The Zen of Weaving In Ends

There’s something both dreaded and inevitable about weaving in yarn ends. If you’re a knitter, you know what I’m talking about—that seemingly endless tangle of loose threads staring back at you from the inside of a finished project. My most recent bout of end-weaving came this weekend, with my current WIP, the Crocodile Line cardigan, a project full of colour changes and pattern transitions that left behind a veritable forest of yarn ends.

Let’s be honest: weaving in ends isn’t the most glamorous part of knitting. It doesn’t have the thrill of casting on a new project or the satisfaction of blocking a completed one. But sometimes, when I’m too tired to follow a complicated chart or set of instructions, weaving in ends is exactly the kind of mindless task I need.

The trick to it, I’ve found, is to approach it with a plan. Start at one edge of your cardigan and work methodically around to the other side. Don’t let the sheer number of ends overwhelm you. Just pick one, thread your tapestry needle, and start weaving. I like to go slow and steady, focusing only on the thread in my hand rather than the pile still waiting. That way, I get to the last end sooner than I was expecting.

There’s a quiet satisfaction in this kind of work. Each end woven in is a small victory, a thread tidied away, a step closer to wearing your creation. It’s also a chance to reconnect with your project. As you work, you can admire the way your stitches have come together, notice the details you might have missed in the rush to finish, and appreciate the effort that went into every row.

I still have the sleeves to knit on my cardigan, so stopping to weave in the ends on the completed body not only gave me a task my tired brain could cope with, but also meant that I wasn't dealing with an entire cardigan's worth of weaving in right at the end of the project. That really would have been intimidating!

So, the next time you’re faced with a pile of loose threads, try to think of it not as a chore, but as an opportunity to slow down, enjoy the process and take a break from knitting, whilst still working on your WIP. You might even find it’s more satisfying than you expect.

The Crocodile Line cardigan is designed by Anna Johanna and is available in the book Strands of Joy vol. 2 from Laine Publishing.