Tuesday 30 June 2009

Applied I-Cord

I am in the process of writing a new pattern. One of the techniques that my new pattern uses is Applied I-Cord. I found some information online on how to utilise this technique, but I realise there is not a lot out there. I decided to take some photographs of how I applied i-cord to my new project, just in case there are any questions, about what I mean by Applied I-Cord.

The photographs included in this post were taken whilst knitting my up coming project the On Target Bag, which is a felted bag. The i-cord is being applied to a circular piece of knitting, knitting with two strands of double knit weight yarn.

Firstly cast on the number of stitches you want to use for your i-cord. In this case I have cast on 4.



With the rear of the work facing towards you, knit the first three stitches on the needle. Slip the third stitch knitwise.



Place the tip of the left hand needle under the next stitch on the edge of the work. In this case, I am only using the furthest leg of the stitch, and not both, as I want to use the closest leg to sew the bag together.



Knit into this picked up stitch.



The stitches on the right hand needle should look like this, from the back.



Next pass the slipped stitch over the last stitch that was knit.



There are now four stitches on the right hand needle. Transfer all four stitches back onto the left hand needle, without turning the work.



From the front of the work, the Applied I-Cord should look like this.



After the stitches have been passed to the left hand needle, the working yarn will be at the left hand side of the working stitches. In order to knit the first stitch of each row of the i-cord, you must pull the yarn tight along the back of the stitches. This is what pulls the cord into a round shape.



Continue, following this method until the desired length has been reached. If you are joining the ends of the i-cord, then graft the ends together, ensuring the i-cord retains its twist at the join.

I hope that this little tutorial helps anyone with questions about the i-cord in my pattern. If you are ever applying i-cord to any shape other than a circle and you have to manipulate the i-cord round corners, then add 2-3 extra rows of i-cord, without picking up stitches before picking up again round the adjacent side.

Let me know if you have any further questions.

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