Weaving in ends Tutorial No 1

Yes that tedious chore of weaving in the ends!  I have made lots of blankets, pillows, scarfs and shawls in the last few years and have learnt very quickly that an essential skill when you crochet is weaving in your ends. Making a good job of weaving in your ends is the difference between making an average crochet masterpiece and a exceptional crochet masterpiece. Your masterpiece should stands the test of time and become a cherished item that the recipient covets for many years. Quality of finishing is therefore essential and worth every moment of your time.

I’m don’t usually agree to make things for other people that are big and take a while. This is not because I don’t want to make big beautiful crochet things for the people I know and love it’s because I suffer from Blanket Fatigue. I call it Blanket Fatigue because I get weary halfway through making a big blanket or shawl and usually divert off to something else for a week or so before I can bring myself to go to something as repetitive, usually because I just want to finish it.

In the last six months I  have only made items that are large and have taken a while so are somewhat repetitive.  I have done this on purpose as I have had to overcome my issues with Blanket Fatigue.

I have learnt a lot about focus, patients, gauge and pattern complacency.   Pattern complacency is when you think you know the pattern in your head off by heart so you don’t need to read it, write it down or look at it.  Then after many rows of crocheting you realise that something doesn’t look quite right so you think maybe I should just check the pattern?  When you check it, after much work and many, many rows, you realise you got the patter wrong and all the hard work has to be undone and redone.

The blanket shown was a commission for a friend, the pattern is free its not one of mine, it’s by Paton’s I have shared the link below. Because this was a commission I wanted it to be as perfect as crochet can be so finishing was just a important as achieving even stitches. I’ve tried all sorts of techniques to weave in the ends but in my view this one works the best.  The ends might appear after a first wash and initial use but once they are trimmed they don’t reappear again so its worth the effort. Try it out and see the brilliant result.

Tutorial

You are basically finishing your work by weaving in your ends in a U shape this stops the end from working its way out by holding it tightly in the stitches.  This doesn’t work for all crochet patterns, this blanket is big so its a perfect solution to finish it and make it last. Watch out for future tutorials when I will share more weaving in the ends techniques.

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6 Finished!

Start by stitching horizontally for a few stitches, then vertically, repeat this at least two times to make sure the end doesn’t work it’s way out.

Look out for future posts on how to weave in ends on other crochet projects.

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For information on the pattern for this blanket and the supplies I used click here.