Knitting Finishing Techniques: Cording Yarn Hack

Some knitting finishing techniques are easier than others.

I was at an LYS a couple years ago, and the store owner and a customer were making twisted cording to use as a drawstring. They were standing about 30 feet apart and twisting and twisting and twisting, each going the other way.

They were having a heck of a time getting an even cord because one of them wasn’t twisting at the same rate as the other one. Then the customer dropped her end and the whole thing went to pieces It was funny, and they laughed, but I felt bad for them. All that twisting wasted.

There are times when you need a twisted cord instead of an i-cord—especially when you need a really long cord and you don’t feel like knitting miles of i-cord. Been there.

We’ve got a great yarn hack for you that uses a kitchen tool—a hand mixer—to quickly make evenly twisted cord. Check it out!

Pretty cool, right? It still takes two people, but you get a nice even twist, and you can’t deny the speed of this method!

If you don’t have a hand mixer, here’s how you make the cording using the twist, and twist, and twist method, but this one you can do on your own, as long as you have a doorknob nearby.

Knitting Finishing Techniques: Twisted Cord

Cut several lengths of yarn about 2½ times the desired finished cord length. Fold the strands in half to form two equal groups. Anchor the strands at the fold by looping them over a doorknob. Holding one group in each hand, twist each group tightly in a clockwise direction until they begin to kink. Put both groups in one hand, then release them, allowing them to twist around each other counterclockwise. Smooth out the twists so that they are uniform along the length of the cord. Knot the ends.

I hope this helps you make lots of twisted card—it’s one of those great knitting finishing techniques.

Cheers,