Advice on weaving in ends?

[TheCrochetFool]

Hi, fellow crocheters! I'm about to start my first adventure in making multicolored granny squares, so I thought now would be a good time to solicit some advice on weaving in ends.

 

Specifically, I am wondering about a technique mentioned in a handful of online tutorials I've watched: the technique is to pierce individual strands of yarn with your tapestry needle, so that your woven end actually splits and passes through some of the yarn in your crocheted fabric. I just wanted to ask: do any of you use this technique? I can see how this method would keep the end from coming out, but the whole idea of splitting yarn makes me nervous: wouldn't that make the stitches that have been pierced more fragile?

 

If you don't use this technique, what tricks do you use to keep those ends from coming undone in the wash?

 

I hope that makes sense. Thank you for your help!!

[Granny Square]

I never just 'crochet over' stitches and snip, or weave under stitches with regular yarn - I always sew inside the plies, and sometimes split the plies of the bit I'm weaving in and go multiple directions and/or turn and weave back in the direction I came from, after securing the spot where I turned.  I have to wait to weave ends until the end if there's any chance I'll have to rip, because I have to cut my weavings out; I can rarely pick them out without a mess.

 

Doily cotton is an exception, because it's hard to hide and to stitch into the thread; but I don't use it to make things that will take a lot of stress, so that hasn't been a problem so far.

[magiccrochetfan]

Hi, welcome to the Ville!

 

Like GrannySquare, I often do pierce the yarn plies. I don't see that it would weaken the yarn, it is more like adding yarn to the stitch, not taking anything away. And it certainly is true that you don't want to do this til you are sure you don't need to rip back!

 

Depending on the yarn, it can be hard to do this with a tapestry needle which is blunt. However it can also be difficult to find good sharp needles with big enough eyes for yarn above sport wt or so.

 

My biggest tip to keep yarn ends in place is to not use slippery yarn. The prime example among acrylics in my opinion is Caron Simply Soft, which I personally plan to never use again after seeing how badly the ends pop out.

[redrosesdz]

Like GS & Magic, I wait to weave in ends until the end and weave through plies. My tails are at least 4", usually 6" long. When I start the weaving, it depends on which tail I'm doing. The beginning tail is already secure. For the tails from changing skeins, I anchored them under a few stitches while crocheting. I weave them separately and in different directions. The ending tail is a bit different. Most projects end with a slip stitch. Instead of doing the ss, I start the weaving by mimicking it.

 

There are other tricks besides weaving inbetween plies. Near the beginning I loop once around a strand. I then go in and out of stitches mimicking the natural flow, loop around a strand, change direction and repeat several times. If there are clusters, I use the area between the stitches to go back and forth. To end a weave, I push through yarn for the length of the needle. I tug the yarn tight and snip. When the yarn goes back to relaxed, the end disappears. If it pops out, I pull tight and snip it again.

 

After washing, I check closely for any popped out ends. With the tips from all 3 of us, there's rarely an end out.

[TheCrochetFool]

Thanks for your responses, everyone!  I feel more confident now about splitting plies while weaving in my ends. And thanks for the alternative suggestions, too, redrosesdz!

 

Granny Square, when I first heard about the "crochet over your ends and trim" technique, I thought it sounded too good to be true. And then I tried it, and found out it was...