Yarn too short to weave in... how to fix?

[MimiFL]

I'm sure this has been asked before, but... I am teaching crochet to this kid and she's done squares for an afghan (on her own) but left too little yarn so that she can't really weave in much. I say this time and time again to my students: leave *way* more than you need before finishing off so you can weave it in later, but nobody listens to me!

 

Anyway, I think there's something out there you can use out there to help with this. As it is now, the first wash will likely unravel the whole thing. I know Fray Check is used for, obviously, keeping the thing from fraying. Does anyone know what could be used to sort of glue those ends and keep the afghan from unraveling?

[purples]

Knot the ends and then cut the ends off - triple knotting if possible . On her next project, teach her how to leave long ends and then weave them in.

[RoseRed]

Knot the ends and then cut the ends off - triple knotting if possible . On her next project, teach her how to leave long ends and then weave them in.

 

I have to respectfully disagree. Even when you knot you need to leave a tail for weaving. Triple knots with no tail may take longer to unravel but if the item is used, washed and loved - eventually they will.

 

I put entirely too much time and effort into my projects to watch them fall apart from normal use. I won't make that mistake again.

[craftylady1956]

I read this entire thread--I've crocheted almost 50 years and sometimes still feel I do not leave my tails long enough but always weave them in.

 

I really had a chuckle about frogging. Although I've been a member here for quite sometime, I only figured out what frogging meant not too long ago..

 

When I finally "got it" I laughed so hard. Yes, frogging--I know it well.....:haha

[purples]

I have to respectfully disagree. Even when you knot you need to leave a tail for weaving. Triple knots with no tail may take longer to unravel but if the item is used, washed and loved - eventually they will.

 

I put entirely too much time and effort into my projects to watch them fall apart from normal use. I won't make that mistake again.

 

I guess I could weave in after I knot Good point!

[Avon Lady]

I have to agree with RoseRed! One of my biggest disappointments in my crochet class at our local Senior Center was when one of my students turned in the most beautifully colored granny square lapghan--destined for a Veterans' hospital, and it came apart when I raised it up to show all the Froggers (the name of my crochet club!)!!! I was broken hearted!! The colors had all been joined with a knot, and the ends clipped off right next to the knots!! It came apart in three places!! What a terrible waste of time for the creator!! And a U.S. Vet missed out on a beautiful lapghan!!

[jenuwhiner]

I guess I could weave in after I knot Good point!

 

Weaving in your tails is always a good idea. I'd rather take the time to weave them in than take the time to nurse the broken heart/embarrassment I would have when it falls apart.

 

Especially if you are wanting to sell your items. All it takes is one person being unhappy because it unraveled to get the word out and ruin your business.

[Aggie May]

:cheerWhen changing colours on a blanket, you need to completely finish off and snip the yarn and join the new yarn in, working over the previous tails as you work the new stitches.

This is a fail safe way to treat these joins.

If you need to join a new ball, same colour, in the middle of the row, place the ends together and tie a knot, leaving nice long tails to finish in later.

Remember to stretch out the area before you snip off the leftover yarn so it will not pop out the first time it is handled.

Believe me, as long as you pass the tail through the yarn as you weave it in, it will not pop out and I defy anyone to find the knots.

You can re-tie to a flatter knot if you want to but I don't have any problems snuggling the knots into the yarn.

I have been doing this for years and have never ever had anything come undone or even any ends pop out.

The only time this does not work is when you are making something very fine with no places to hide, then you just start new yarn at beginning of row, as if joining a new colour.

Let me know if you need more info about this method.

Have fun.

Colleen.

PS, Check out what I said on previous post, about fixing the problem your young student was having.

[RoseRed]

I admit - I'm anal when it comes to weaving now. I had too many ends pop out when I first started crocheting consistently and was really embarrassed when I had a couple people ask me if I could fix the afghans I made them.

 

Everyone creates their own way of doing things over time. That's one of the amazing things about crochet. Personal preference is acquired over time. It doesn't make it right or wrong - it just makes it the way YOU do things.

 

When I have tails - I'll leave 8 or 9 inches so I have something to work with. I'll crochet over them for 2 or 3 inches. When I go back to weave the tails in I will weave it through the center of the strand Russian Join style. Since I started doing that - I've never had an end pop out. It really locks the yarn into place.

[Pattyland]

On 6/29/2012 at 3:57 PM, bgs said:

I did repair work for a friend on an afghan that her grandma had made. I used a sewing needle and thread to stitch the ends down because they had been left too short to weave in.

BGS,

How do you stitch the ends down with thread?

Thank you!

PJ

[Granny Square]

This is a 9 year old thread, many of the people that have posted haven't visited in a long time.  BGS is still active here, tho.

I'd have suggested to the original poster to tell her student to cut a 12" length of the yarn used, unravel the last few stitches of the square, and teach them to do a Russian or braided join (lots of videos on youtube), and that's my suggestion to you if you are in process of making squares.

If you are trying to repair an heirloom piece and don't have the yarn to do the joins, what BGS was suggesting is basically 'darning' the ends in with matching sewing thread, I guess darning socks and such is a lost art nowadays.  It's basically mending something , that usually isn't 100% invisible, but the intent is to make it as invisible as possible.  For ends, if there is a back and front of the item, I'd bring the loose end to the back/'wrong' side and if mending needs to show, have it show there.

Thread a needle with enough thread to fold it double, in other words pull the  thread thru the needle so the 2 thread ends meet, and tie a sturdy knot.

Find a spot to anchor the thread by poking the needle into a stitch of the item that is at the edge of the short end, bring the needle back out, and before pulling it tight, put the needle between the 2 threads attached to it and pull tight, this will attach your needle and thread firmly to the item you are mending.  (if you just tied a knot in 1 end, and  started sewing with 1 strand only, the knot is just going to pull right out; the way I described secures the knotted end in a circle around a strand of your crochet piece.)

Then...not sure how to explain how to mend, but: after securing the knot as above sew the short end down to the blanket by making a stitch around the short end, into the strand of the blanket, and continue until you have neatly stitched over that whole end; you might even want to repeat that in the other direction for more security, or weave the thread in and out of the 2 joined areas on the way back.  All the while, you want to keep it neat and secure but at the same time as invisible as possible (tricky, I know).  At the end, tie a knot snagging a bit of the yarn to connect the 2 threads +yarn, and leave enough thread to weave it back and forth several times to be secure it.

[bgs]

Sometimes I have been able to weave in short ends using a steel crochet hook (hook using for working crochet thread).  If they are very short I use sewing thread and a needle.  These were from people who knotted and clipped ends.  Sometimes I untied their knots and retied them and was able to gain a smidge more length so I could have at least half an inch to stitch down.  Usually I could pull the tails back thru the base of adjacent crochet stitches.  Then taking a needle and sewing thread stitch the tails to the tops of the crochet  stitches of previous row.  The stitching is hid by the bases of the other crochet stitches.  This works well with traditional double crochet granny squares as you have groups of 3 double crochets worked over a chain or 6 double crochets worked over 2 or 3 chains.  Pull those ends back thru the bases of those double crochets and stitch the ends to the chains that the double crochets are worked around.  I make lots of small stitches with thread using whip stitch and a sort of zig zag kind of like this.  

 https://www.thesprucecrafts.com/zigzag-stitch-tutorial-photos-and-instructions-1106646