Charging Cord Fortification with Yarn-bomb Style
November 29, 2016
A year ago, I bought my first little MacBook Air + charger on eBay, only to find when it arrived, the charger had a gash that had been carefully folded behind the charging box for the picture. This was kind of a bummer, but I needed a charger and this worked. I knew the rubber housing on Mac chargers splits easily, so I promised myself I would be gentle with it, and we went about our merry way.
Six months (and many layers of electrical tape) later, things had gotten a little dramatic. Our relationship was stretched thin, our nerves raw, etc. You get the idea.
When I got my new charger (new this time!), I decided things would be different. I read about the cord's failure points and noticed what my long-time Mac-having friends did to reinforce their chargers. I found this very lovely video, pulled apart the nearest pen, and turned it into a "most-often-pulled-end" reinforcer.
I wanted to avoid the kinks and eventual splits that seem inevitable in the "charger slinked across a crowded floor in a coworking space" life that my charger leads, so I decided to give it a covering with a little squish and, of course, found some inspirationally-colorful yarn-'plosion street art.
The colors I settled on (we can't all be a giant, yarn-bombed fence flower, can we?)
I was all ready to make my giant friendship bracelet/snuggie for my charging cable. I decided to do a forward knot, because, well, it reminded me of my friendship bracelet days. Also, I expected always going one direction with the yarn would mean I wouldn’t get too tangled, and I liked that the twist would give my cord a little padding.
The sight of me with charger and yarn across my lap brought the people in my train car surprisingly little entertainment*, but working on it made me smile and gave me time to think during the four or so commute-hours I estimate I spent working on this. Now I have a super-protected, super-colorful, super-easy-to-identify electron-transferring best buddy.
That's how I protected my charging cable, and I encourage you to find a charger fortification that makes your day brighter as well. ♡ ♡ ♡
*As my project got further along, I did catch a few sideways glances. The sight of me wrapping the finished end around my shoulders like a multicolored electronic snake-shawl may have been a bit much.