How to Weave In Ends

Why ends come loose

A woven end is held by friction. It is not knotted, glued or anchored - it simply runs alongside enough yarn that the fabric grips it.

So an end works loose when there is not enough friction: because it was too short, because it ran in a straight line, or because it was woven into a slippery fiber. All three are fixable.

The method

1. Leave a six-inch tail whenever you join or finish. Shorter than that and there is not enough to work with.
2. Thread it on a blunt tapestry needle. Blunt, not sharp - see below.
3. Work on the wrong side.
4. Follow the path of the stitches for about two inches. Trace the route an existing stitch takes rather than crossing the fabric. This is duplicate stitch, and it is what makes the end invisible from the front.
5. Reverse direction and travel back for about one inch, one row up or down from the outbound path.
6. Give the fabric a gentle stretch in both directions. This lets the end settle rather than pulling the fabric in.
7. Trim, leaving about a quarter inch. Do not cut flush; the stub gives it something to hold with.
8. Block. Washing and drying is what finally beds the end in.

Blunt, not sharp - this is not optional

Knitted and crocheted fabric is a mesh of loops with gaps already in it. A blunt tapestry needle travels through those gaps, between the plies.

A sharp needle pierces the middle of a strand instead, splitting the ply and anchoring the end where it shows on the right side. If your woven ends look like a line of differently-colored dashes on the front, it is almost always the needle rather than your technique. Our best tapestry needles page covers the tool.

By fiber, because slippery ends escape

The ply-splitting trick for slippery yarn: for the last half inch, run the needle through the middle of an existing strand rather than beside it. It is the one place a sharp needle is useful, and it locks the end mechanically.

Leave fewer ends in the first place

The best weaving-in technique is not having to do it. Three joins remove the ends before they exist.

• Russian join. Thread each end back into its own ply for an inch, so the two yarns loop through each other. No ends at all, and a slightly thicker inch of yarn.
• Spit splice (untreated wool only). Fray both ends, overlap, moisten and roll hard between the palms. The friction and moisture felt them together - see does wool yarn shrink for why this works. Does not work on superwash.
• Magic knot. Fast and genuinely knotted. Secure, and there is a small hard bump in the fabric - fine in a blanket, questionable in a garment.
• Join at the edge, not mid-row. Ends at a seam or edge can be woven into the seam allowance, where nothing shows.

Weaving as you go

On a project with a lot of ends - stripes, granny squares, colorwork - dealing with them at the end is a wall you will not want to climb.

Weave each end as you create it, or catch the tail into the stitches of the next few rows as you work them. Fifty squares in four colors is four hundred ends; done as you go it is invisible, done at the end it is a fortnight.

Where not to weave

1. Not through a ribbed cuff along the row. Ribbing stretches; an end woven across it restricts the stretch and the cuff no longer grips. Weave vertically along a rib instead.
2. Not across a stretch of lace. It shows through the openwork. Follow a solid section.
3. Not through the same column twice. Two ends in the same stitch column makes a visible thick line.
4. Not into a section that will be cut. Steeks and cut edges need their own treatment.

Glue is not the answer

It comes up, so it deserves a direct answer. Fabric glue holds an end and it also stiffens that spot permanently, and it will not survive many washes on a flexing fabric.

There is one legitimate use: securing an end on a finished decorative item that will never be washed or worn. For anything else, weave it. Our best glue for yarn crafts page covers where adhesive genuinely belongs.