How To Knit An I-cord - Step By Step Tutorial For Beginners [+video]

A step-by-step tutorial on knitting an i-cord – with or without double-pointed needles + 4 variations

Do you want to knit a fun little drawstring for your cowl or a strap for a baby hat? Then look no further. I’m going to show you exactly how to knit an i-cord and all its fun variations.

An i-cord is basically a very small tube knit in the round. But because it is so small you can get away with knitting it on straight needles instead of the usual four or five double-pointed needles or circular needles. It’s much faster and a lot less complicated.

Note: Read this tutorial if you were looking for the i-cord bind off. And here’s how to do the i-cord cast-on.

Why is it called i-cord?

The “i” in i-cord stands for “idiot“. Elizabeth Zimmerman thought the technique was so easy that even an idiot could learn and knit it and gave it that name. Personally, I’m not sure it’s all that flattering. The technique is actually quite smart. So, I’ll stick to “intelligent cord”, but didn’t want to keep that anecdote from you.

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Active Time 5 minutes Total Time 5 minutes

Materials

• Any yarn woks. I am using the Schachenmayr Catania Grande in this tutorial

Tools

• Any double-pointed knitting needle. I am using the Knitter's Pride Dreamz here

Instructions

1. Cast on 3, 4, or 5 stitches with a longtail cast on.
2. Slide the stitches back to the right end of your needle.
3. Knit across one row with plain knit stitches.
4. Now, don't turn your project around like you normally would. Instead, slide the stitches back to the right end of the needles (that's the reason why you need dpns).
5. Keep the working yarn in the back (make sure you didn't accidentally wrap it around) and knit across all stitches. Keep a high tension for the first two stitches so you close the gap on the back.
6. Repeat steps 3+4 until you reached the desired length.

Notes

The instructions are the same no matter if you cast on 3, 4, or 5 stitches. The more stitches you cast on, the wider your i-cord will be. Five stitches are the maximum and you really have to keep a very high tension and give the yarn a good tug before the first stitch.

As you can see, it’s really foolproof. Since you are not turning the project around, it might actually be easier than knitting flat. Just remember to pull a bit at your i-cord every couple of rows. This will let the little bit of slack you create on the backside settle in for a much neater appearance.

I-cord on circular needles/single-pointed needles

You can also knit an i-cord without dpns. It’s a bit more time-consuming. So I wouldn’t recommend it if you plan to create longer cords. All in all, it’s still feasible, though.

Step 1: Cast on 3, 4, or 5 stitches just like you did before.

Step 2: Knit across the first row.

Step 3: Slip all stitches back to the left needle purlwise (so point to point) one at a time.

Step 4: Knit across.

Repeat steps 3+4 until you reached the desired length.

The trick really is just slipping the stitches back instead of sliding them to the far end. That way, you can knit the i-cord on circular needles or single-pointed needles as well. Be aware that as you slip, you might loosen up the stitches a bit. As a result, your cord might look less neat.

Purl I-cord

You can also knit the i-cord purlwise. The instructions are almost the same and it’s just as easy to knit:

Step 1: Cast on 2 or 3 stitches.

Step 2: Purl across.

Step 3: Slide the stitches to the right end of your dpns.

Step 4: Important (!) bring the working yarn around the back and then to the front, and purl across.

Repeat steps 3+4 until you reached the desired length.

It’s really important that you don’t bring the working yarn directly to the front. That would create floats on the outside and that’s not what you want. Because this is a bit more awkward and leaves a bigger gap, purl i-cords stop looking neat past 3 stitches.

A four-stitch purl i-cord will look a bit wonky and have this one wider stitch on the back. It’s still okayish, but not perfect. So, decide for yourself if that’s something you can live with or not.

Tip: The i-cord can also be used as edge stitch/selvage.

Other variations

Once you’ve realized that an i-cord is really nothing else but a very small diameter tube, you can get creative. You can basically apply any pattern you want to these 3 or 4 stitches. You could do a moss stitch (also known as seed stitch) or any other stitch pattern that works with so few stitches.

But the repeats can also span more than one row for really fun effects. There are two I’d like to highlight:

Spiraling I-cord

If you want to create a little spiraling i-cord, then cast on 3 stitches. But instead of knitting across, you always stick to the following repeat:

• *k3, p1*

That way, you create a little purl stitch that moves around the central axis with every turn and it looks a bit like a tiny little spiral. To write this out for you:

• Row 1: knit three
• Row 2: p1, k2
• Row 3: k1, p1, k1
• Row 4: k2, p1, k1
• Row 5: k2, p1, k1
• etc.

Curly I-cord

Slipped stitches are a great technique to reinforce heels and can also be used to knit double stockinette stitch (which doesn’t curl in on the edges!). But if you combine these slipped stitches with an i-cord, you can create a nice little corkscrew curl. Here’s the repeat:

• Row 1: Knit
• Row 2+3: K1, Sl1, K1
• Repeat those three rows over and over again.

Personally, I keep losing track when knitting those curly icords. So, you really need to take your time and concentrate on your knitting. But it can be a very nice addition to my beautiful pumpkin patch pattern where you also have to knit little vines – maybe less suitable for drawstrings or so.

Anyways. That’s how to make an i-cord. in knitting Feel free to comment below with your questions.