General Information

There is not one way to weave in yarn ends. Many knitters have developed their own methods or style of accomplishing this unsavory task. Whichever way you choose to weave your ends in, you want to be sure of the following:

Your weaving shows as little as possible (preferably not at all) on the right side of your fabric.
The area where you have woven in your ends is not noticeably lumpier than the rest of the fabric.
You try to avoid using knots.
If you are using smooth, slippery yarn, you should reverse direction and weave another inch or so to lock the yarn into place.
Every few stitches, stretch your knitted fabric a bit to ensure that you weaving does not cause it to gather.

If you follow these guidelines, you can feel confident in your darning. Turn to the right side of your work often to check and see how your weaving is shaping up. Some knitters feel secure enough after only a few stitches of weaving, others spend a few inches tying up the loose ends. It is mostly a matter of personal comfort. Within this topic are a few common suggestions for weaving in ends.

Knit Side

When working a yarn end in on knit stitches, you can often just follow a row of stitches as you would when duplicate stitching. Weaving your ends in on knit stitches can be done as follows (contrasting yarn has been used for visual clarity).

Another method of weaving in on knit stitches involves traveling vertically up or down the stitches, passing through one side of each knit stitch as you go. This motion is similar to whip stitching.

Needle Threading Tip

It can be frustrating to thread yarn onto a needle. This is especially true if the yarn has several plies or is frayed at the end. Here is a nice trick for making the threading a bit easier.

Fold an inch or so of the yarn end over the needle.

Grasp the ends of the yarn and pull tightly around the needle.

Pinch the yarn and needle between your fingers.

Slide the needle out.

Thread the small loop of yarn that is pinched between your thumb and forefinger through the eye of the needle.

Pull the yarn end through the eye until it is freed.

Purl Side

When working a yarn end in on purl stitches, one technique is to follow the bottom loops of a row of purl stitches, alternating the direction in which you insert yarn needle. Begin by inserting the needle upwards through the first loop, then downards through the next loop, etc. (contrasting yarn has been used for visual clarity):

Another method of weaving in on purl stitches involves traveling diagonally up or down the stitches, passing through purl bumps as you go. Begin by inserting your needle upwards (or downwards) into a bump, then in the same direction into the bump that is diagonal to it in either direction, etc.:

Textured Fabric

The stitches you need to weave your ends into may not always be uniformly knit or purl. In the event that you are working with ribbed or textured fabric, you may have to combine several different methods of darning (weaving) to create the best effect. Here are some tips to consider:

Try to avoid having ends at all in lace knitting. Do this by joining your yarn with a felted join or a Russian join (both found on www.KnitPicks.com).
If you do have ends in an openwork or lacy pattern, try to situate them close to the edge or a block of solid stitches that you can work them into.
Weave your cast on tail into the cast on row and your bind off tail into the bound off stitches.
When weaving ends in ribbed fabric, be sure to stretch the fabric out gently so that the weaving does not cause it to gather.