Why didn't my I-cord work?

[SevenVeils]

A few months ago, I knitted a hat for my daughter's then-upcoming (now here- my daughter is wild fire child on MDC) baby.

At the top of the hat, I wanted to make a longish I-cord tail to hang down and look cute. I had never made I-cord before, but I had read many descriptions of how to do it and it sounded super easy.

It came out as a flat strip of what appears to be garter stitch. It's still cute, but it's not I-cord.

So I figured that was okay, it's still cute, no problem. I must have misunderstood how to make it.

The other day I watched them make I-cord on Knitty Gritty and it is exactly what I did.

So what did I do wrong?

[mamasthree]

did you slide the stitches down to the other end of the needle and not turn the work? the working yarn should be on the left in the back when you start the next 'row'.

HTH and made sense!

[woodchick]

Did you make it on double pointed needles? It took me a few tries to get it right.

Cast on 3 stitches on a DPN and knit. Then just slide the stiches to the other end of the DPN pull the working yarn tight and knit again. Don't flip the work. It is basically knitting in the round, but only on two needles. As you knit more rows the working yarn will tighten and make a little rope.

I don't know if that helps. I can only imagine that if you got a flat piece of work, you were turning it at the end of each row.

[SevenVeils]

Originally Posted by mamasthree

did you slide the stitches down to the other end of the needle and not turn the work? the working yarn should be on the left in the back when you start the next 'row'.

HTH and made sense!

I thought I did.

Originally Posted by woodchick

Did you make it on double pointed needles?

Yes.

I suppose it's possible that I turned it, but I thought I didn't. Or I think that I thought that I didn't. Or something?

[woodchick]

hmmm. I don't know. Like I said, it did take me several tries to get it right. Have you tried looking up other tutorials to get a different view?

From Purl Bee
From Stitch Diva
From The Running Yarn

There's a couple different views...

I'm thinking that if yours looked like garter stitch you must have been turning it and knitting both sides. In an i cord you're only knitting, but it is technically in the round so it comes out stockinette.