Crochet I-Cords

What is an I-Cord?

If you Google I-cord the first thing that will likely pop up is how to knit an I-cord. You may also learn that the knit I-cord was re-discovered by Elizabeth Zimmermann (1910-1999) a revolutionary in the world of simplifying knitting and teaching it to others. With the discovery she named this technique the Idiot Cord, I-Cord for short, because of how easy it was to make; even an idiot could do it.

Many people are familiar with a knit I-cord, but did you also know that you can crochet an I-cord?!!! While I cannot find the history of how the crochet i-cord came to be, I can say that I am grateful to know this technique and I think that you will be too.

In knitting, an I-Cord is created on a set of double pointed needles working to form a small tube. In crochet, it is quite easy to work with your hook in the round to form cylinders or tubes. That is, except for the smallest of rounds where it becomes nearly impossible, and haphazard looking at best. Personally, four single crochet in the round is the smallest I feel that I can honestly go and still have it look professional, and this is tricky still.

This is when the crochet I-Cord technique can be used! This technique will create tubes as long or a short as you would like that work up quickly and look beautiful. At first, the technique may be a bit fiddly to get used to but it’s well worth the minimal time investment to have this technique in your toolbox of skills. I’ll share my tips and tricks below which will hopefully help to make your experience all the more enjoyable.

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How Do You Use an I-Cord?

The beauty of the I-Cord is not just how small a tube you can make but the variety of uses that it has. Specific to amigurumi you can use it as arms, legs, tails, hair, trim, belts (you get the idea!). For other projects, it can make great trim, drawstrings, bag handles, embellishment, ties, anything that you would want to use a cord for!

It’s good to note that by nature the I-Cord is stretchy so you’ll likely want to use a smaller hook when creating it than your yarn label suggests for your given yarn. Personally, most of my I-Cords are made for amigurumi designs and I use a size E/3.5mm hook or smaller and most frequently work with worsted weight yarn. You can decide what will be best for your given project!

Let’s Talk About I-Cord Size

As noted above, the I-Cord can be made as short or as long as you prefer. What I want to talk more about is the circumference.

Typically the crochet I-Cord is used to make tubes in sizes that would be difficult to crochet in the round. So, think 2, 3, or possibly even 4 stitches in the round. Beyond 4 I suggest just actually crocheting in the round. The wider you go the easier it is to accidentally pull out loops and it becomes more flat and less like a tube because the stitches are too far apart. This may not make sense right now if you’re not familiar with working an I-Cord, but it will be in a moment when you start working it.

How to Crochet an I-Cord

Materials

• Crochet Hook in your choice of size. I’ll be using a size E/3.5 mm hook for the tutorial. A larger hook, say H, may be easier if you’re having a hard time with the smaller hook 
• Tapestry Needle to weave in ends 
• Worsted Weight yarn (or yarn of choice): I’m using Yarnspirations Caron One Pound (Size 4, Medium Weight) in Grass Green (also pictured in this post are the colors Sunflower and Ocean)

Abbreviations

• ch – chain
• st(s)  – stitch(es)

>Design Note: I’m going to assume that you know how to make a slip knot and chain to do this tutorial. Throughout the tutorial, you will see ch1 written rather than yarn over and pull up a loop. It could be written either way though, so if the ch 1 part happens to be confusing you on any of the steps, substitute it with [yarn over and pull up a loop] and you will have made the needed chain.

Step 1: Foundation Chain and Base

• A: Make a slip knot and Ch 3

>Design Note: This is the point at which you vary the circumference of your little tube. You do so by chaining 2, 3, or 4 to start. The rest of the instructions are done exactly the same, the only change being the number of loops you will have on your hook. The ch-3 is the size of I-Cord that I tend to use most frequently and the one that I feel will help to show you the most details and potential issues that may arise, so I will be walking you through this option.

>Design Tip: I like to work the next parts (B and C) in the back bar of the sts. This will make for a more professional looking i-cord by making the base flat. In general, I would make this a rule to start following any time you are working back into a chain on a project.

• B: Insert hook into 2nd ch from hook, yarn over and draw up a loop (2 loops on hook),

• C: Insert hook into next ch, yarn over and draw up a loop (3 loops on hook). Your base is now created.

Row 1

• Step 1: Carefully drop 2 loops from hook taking care to not accidentally pull them out,
• Step 2: Hold onto the dropped loops with your non-dominant hand (the one not holding the hook) so they don’t come undone when you do the next part, (one loop on hook)

>Design Tip: I like to hold the loops right underneath them with my ring finger and thumb (there may be some variance on this holding technique depending on how you typically hold the yarn connected to the skein when crocheting). The goal is that you want to secure these two loops so they don’t pull out when you take the next step which will be to make a chain. When I first started learning this years ago I briefly tried putting a needle or hook into the dropped loops to hold them and then pulled them off with my working hook as needed. It worked but proved to be more tedious and time-consuming then taking a little bit of time and figuring out how it best worked for me to secure them with my fingers, but it is an option if you would like to try it. Securing the loops so they aren’t accidentally pulled out is probably one of the trickiest parts of the I-Cord to master so give yourself some time, you’ve got this!

>Design Note: If you’ve been working to make the ch 3 I-Cord for a while (and do give it some time) but are struggling, I recommend trying to start with ch 2 at the beginning. You’ll only have to drop off 1 loop, which may be easier to manage. Once you feel confident with the ch-2 version then go back to the ch-3 version. Then really test your loop dropping skills and try the ch-4 version. At this point you will likely see why going higher than ch-4 to start out with is not advised, but go as high as you would like to try.

• Step 3: Ch 1 (1 loop on hook)

• Step 4:  Insert hook into the dropped loop closest to the hook, continuing to secure the final dropped loop, ch1 (2 loops on hook)

>Design Tip: It’s not uncommon for the strands in the loops to split while trying to insert your hook. Make sure that you’ve gone through all of the strands.

• Step 5: Insert hook into the final dropped loop, ch1 (3 loops on hook)

Row 2 and Beyond

• Repeat Row 1

Finishing Your I-Cord Two Ways

• Way One: Yarn over and pull through all 3 loops on the hook, cut your tail leaving any needed length for fastening to pieces and fasten off.

>Design Note: This method will draw the end of your cord to a slight point which may or may not be noticeable once attached to your project.

• Way Two (and how I usually do it): Slip stitch through each loop on the hook.
  • Method Described (and pictured below): With three loops on the hook, yarn over, draw through the first loop (3 loops still on the hook, but one is the new working yarn), yarn over, draw through 2 loops (2 loops on hook), yarn over, draw through last two loops on the hook, cut yarn with a tail long enough to fasten off and then stitch the first and last slip stitch together to keep a tubular shape.

Are You Seeing a Gap in the Back of Your I-Cord

If you’re seeing what looks like a small gap with the ch 3 or 4, take the tube from each end and give it a slight tug. It will likely pull those stitches together and shape it into a more even tube.

Also remember, as noted above, if you started with a chain larger than 4, your stitches are going to be farther apart and cause the piece to be flatter.

How to Count the Rows of an I-Cord

To count the number of rows on an eye cord, simply look at the side of your cord and count the number of Vs that you see. Just like you would count the stitches of a chain.

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More Patterns on the Blog that Use I-Chords

Now let’s put our newly learned skills to work!

The Small Animal Collection: Elephant uses an I-Cord for the tail!

The Bat Wing Crochet Shawl has an I-Cord running down the back as a decorative touch.

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