maybe some of both. It just looks like a lot of duplicate stitch (and it is!) so knowing me if I were making this project I’d probably try to knit some of it instead of stitching it all.

The pattern also suggests that you can knit a second plain mat to sew on the back and cover up all the yarn ends, as well as making the mat thicker and a little more stable. There’s also a photo that shows fabric sewn to the back, which is also a good option if you have some fabric that has a bit of grip.

I like the graphic on this one enough I might just make it as a table pad for our entry way table. You can always make the mat part a different dimension, just make sure you’re centering the image if you do.

You can find this pattern on Ravelry.

[Photo: Sophie’s Stitches]

Have you read?