Crochet A to Z: Weaving in Ends

I’m doing the A to Z Challenge for the month of April with the theme “Learn to Crochet A to Z.” For more details, and to see previous posts, click on the link at the top of my blog!

Hello friends! Fun times today as we talk about weaving in ends. 😉

Like gauge, weaving in ends is one of those things likely to make most crocheters (and knitters) groan. For projects with a lot of color changes, weaving in ends can be really time-consuming and monotonous, especially if you save it all for the last minute. But unfortunately, it’s a necessary evil – if you don’t properly weave in ends, your hard work is likely to unravel, and that would be a tragedy!

Quick explanation that weaving in ends is how you hide the tails left from the beginning and end of your project. Sometimes you’ll have yarn tails from the middle, too, if you changed colors or ran out of yarn and had to join a new ball. I can’t stress this enough: DON’T cut off the yarn! If you do that, there’s nothing to stop your work from unraveling.

In the picture above, I’m weaving in the end from a granny square. The basic concept of weaving in ends is that you want to hide the yarn end in the crochet, and then you can trim it off. It can get trickier if you have open-work patterns, such as lace or mesh, because it’s harder to hide the end invisibly. But for solid crochet it’s fairly simple.

Thread the yarn end onto a yarn needle, or tapestry needle (these are needles with a bigger eye so the yarn tail can fit through them). You can get them in metal or plastic, but I prefer metal because they don’t bend, and therefore frustrate me less. I have also never managed to break a metal yarn needle.

Then bury the yarn end in the stitches as shown in the picture. Contrary to the name, you don’t actually have to “weave” back and forth – that makes the stitches more visible.

Here’s another closeup that I hope will help. When you’ve woven in one direction for awhile, weave back in the other direction to help lock the tail into place.

Here are some tips I’ve picked up for weaving in ends…even if I don’t use them as much as I should!

• Don’t save them all for the end of a project – weave at the end of each color change! I really should do this. Every time, I promise I’ll weave as I go, but I never do. Learn from my mistakes! 🙂
• Find a pincushion or bag or something for your yarn needles. I stick mine in a crochet cupcake I made a while back in an effort to keep track of them. Still, I’ve lost dozens of yarn needles – I think there’s a gremlin or goblin or something that exists solely to steal yarn needles and hooks from unsuspecting crocheters.
• If you’re working in the round, weave in that center tail very securely.
• When cutting your yarn, or starting a project, leave at least 6 inches of yarn – more is better – to weave in later. It’s very frustrating to try and weave in a too-short tail.
• Save your yarn scraps to use as stuffing for amigurumi!

Any tips you’ve picked up to make weaving in ends less painful? 🙂 It’s not my favorite part of crochet, but it’s not the worst thing ever – I’d love to hear your thoughts!