Uh...where do I hide the end?

[Stacey]

Hoping someone can give me some advice here. I finished the beaded thread shawl I've been working on, but now I'm a little unsure about how to weave in the end so that it won't show and won't come loose.

 

The pattern is all chain stitches, beads, and sc between the beads to make a mesh of diamond shapes w/beads at the intersections. (I'd post a link to the pattern but the link seems to be dead now--it used to be in the free patterns section at crochetmagazine.com in case anyone's familiar with it.)

 

The directions for the last row, in case it clarifies what I'm babbling about:

Row 23: Ch 10, sc in sp between next 2 beads, bch, ch 11, sc in sp between next 2 beads, ch11, bch, sl st in sp between last 2 beads. Fasten off.

 

Do I just try to work the tail through those chains and hope it doesn't show or come loose? I've never had a whole lot of luck when I've had to weave an end into a long chain with yarn, so I'm worried about how secure it'll be. Any tips to make sure it doesn't come loose? Would it be cheating to secure the end after I weave it in by putting a teeny dab of glue on the end so it won't work loose?

[jingles96]

Stacey - try using a yarn needle and going through the yarn in the sc's and chains.

 

It's a technique I just used tonight for the first time, so I'm not sure how well it'll hold up overtime, but I like how the ends got woven it - they're almost invisible! (I didn't always go through the yarn though, I tried to stay in the stitches).

 

Anyway - hope this suggestion helps.

[Julie]

Yes, agreeing with Anna. I like to use a really long needle, like a doll needle or quilting needle. It's thinner than the yarn needles but the eyes are easy to thread through. I pierce the stitches themselves a couple of times as best I can without pulling to hard on the thread. The point on those are plenty sharp so it's pretty easy to sneak through the thread without pulling it too hard. Plus, once you go through in a direction, it's usually pretty easy to go back through again from a different direction.

[Stacey]

Thank you both so much! I picked up some quilting needles at walmart last night and practiced this on the swatches I made up to test different stiffeners, and it worked out great.

[Julie]

YAY!! It's almost fun to do when you know you won't have to worry about it later.

[Stacey]

It is ) I sometimes get tense over thing I'm giving away--even when it's something I've made for myself before and washed and never had problems with the ends, I still have nightmares about the whole thing unravelling when the person washes it So it's nice to have these little swatches to test (thanks for suggesting that to me, BTW!) so I can wash, starch, etc and see that the end doesn't come out!