Tip Tuesday: How-To Weave in Your Ends, Step-By Step Knitting Tutorial

Congratulations, you’ve made it to the end of your knitting project! Before you call that project done, you’ve got one final step. Weaving in your ends is an essential finishing touch in knitting that can be the difference between a project that lasts a minute or a lifetime. 

While it might seem like a minor step, it plays a significant role in ensuring your knitted piece looks professional, lasts longer, and is comfortable to wear. Let's dive into why weaving in your ends is so important and explore some effective techniques to weave in those pesky ends.

The Importance of Weaving in Ends

1. Protects Your Work from Unraveling: Properly woven ends keep your stitches secure, preventing your hard work from coming undone.
2. Keeps Your Stitches In Place: Secure ends help maintain the integrity of your stitches, ensuring your pattern remains consistent and prevents colorwork from shifting around.
3. Enhances Comfort: Well-woven ends make your project more comfortable to wear, avoiding any irritation from loose threads.
4. Prevents Unsightly Poking: Weaving in ends correctly keeps them from poking through to the right side of your project, maintaining a clean and polished look.

Techniques for Weaving in Ends

1. Duplicate Stitch - Right Side: This method involves mimicking the existing stitches on the right side of your fabric, making the woven end nearly invisible.

Step 1: Simply insert your needle at the base of the “v” in a knit stitch from back to front. 

 

Step 2: Follow the path of that stitch working up one side of the “v”. 

 

Step 3: Pull your thread under the base of the “v” from the row above.

 

Step 4: Finally, continue down the opposite side of the “v”, placing your needle back into the original hole in step 1.

Note: A Duplicate Stitch can also be done on the purl side of your knitting by following the path of a purl stitch. But it is often done as a design choice or as a way to create a pattern on the front of your work which is why you often see it on the knit side of a project.

2. Horizontally On The Wrong Side: Weaving in on the back side can be a bit more freeing. The goal is to secure the threads and make sure that they don’t disturb the right side of your work. 

Step 1: Simply weave under every purl bump in a row. 
Step 2: Work about 2-3” before changing directions. 
Step 3: Do this back and forth a few times. This ensures the end stays hidden within the purl bumps and will not come loose with wear.

 

3. Vertically On The Right Side: All of these methods should be almost invisible unless they are intentionally used as a design feature, but this method allows you to check your work as you stitch.

Step 1: Weave your ends under and over the row of vertical bars that are in between your knit “v”.  
Step 2: Work about 2-3” before changing directions. 

 

 

4. Diagonal Weaving: This technique is beneficial as it makes the ends less likely to poke through to the right side. Ends woven diagonally are less prone to pulling free over time and with fabric stretch. 

Step 1: On the wrong side, weave on the diagonal, working under the purl bumps of each above row.

 

Step 2: Continue for 2”-3” 

 

Step 3: With all of these methods, remember to change directions to avoid threads poking through.

5. Within a Rib Stitch: Weaving in ends within rib stitches can be tricky but ensures they remain hidden within the texture of the fabric.

Ribbing Option 1

Step 1: On the wrong side, wrap the thread around one leg of each knit stitch in a row.
Step 2: Repeat this, moving vertically row by row.
Step 3: Continue for 2”-3” before switching directions and moving back down on the opposite leg of those stitches.

Ribbing Option 2

Step 1: On the right side of your work, weave under every horizontal bar that stretches between the "v" of your knit stitches.
Step 2: Repeat this, moving vertically row by row.
Step 3: Continue for 3”+ before switching directions. Do this by turning your work so that you are now stitching on the wrong side, and follow steps one & two, now working in the opposite direction as before. 

Additional Tips

• Mind Your Tension: Avoid pulling the yarn too tight as it can pinch your fabric. Strive for a tension that holds the yarn in place without distorting the fabric.
• Length Matters: Weave in 4-6” of extra yarn. Any more can create a visible line, and any less may not hold securely.
• Steps with Blocking: Weave in your ends before blocking your project. Blocking will secure the woven ends and smooth out any disturbances. Leave about a 1” tail before blocking and trim it down after blocking to the correct length. Your fabric will shift in the blocking process. This will guarantee that you’ve measured correctly.

What to Learn More? Here are a few helpful resources and tools!

How to avoid ends with Kestrel

BRONZE YARN SNIPS

It may seem like an extra step, but the tiny details are what can keep your projects safe. By weaving in ends, you will enhance the quality of your knitting projects and ensure they will last for a long time.

Happy Weaving!