Do you have any Knitting Barber Cord? These little cords are great for so many different purposes in knitting (and crochet!) and I just love using them so I thought I’d share three ways that I use Knitter’s Barber Cord in my projects.

What is Knitting Barber Cord?

Before we get into how to use it, you might not know what Knitting Barber Cord is, so let me enlighten you.

Knitting Barber Cord is described by the shop where I bought mine (Handsome Fibers on Etsy) as a hollow cable to use as a stitch holder.

It’s a flexible silicone cord that you can attach to needles up to size 9 US or 5.5 mm that allows you to easily slide stitches on and off the needle.

These particular cords come in a round tin can and there are three cords in each pack: one 150 cm/59 inch and two 75 cm/29.5 inch cords. You can choose the color from, as of this writing, 14 options (mine are violet).

These Knitter’s Barber Cords are touted as the original, coming direct from The Knitting Barber, who has made these products in Finland since 2020. There are lots of imitators but I appreciate buying the original version.

Using Barber Cord as a Stitch Holder

Because the product description says to use Knitting Barber Cord as a stitch holder, let’s start there.

To do this you just slide the end of the needle into the hollow cord. Push it up a little bit so it’s secure.

Then you can just slide the stitches off the needle onto the cord.

Pull the end of the cord off the needle when you’re done and make sure the stitches are far from the ends of the cord so they don’t fall off.

I’ve used the knitter’s barber cord in this way a couple of times and it’s really handy because you don’t have to have a yarn needle handy like you would with the waste yarn method.

I also learned that you can knit the stitches directly from the cord if you want instead of attaching the cord to the needle and sliding them back on. This is decidedly a lazy thing that probably takes more time, but I found it pretty satisfying.

Use Knitting Barber Cord to Try on Garments

Probably my favorite use of Knitter’s Barber Cord is as an aid to trying on top-down garments. I am guilty of not trying things on as often as I should while I’m knitting because it’s a pain to find another needle, slide a bunch of stitches onto it, carefully put the garment on, hoping you distributed the stitches so they won’t fall off the needles, then take it back off and get all the stitches back onto the working needle.

Worth the time? Of course. But still not something I want to do very often in a project.

Using knitting barber cord makes this process so much easier because all you have to do is attach the cord to each end of your working needle.

Slide some of the stitches onto the cord so that they’re relatively evenly distributed between the cable and the needle.

Then you can try your garment on, take it off and gently push all the stitches back onto the needle to continue knitting.

Making it just a little faster and easier makes me a lot more likely to try things on as I go. Which should also mean my garments fit better. Win-win.

Bonus: Knitting Cord as a Strap

Here’s one for the crocheters in the group, too. One of the first ways I used my Knitting Barber Cord when I got it was actually for a crochet project.

I was working on a top down halter top that has a crocheted tie at the neckline to hold the top of the front and back together.

I didn’t crochet that first, but I also wanted to be able to try on the project as I was working to make sure I liked the length.

Knitting cord to the rescue again! I just threaded it through the top pieces, tied the ends together loosely (they don’t really hold but it worked for my purposes) and tried it on.

Admittedly this isn’t a use you’ll need very often, but it was super helpful for me, and, again, just something to make your knitting and crochet life a little easier.

If you don’t already own some Knitting Barber Cord I hope you’ll check it out and add it to your holiday wish list!

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