Make This:

Knitted Cord Necklace

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Jewelry made from knitted cord is kind of dreamy – soft, drapey, and so comfortable to wear. This example is made from embroidery floss so you have a million colors to choose from when making your own. It could be in color bands like mine, a single solid color, or from some pretty variegated strand.

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Supplies:

– embroidery floss – I used 4 skeins to make this necklace – 1 skein of 351, 1 skein of 648, and 2 skeins of 3865
– 2 double-pointed knitting needles – size 4US/3.5mm was perfect for me
– dull embroidery needle with a large eye
– fray check (optional)
– scissors
– needle nose pliers
– a clasp set – I used one with fold over end caps, but a lot of different things would work

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Cast on 4 stitches and start making a knitted cord – a tutorial for this can be found by clicking here. Leave a 6 inch tail at the end for using later.

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Knit until you’re ready to change colors (if changing colors is in your design.) Cut the floss you’re working with leaving 4 inches or so.

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Tie on a new strand with an overhand knot. I dotted a bit of fray check on the knot for security.

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Knit to the row where you reach the knot.

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Thread the tails into the dull needle and slide it down the inside of the tube to bury the ends.

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Continue knitting as usual, repeating this every time you change colors.

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Knit 3 times the length you want your necklace to be (or more, if you want more strands.) Also leave a 6 inch tail at this end.

 

Blocking:

 

This can be blocked in two ways. The first is to soak it with water and lay it out flat to dry.

 

The second (and the one that I used) was to soak it with water, gently pull on the length of it to straighten out the stitches, then hang it to dry with a small amount of weight tied to the bottom. In my case, the top tied to a bathrobe hook in my bathroom, and the bottom tied to my half empty bottle of fray check. This made the cord dry very straight and smooth.

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Fold the cord in thirds.

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Thread the needle on one of the tails.

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Tie the tail around the folded part of the cord.

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Stitch through the three strands again.

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And tie another knot.

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Stitch through one more time, but this time leave a loop.

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Stop pulling the floss about here.

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Now tie a series of small half hitch knots around the loop.

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When the loop is covered in small knots bury the tail into one of the cords.

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Do that on both ends so you’ll have a versatile finish that you can use for a variety of clasp options.

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I used a fold over finding at each end. Slide the loop into the finding (a little glue wouldn’t hurt, too.)

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Use the pliers to close the finding.

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Repeat this on the other end.

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The same method can be used for making bracelets or any other stranded jewelry!