I Cord Cast On Method: NOT The Best Choice

i cord knitting cast on

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Is your i cord cast on too loose? I have a solution! 

I-cord cast on is a knitting method used for accurate and neat knitting edge. It protects edges from rolling. It involves more steps than usual cast-on methods, but the result is worth it.

But, there is a downside to this method.

First, I will show you the original way of I cord casting on.

Second, I will show a slightly different way to achieve better-looking cast on edge.

Lastly, you try both methods and choose the best working for you.

Continuous i cord cast on

This method creates I cord itself and cast on stitches at the same time.
I discovered this method a few years ago and wanted to use it for a summer top. I tried as many times as possible, with a different yarn, but in the end, I gave up and used the other method.

Photo tutorial

Decrease I-cord cast-on stitches

After continue knitting as a pattern tells you.

If you use this cast on most likely it will look like this (no matter how hard you tried to pull tight):

In the tutorials, I found it was stated, that you should pull the stitches tight to avoid loose stitches, but more I pulled, the worse it got. I tried not to pull tight, tried wool yarn, fluffy, not so fluffy – I was back to square one.

Also, this way cast on was too tight anyways and didn’t look good. If I would use a bigger needle size, I would get even looser stitches.

I decided to use simple I-cord and make cast-on stitches out of the cord.

Lastly, let me show you how to knit a simple I-cord!

How to knit an i-cord

Pick up stitches from the I-cord

Neat result!

How does an i-cord look on the ready garment?

i cord cast on
I cord cast on

How long should I knit the i-cord?

Well, the answer is very simple – you should knit as many rows as you need for your cast on minus 1 stitch.

Example. You need 20 cast-on stitches. Knit an i cord 19 rows long. The 20th stitch will come after you decrease 2 stitches in the end.

Please share and spread the love if this tutorial helped you to understand i cord cast on method!

Check out other tutorials as well:

Watch i-cord cast

on YouTube

I cord cast on

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