What am I doing wrong?

[KarenPK]

Hello!  I’m new to the forum.  I’m kinda new to crocheting...taught myself via YouTube.  But, sadly, I was recently able to see the baby blanket I made as a gift, and the trim was coming undone!  Then today I found the same issue with another baby blanket I made.  It was just a single crochet trim.  I don’t understand how this keeps happening... 😖

I'm hoping someone out there knows what I'm doing wrong...😔

Thank you, thank you in advance!

Karen

[smskutt]

Hi Karen,

Oh, those things can be frustrating, can't they?  I remember the first blanket I made that required joining squares.  I saw the first hole in the joining as I was getting ready to wrap it the night before the wedding.  Needless to say, I spent a good portion of the night re-joining all of those squares using a much better method!  

Not actually having the piece to look at makes it difficult to figure out how to help you.  I'm wondering a couple of things, though:  1) how did you secure the last stitch when you finished the trim?  2) did you run out of yarn whilst doing the trim and have to join a new skein?  3) how do you start your new rounds/rows?  What I mean by that is do you put a slip knot in the yarn before you begin a new round/row?  

Maybe someone else will have other (more helpful) thoughts, but these are the points in the trim where I would begin looking.  Oh, and welcome to Crochetville!  I hope you enjoy it here!   

[Bailey4]

My thought was how you finished off your ends.  There are different methods and ways, but having the ends secure does make a huge difference in not having the piece unwind. 

[Granny Square]

Welcome KarenPK!  I'm having the same thought as Bailey4, a 'rookie mistake' is knotting and/or leaving too-short ends, not cutting out and securing a knot that the manufacturer put in your skein, or simply crocheting over your ends.  Don't feel bad, had to learn this the hard way myself loooong ago before the internet.

Crocheting over your ends makes your stitches a little looser that they otherwise would have been, so the ends can work themselves out.  The best thing to do is to leave at least a 6" end, and use a tapestry needle to weave it thru the plies of stitches, not under stitches; even better, split the plies and weave them in multiple directions, even turn back and weave them back in the direction you came from.  I usually leave all my ends until the, um, end, because I literally have to cut the fabric to get my end weaving out.  Yes, it's a pain but my I never have to worry about unravelling.

For joining 2 pieces of yarn, if you are using wool a spit splice is the best and easiest; unply the last 1-2 inches of each end to be joined, wet the ends, overlap them, and rub between your hands (as if you were making a clay snake) until they felt together - doesn't take very long.

If not wool, my favorite is braided join but Russian join works too; braided just seems more secure to me.

braided join 1 color  2 colors

Russian join

Edited September 20, 2019 by Granny Square

[USpolishgirl]

Yes, those "pesky ends"... You probably did not secured them good enough and they are coming undone.

It very time consuming to secure each of them well. That is why no one likes to deal with a lot of yarn ends to be weaved..:(. I almost always weave a little, make a knot and weave them some more...

I been crocheting for years...none of my yarn ends ever got undone.  Many of my crocheting items took a LOT of "beating" in wash machines & dryers on & on for years..like hats & scarfs for my granddaughters. 

Just a reminder. Be careful with those "Magic ring" that is usually used when you crochet in rounds. I read many bad stories about that. One of them was about a blanket done with many small granny squares. After that person finished that blanket she find out she is getting many holes in that blanket, each in a middle of that granny square :(.. She did not secured that end of that yarn (that begging piece of that yarn).

Granny Square is right about that crocheting over those ends.  Yes it is easier & a lot faster to do that, that method is not allways very secure. I never do that. I just leave that long end of yarn than get a needle or smaller hook & weave that, knot that, sometimes I will split that yarn so that knot would not be visible-bulky in that place. Than I have 2 yarn ends instead of 1 to deal with LOL, Yes, that takes time to do that right.

Welcome to Crochetville

Krys

Edited September 20, 2019 by USpolishgirl

[Tampa Doll]

Hi Welcome  to Crochetville from the Gulf Coast of Florida.

Grab your yarn and hooks, put your feet up and sit a spell.

We are always so glad to meet new friends.

You have gotten the best info you can get so I am just going to say HELLO.

[JustDeb]

On 9/19/2019 at 5:21 PM, KarenPK said:

Hello!  I’m new to the forum.  I’m kinda new to crocheting...taught myself via YouTube.  But, sadly, I was recently able to see the baby blanket I made as a gift, and the trim was coming undone!  Then today I found the same issue with another baby blanket I made.  It was just a single crochet trim.  I don’t understand how this keeps happening... 😖

I'm hoping someone out there knows what I'm doing wrong...😔

Thank you, thank you in advance!

Karen

I've noticed in a lot of youtube videos the crocheters totally leave out how crucial it is to weave ends in properly.  Some of them even cut off the yarn at an inch or two.  Don't do this! 

There are a lot of ways to weave in ends but one thing you must know is leave a long enough tail and weave a little one direction  and then go back the other.  That helps lock in the tail.  If you would like more info on this don't hesitate to ask.