Securing crochet knots

[Crochetjacket]

Hi all! I am very new to crochet (started 3 days ago). I have started crocheting bits of yarn into an old cardigan to make a shaggy jacket. Tieing knots worked for the first types of yarn I had, but I bought 2 more rolls (I think that's what they're called) from spotlight and I I've had to tie them with an extra 2 or so knots, but they fray and it's loosens the knot and I fear that they will fall out and ruin the jacket. Anything I Google comes up with "how to tie two yarn strings together" and unrelated topics. Apparently glue doesnt work either because of the material being so much more separated in comparison to string.  I think the materials are synthetic if that helps?

Thanks in advance. 

[Granny Square]

Welcome to the 'ville!

Since you have only been crocheting a couple of days, I totally understand that you don't have the experience to appreciate that this wasn't going to be practical, unless you were making a wall decoration maybe that would never be washed or worn. 

1)  Yes, some yarn is 'slicker' than others, and yours looks shiny from the photo and looks slippery.

2)  Never tie knots in crochet.  Really.  No, I'm serious.  They WILL come undone.  The way to secure the ends in crocheted fabric is to leave at least 6" to weave in the end invisibly with a needle, you don't even want to crochet over ends as that isn't very secure.

3)  Glue?  No.  

4)  If you are going to make fringe, you want to cut the yarn no less than 10" long, so your fringe ends up about 5" long.  This is really on the short side, the longer the better for staying put and not coming undone and falling off.  Normally you'd only put fringe on the very edge of something, not overall.  There are 'eyelash' (hairy looking) yarns for a shaggy look to make something from scratch, or to add to an existing item for an edging.

5) You don't 'knot' fringe.  You fold the yarn in half, put the hook in the fold, stick the hook in the loop of the thing you are attaching the fringe to, and pull the ends thru the loop in the fringe and the 'thing'.  Like a latch hook rug, if you have ever done that.  And if you have, you'd realize how HEAVY and unwearable that would be--great for rugs, bad for garments.

Looking closer at your photos, I am assuming that you are past the point of no return from what I can see of the fabric underneath (meaning, the fabric will be ruined if you take the yarn out now).  The only thing I can think of, and this will be horribly tedious, is to go back and darn every knot with sewing thread that matches the background fabric.  

Another way to get a shaggy look making an item from scratch would be to make it with a loop stitch.  It is a little tricky, and maybe not for beginners - it is a little odd even for experienced crocheters as there is a non-intuitive detail in the 'hook motion' that is essential to secure the loop.  

I know I'm sounding lecture-y, but it's too bad you didn't come here before starting your project.  Crochet is about creating fabric from scratch.  It can be crocheted onto to a garment at an edge like a collar, cuffs, hem, or crocheted separately and sewn on (like a lace bodice over a little black dress, or an applique), but really it isn't normally created on a substrate of fabric--I've never seen anything done that way in the decades I've been crocheting.  I've seen freeform items where fabric is 'patched in', but that's attaching at the edge.

 

[ReniC]

Re Knots: I am so onboard with Granny Square about this. Besides possibly coming undone, to me they leave a bump which is unpleasant to me in the texture. Nice explanation Granny Square. Not "lecture-y" at all. I couldn't have said it better.

[Granny Square]

Thanks Reni.  I was thinking back to my beginning days of crochet, and I tried a lot of 'creative' ideas back then that sometimes didn't work, but just with hook and yarn  it was just a matter of unravelling yarn to undo it, and no harm done.   But in the OP's case, a cardigan has been potentially been compromised.

To the OP, I've been thinking about your project since my first post....have you started in a spot on the cardigan where it would make sense to put just a funky edging?   Like around the neckline, or hem?  If so, what if...you rip out the fringe knots you've made into the fabric, and create a crochet fabric piece to sew over the area of fabric that's now got holes in it?  Example, use rest of the yarn you've been doing short tufts with and make a strip of loop stitches, or find some eyelash yarn.  Just a thought.  

Here is a tutorial on loop stitch https://www.interweave.com/article/crochet/loop-stitch-tutorial/  In the first step, the 'odd part' is described at the end of step 1 and the beginning of step 2.  If it makes you feel better, I've been crocheting 50 years and don't do this stitch very often, I always have to find a tutorial so I don't mess it up.  I've never done so, but supposedly you can cut the loops if you've done the steps correctly (and this site confirms it...try a swatch first!!)  When I've done loop stitch, I've made a little paper 'sizer' to make the loops around - fold a small piece of paper over a few times, to the height you want your stitches.

One source for eyelash yarn so you can see what it looks like - I've only used it a few times, you used to be able to find in in stores but not so much any more. https://www.yarn-paradise.com/eyelash_yarns  It's a little difficult to crochet with by itself, a bit easier to wrangle if you pair it with a strand of plain yarn, in other words hold 2 strands together as you go.

 

[Crochetjacket]

On 11/12/2019 at 4:45 AM, Granny Square said:

Welcome to the 'ville!

Since you have only been crocheting a couple of days, I totally understand that you don't have the experience to appreciate that this wasn't going to be practical, unless you were making a wall decoration maybe that would never be washed or worn. 

1)  Yes, some yarn is 'slicker' than others, and yours looks shiny from the photo and looks slippery.

2)  Never tie knots in crochet.  Really.  No, I'm serious.  They WILL come undone.  The way to secure the ends in crocheted fabric is to leave at least 6" to weave in the end invisibly with a needle, you don't even want to crochet over ends as that isn't very secure.

3)  Glue?  No.  

4)  If you are going to make fringe, you want to cut the yarn no less than 10" long, so your fringe ends up about 5" long.  This is really on the short side, the longer the better for staying put and not coming undone and falling off.  Normally you'd only put fringe on the very edge of something, not overall.  There are 'eyelash' (hairy looking) yarns for a shaggy look to make something from scratch, or to add to an existing item for an edging.

5) You don't 'knot' fringe.  You fold the yarn in half, put the hook in the fold, stick the hook in the loop of the thing you are attaching the fringe to, and pull the ends thru the loop in the fringe and the 'thing'.  Like a latch hook rug, if you have ever done that.  And if you have, you'd realize how HEAVY and unwearable that would be--great for rugs, bad for garments.

Looking closer at your photos, I am assuming that you are past the point of no return from what I can see of the fabric underneath (meaning, the fabric will be ruined if you take the yarn out now).  The only thing I can think of, and this will be horribly tedious, is to go back and darn every knot with sewing thread that matches the background fabric.  

Another way to get a shaggy look making an item from scratch would be to make it with a loop stitch.  It is a little tricky, and maybe not for beginners - it is a little odd even for experienced crocheters as there is a non-intuitive detail in the 'hook motion' that is essential to secure the loop.  

I know I'm sounding lecture-y, but it's too bad you didn't come here before starting your project.  Crochet is about creating fabric from scratch.  It can be crocheted onto to a garment at an edge like a collar, cuffs, hem, or crocheted separately and sewn on (like a lace bodice over a little black dress, or an applique), but really it isn't normally created on a substrate of fabric--I've never seen anything done that way in the decades I've been crocheting.  I've seen freeform items where fabric is 'patched in', but that's attaching at the edge.

 

Hello Granny. Thank you for the warm welcome and taking time to reply to my post in such depth, I really do appreciate it. 

You're right, I am past the point of no return. I got this idea from some YouTube videos I watched and they made it look so simple. The first set of yarn had a sort of frayed appearance and there was a solid string in the middle, so knots were easy. I had thought of the sewing over the knots idea but was hoping to avoid it. 

I think I'm going to give your other techniques a go and if they seem too difficult or whatever other reason there may be, I'll do the sewing. I have been doing the technique of folding the pieces and hooking, but then I only pull one end through the loop and then I do the knots on top. I just was unsure on how to explain it, but you did very well. 

As for the cardigan under, it already had a holey pattern on it, I just poked a few holes to get closer knots for some. It's old and I wanted to revamp it. 

Not sure if it makes too much of a difference,  but the jacket I'm making wouldn't be worn very often. It would be kind of a party piece. 

I didn't think your message was lecture-y at all, it was very helpful and insightful. 

Once again, thanks for all the help!