There will come a time when you’ll need to change colors or add thread in the middle of your project. When I learned to knit and crochet, I was told that knots are a no-no. They are too lumpy and hard to hide. If you just weave in your ends enough, nothing will come loose.

Then I made a many-colored granny square afghan. It took many episodes of General Hospital to weave in all those yarn ends!

I gave it to my mom. She loved it. She put it on the back of her sofa, so it got a lot of wear from visiting grandchildren. The afghan started falling apart almost immediately. After she put it into the washer and dryer there was no hope for it. And nobody wanted to re-weave in all those thread ends.

Since then I tie knots, no matter how unsightly they are.

Tying Knots

Always use a square knot (right over left, then left over right) instead of a granny knot (right over left, then right over left). The square knot is more secure.

Plan ahead so you don’t run out of thread before you need to add more. You’ll need at least 4” to comfortably tie a knot.

Try to tie the knot so that it will end up inside a double crochet stitch, or even a single crochet. If you have to tie the knot in the middle of a chain, don’t worry too much about it, but do try to avoid it.

Leave ends 4 to 8 inches long depending on the thickness of your thread or yarn. Weave in the ends before you trim the thread.

Thread Ends

I like to wait till my project is complete before I weave in the ends. I find it kind of tedious and am always tempted to stop after an inch or so. The longer your woven-in ends are, the more durable your project will be.

Use a crochet hook, a sewing needle, or tapestry needle to weave thread ends in and around stitches. Don’t put both thread ends together to do this, but weave them separately in different directions. Go as far as you can, or at least 2-3 inches. If your weaving is tight, you can pull your crocheted fabric this way and that to loosen it up.

Now you can trim the thread at the end of the weaving.