Have you ever looked at the cords and wires around you and thought, “Hmmm, couldn’t these be prettier?”
I am referring to those cords that dangle from our earphones to our devices, and the wires that make it possible to charge those devices. I’ve started embellishing all the cords I use regularly, and you can do this on all the cords running from your electronics if you really wanted to. In this tutorial, I have covered some thin earphone wires and an iPad charging cord that has seen better days, and you really won’t believe how easy it is. This is the perfect project for sitting in front of the TV and using up those scraps from your newly finished crochet granny square afghan pattern.
I have an iPad, but let me tell you, that the original charging cord was showing plenty of wear and tear. Originally, I used white duct tape to make it look nicer, but that’s just boring. Plus, after a while, all the daily gunk seems to attach itself to very edge of the tape! To solve this, I used some colorful yarn and went to town! This is a project perfect for kids to do as well because it is so easy. They can choose their own colors of yarn to help them easily distinguish which cords are theirs. Mine did this and the fighting over headphones and charging cables stopped almost instantly! Variegated colored yarns look very nice with this technique and provide something fun to look at and easily identified.
To get started, tie a strong double knot around the cord at one end. Add a dab of a very strong glue and started wrapping your yarn around the cord.
The key is to wrap tightly and push up on the wrap every inch or so to make sure the entire cord is covered. It is also helpful to place a tiny dab of glue every inch or so to make sure the yarn does not unwrap itself. Once you reach the other end of the cord, dab on some glue again and tie a double knot. Secured the lose end with a bit more glue.
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| iPad cord BEFORE | iPad cord AFTER |
Another idea is to crochet around the cord. In this example, I am using inexpensive pair of earbud style earphones. They actually work really well, but I find that the wires are quite thin, and I wanted to personalize them a little bit so the guys in my house would stop borrowing them.
To begin, grab some pretty yarn and a small crochet hook.
To start off, I made a slip knot and inserted the plug end through the hole. Then I tightened the knot and dabbed on some glue and let the glue dry. Once the glue was set I started a single crochet chain on my hook while working with the yarn tied onto the cord. From here, work simple single crochets, being sure to grab the yarn for your yarn over so that it wraps around the cord, as in the first image below. By wrapping the stitch around the cord as you crochet, you’ll complete the single crochet stitch and cover the cord at the same time.
Continue all the way up the cord, stopping periodically to adjust the cover to make sure the black cord is being completely covered. Note that the cord may start twisting. That is okay, just stop and adjust it. Continue crocheting up to the “Y” (part where cord splits in two to go to each ear plug), completed a final stitch, knot the yarn and add a dab of glue. I let that dry snipped leaving a short tail which I then tucked back into the stitches to conceal the tail. I chose not to cover up each of the wires that goes up to the ear buds because I wanted the wires to remain flexible and not rub on my face.
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This is a fun project to do and may leave you wanting to cover every single electrical cord you see from now on!
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What is the first thing you want to cover with yarn? Let us know below in the comments!
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