Freshwaternancy says,
Hi, I am looking for a better way to hide the tied ends of skeins once the afghan is completed. My Mom taught me to used to the crochet hook to weave the tied ends into the "fabric" of the piece, thus hiding them. But, once you launder the afghan, many times a bit of the end comes sneaking back out after having been agitated in the washing machine. There must be a better way? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Nancy
Hi Nancy! Thanks for dropping by. Great question!
There are different ways to go about weaving in ends. You can certainly use a crochet hook to do it, but you might find that you get better results if you thread the ends through a needle and then use the needle to sew them into the back of the project.
Next time you shop for yarn, look around the aisle in the store that has things like knitting needles and crochet hooks. You'll usually find suitable needles in the same area. Look for needles that are larger than your average sewing needle, with larger eyes that could accommodate the crochet thread or yarn you used in your project.
I have a few different tapestry needles that I use for weaving in ends.
As far as the actual process goes, different people have different ways of doing their weaving. Everyone seems to have their favorite idea about which way is best. A lot has already been written about this, so I won't re-invent the wheel; I'll just refer you to a couple of articles and tutorials that have more detailed info:
- Sandi Marshall's tutorial for weaving in ends
- Weaving in ends article by Sarah E. White, About.com's Guide to knitting
- And a different, but related topic - crocheting over yarn ends - This method is not as secure as weaving in ends, but it's one more technique you might want to have in your repertoire.
Does anybody else have additional tips and advice for securing loose ends? If so, we'd love to read your comments.
Comments
I find that crocheting over the yarn ends is a very effective and secure method, but only with certain stiches like slip stitch, single crochet, half double, and double crochet. It’s not quite as secure with lace projects, though — too many open spaces. Nice thing is, at the end of the project, you don’t have to go back and weave them in!
First, Sandie at Crochet Cabana has a rather extensive discussion of Those Pesky Ends in her tutorials.
Second, I also crochet over ends, one strand at a time. If I have open spaces, I leave even longer ends (10″ to 12″). I catch the end and the working yarn together to move the end to the top of the last stitch before the space. I crochet any chain stitches around the yarn end, and then catch the end and the working yarn together to bring the end down to the base of the first stitch after the space. My goal is to have only 1 or 2 ends to weave in with a needle at the end of the project.
Melissa, thanks for the comment. I do like crocheting over ends when possible. Especially when there are a lot of them — it’s so much faster than weaving them all in.
It’s worth noting that loosely-done crochet work might not be secure enough to do a good job of anchoring the ends, though. For those who tend to crochet loosely, use your good judgment there.
Susan, thanks for the link to Sandie’s tutorial. That’s a great article! She made a lot of really good points.
Also, thanks for the tip. That’s really brilliant! It seems like a smart way of handling it when you have open spaces. I really appreciate it that you took the time to post that.
Hi! First, I wanted to say that I absolutely hate weaving in ends. I use all kinds of tricks to avoid it as much as possible, including using knots when I have ends in the middle of a piece. Of course, it depends on the finished use of the piece.
Typically, though, in a solid piece, I crochet over the ends. In an open piece, I work with the two strands for a couple of stitches, but I also weave in the ends a little at the end for added security.
For the final end, I find it best to use a needle to run the end through the “legs” of the stitches, then weave them up through the stitches (for anything bigger than sc). I also change directions as that seems to help keep the ends secure. You might want to consider the length of your ends, too. I use about 2-3″ of end yarn for this. HTH!
How about slightly gluing them with them hot glue gun. Just a pinch.