Finishing a garment has never been a chore for me…yes, it’s a different skill than knitting, but it’s still part of the knitting process for me.

Ends!

Many knitters complain about having to weave in ends, but it never occurred to me that this task was any less enjoyable than the knitting process itself.

I have three distinctly different methods I use for weaving in ends, depending on the what I’m making.

If I’m working on a sweater or any project that has a non-public side that isn’t often seen except by the person who is wearing the garment, I will weave in my ends as knit but just catching the end behind each stitch I knit, as if I was catching a float on a Fair Isle or stranded project.

Perhaps not the most elegant looking way of taking care of yarn ends, but it’s quick and efficient and avoids the tangling of ends if you wait until the end.

If I’m working on a project where both sides will be visible, like a scarf or a blanket, I take one of two approaches.

If the project is for me or for someone I know or for another knitter, I will just weave in the ends, hiding them in any way I can into the fabric.  As long as the ends aren’t visible, I consider it a success.  If the ends come out during a washing or during regular wear, they can just be re-woven in by me or the other knitter.

If the project is being given as a gift to a non-knitter, or being made for sale, I take a lot more care in my weaving in.  First, I will un-ply multi-ply yarns to make each end at least one half as thick as the fully plied yarn (4-ply will be separated into two, 2-ply strands, 3-ply will separated into 3 separate strands, etc.)  Then I will carefully weave in each strand, following the knitting stitches of the garment (as if I was doing duplicate stitch) and when I’ve woven in about 4 inches of the strand, I will weave about an inch into the stitches in the opposite direction.  This will secure the end in so that it can’t unravel and also hide it in a secure way.  Here’s a short video of what I mean:

There have been some projects, such as the Interlocking Crochet Scarf, where the stitches are loose and I’m always fearful ends will come loose.  I will even sometimes use my sewing machine and sew across the woven in ends to secure them.

Current Knitting

As you may have noted in the video, I’m working on another Color Block Baby Blanket.

This one has 15 stripes instead of the first few I made with only 6 stripes and I’m enjoying the color mixes.

Any guesses on what the last color strip will be?  One clue…it’s already been used in the blanket.