Free Knitting Pattern: Knit Your Own I-cord Shoelaces

While I-cord certainly shines in its decorative applications, it can be a workhorse, too! Just follow this free knitting pattern for making your own I-cord shoelaces. They are easy to make (once you understand the principle of I-cord) and you can let your imagination gallop free in designing fun, funky, or plain ole utilitarian shoelaces for all the shoes in your house that need lacing.

Making the I-cord

You will need a pair of double pointed knitting needles in a small size for this project. I used size 1, but 0's or 2's will work fine. The yarn should be of a fine gauge, a fingering or sport weight would be perfect. If your shoe has a particularly small shoelace hole, you will want to try the smaller needle and finer weight yarn.

Cast on 3 stitches and knit them as you normally would. When you finish, however, DO NOT turn your knitting around. Just push it to the other end of your double pointed needle, and (bringing the yarn across the back of your knitting), knit the three stitches as you normally would. Now you repeat that process, again and again. After you have completed a few rows, give your knitting a firm tug downward. The gaps will close and you will clearly see your newly knitted I-cord! Make sure as you knit that you keep your stitches snug on the needle to avoid loops sticking out.

Shoelace lengths

The great thing about making your own, is that you can make them any length you want. How annoying when you get a new pair of athletic shoes, and the laces are barely long enough to tie comfortably. Or worse, they are way too long so that even when you make the bows really big, you still keep stepping on them. Find the shoes you will be re-lacing and take the laces out of them to use for a guide. Do you like that length, or will you make them a bit shorter or longer?

Standard shoelace lengths for athletic shoes are 27 inches for three or four pairs of holes, or 36 inches for five or six pairs of holes. Consult the Guide to Shoelace Length if you need more guidelines for standard shoelaces.

Finishing the Shoelaces

After you have made two I-cords in the length you need, you are ready to finish the ends. Commercial laces come with those funny little plastic bits at the end to help you lace up easily and keep from unraveling. There's a special name for those tips on the end of shoelaces. They're called aglets. You have several options for making aglets for your laces. If the shoes you are using have metal grommets to lace through, you can use a more flexible aglet such as masking tape or nail polish.

For a masking tape aglet, wrap the tape tightly around the end of the lace. For a nail polish aglet, soak the ends of your laces in the polish until saturated, and then hang until completely dry. Glue will also work for this task, I've heard. If you have one of those pesky pair of shoes where the shoelace eyelets are merely holes poked in leather, you will need an aglet made of sterner stuff. You can make aluminum aglets out of a soda can and some jewelry pliers. (A pair of gloves is nice, too. Aluminum is sharp. Be careful!)

Cut a piece of aluminum 3/4" square. Fold down two sides  opposite each other about an eight of an inch, to avoid raw edges at the top and bottom of your aglet.

As tightly as possible, roll the piece of aluminum onto the end of the shoelace.

Set your aglet on a hard surface. Place a screwdriver at the base of the aglet,  where the shoelace comes out, and smack it good with a hammer. You've crimped the bottom of the aglet, and it should stay on nicely.

Lace up your shoes, and admire!

For more information::

Knitting at Knoon's I-Cord Video
Ian's Aglet Repair Page