Weaving In Ends

The age-old crochet question…how can I weave my ends in and make SURE they won’t come out? Before I start let me say this is just about weaving in your ends, not crocheting over them, not knotting, not joining the same or different colors, just weaving ends in and I’m going to explain my way of doing it so I hope you can find it helpful. It may not be the best method but the one thing is I can ASSURE you they’re not moving!

I remember just starting to crochet and my biggest fear was that all my hard work would be undone by the ends coming out. At first, I’d knot them and weave them around so much that there were bumps all over the place and it was untidy. Nothing worse than working on a beautiful piece only for it to be all fudged up when it comes to OCD end weaving!!

Now, don’t get me wrong, I use different methods too. If I’m not changing color and I’ve just come to the end of the skein and need to tie in a new one I’ll crochet over the ends for a few inches BUT I still always leave a tail to weave in, this way I know it’s not going anywhere.

My basic method of doing this is a letter S. Yep, back and forth just 3 times and occasionally going through an actual strand of yarn instead of just under a stitch as it clasps around your end and stops it escaping.

I’ve used black here just to make it easier to see but typically you’ll always weave your end into its original color. It looks neater. As per the first picture, working from the back of your piece, I take my end down the stitch to where the loops are, right through the middle of the stitch. It makes it less visible. Weave your end in one way under your stitches, pull your needle and yarn right through, then going one stitch further to “lock” it go back the other way. Here you can use the same technique, i.e. go a stitch further, to go back once more or if you think its creating too much of a raise then use the stitch directly above it. 3 opposite directions that are going to force a “push-pull” system. A piece of unravelling yarn CANNOT travel in 2 directions at the same time and this method will ensure its not going anywhere.

As you can see I’ve even pulled on the end to see if it comes out, nothing but gather, pulled it from the other end and the same, so trust me, whether it be a gentle wash with minimal agitation or being dragged around on the floor by a toddler, that end is not coming loose.