Weaving in ends

The tools

A tapestry needle with a blunt tip and an eye big enough for the yarn. A bent-tip needle makes it easier to catch the back of stitches on a firm fabric. Small sharp scissors. That is all. A crochet hook can pull ends through in a pinch, but a needle lets you split the yarn, which is what holds the tail.

The basic method

By fabric type

• Dense single crochet (toys): weave the tail into the stuffing side, then run it through the center of the piece and out the other side, pull to bury, trim. Nothing shows and it cannot escape.
• Open lace and mesh: there are no solid stitches to hide in. Weave along the posts of the tall stitches, splitting the yarn, for a shorter distance but with two turns instead of one.
• Stripes: weave each tail into its own color area, never across the boundary, or it will show.
• Ribbing and post stitches: weave along the back of a rib so the tail stays in the recessed line.
• Edges that will be seamed: leave the tails and weave them into the seam allowance after seaming; they are then doubly hidden.

Slippery yarn

Silk, bamboo, superwash merino and smooth acrylics let tails slide. For these, split the plies of the tail and weave each half separately in different directions, or weave in three directions instead of two. A tiny drop of fabric glue on the trimmed end of a slippery tail, inside a toy, is not cheating. Knots are a last resort; a knot in the middle of a fabric feels like a pea and works its way to the surface.

Avoiding the job

The best ends are the ones you never weave. Crochet over the tails for five or six stitches when you join a new ball or change color, and only the last few centimeters need a needle. Join new yarn at the edge of a row in pieces that will have a border or seam, where tails can hide. Use a join that needs no tail at all in wool: the felted or spit splice, where the two ends are overlapped, dampened and rubbed between your palms until they felt together. For long carries in stripes, let the yarn travel up the edge instead of cutting.

The magic ring tail

The tail of a magic ring holds the center closed and deserves special care. Before weaving it, pull it once more to make sure the ring is tight. Then weave it in a small circle around the center on the wrong side, through the bases of the first round of stitches, and back through a few of them. That locks the ring shut; a ring tail simply trimmed will loosen with the first wash and open a hole.

Do it as you go

Weave in ends at the end of each session, or at least at the end of each piece, rather than saving fifty of them for the end of a blanket. A cardigan with the ends done as the pieces were finished is done when the last seam is sewn; one with the ends saved up has an evening of work left that nobody wants to do. Then it is ready for blocking, which settles every woven tail into the fabric for good.