Tag Archives: how-to

Eyeballs

Leave a reply

Maybe you’re not too good with a needle and thread… Maybe you prefer your knit toys to have big old buggy eyes… Maybe you just aren’t a fan of how embroidered faces look.  No sweat.  Try safety eyes!

They’re super easy to use, and (in my opinion) the most professional-looking than buttons or beads.  Technically they are safe (hence the name) for younger children, but I’d still be careful if you give them to itty bitty kids  who like to chew on things.

They come in two parts: the eye, and the backing.

 

 

Figure out where you want your eye, and push the eye shaft through your knitting.  (Make sure you do this before you close up and stuff your critter.)

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

 

Slide the backing on to the post, and use your muscles to push it all the way down.  They’re sometimes hard to get all the way on, but they’ll go eventually.  Be really really sure that you like where your eyes are placed before putting on the backing, because they are almost impossible to remove once they are attached.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

 

Safety eyes are carried at most chain craft stores, but you can find a more extensive selection on Etsy and other online retailers.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

 

Now, go fourth and give things eyeballs.  I don’t know about you, but I feel like I’m being watched or something.  Eep!

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

I-cord

Leave a reply

When I first learned about I-cord, I was told that the name was short for “Idiot-Cord.”   Supposedly it has this name because the first person who made I-cord did it on accident because she was an “idiot” who forgot to flip her knitting around when she started a new row.  I think this is kind of mean.   Especially since I-cord is super fun to make, useful, and more than a little ingenious.  Maybe we’ll pretend the “I” stands for ingenious.

So, what is I-cord?  It’s a very thin tube of knitting.  It can be used as a tie or drawstring, and back in ‘ye olden times’ was used to make shoelaces before they were commercially available.  I-cord is knit in the round, but on two needles, which makes it super easy to make.  If you can knit a garter stitch swatch, you can make an I-cord.

Here’s how you do it:

Using double-pointed needles, cast on 3-4 stitches (you could cast on more stitches if you want a thicker cord, but I-cords with more than 4 stitches end up a bit wonky looking).

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Usually at this point, you’d flip your knitting, so that the working yarn is on the right.  But, since we’re making an I-cord, we’ll do something a little different.  It’ll feel a little weird at first, but it’ll work, I promise.

Without flipping your knitting around, slide your stitches to the right hand end of the needle.  The working yarn should be coming off the left side of your knitting.  Take the needle with your stitches on it in your left hand, and your empty needle in your right hand.  Knit across.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAOLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

 

Do the same thing again.  Slide you knitting to the right end of the needle, and knit all stitches.  Repeat ad nauseum, making sure not to flip your knitting between rows.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

See how your knitting is turning into a little tube? That’s an I-cord!  Give the I-cord a little tug after every couple rows to settle the stitches into a nice even cord.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

 

Keep going until your I-cord is as long as you want it to be, and then finish by either binding off, or sewing your tail through your active loops (like you do at the top of a hat).

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

 

Now, don’t you feel ingenious?

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA