How to weave in ends while knitting (VERY PIC INTENSIVE)

Okay! Here is where I attempt to show you the coolest.thing.ever that I learned from Jennifer "JP" Pett-Ridge during my colorwork class at my LYS Article Pract. The heavy pics are a necessity, and if you want to "get it" I'd suggest starting up a swatch and following along (I know as I look at these pics, they don't make sense... but as you go with needles and yarn in your hand, its a revelation fo sho.) These instructions are written for an English/right hand knitter, since I'm biased that way ;) (Seriously though, I don't know how to knit Continental so I can't show how to do it left handed.)

(edit, 10/07: Jen in KS has unvented the continental answer for those of pickers who want to weave in ends while knitting continental! go jen!! :))

Also, please excuse my colorful hands... I fought the dye and the dye won. (Pics later, too many today!) :)


First, begin with a new color. Knit the first stitch with your new color (black) as you would normally. Hold the end of the old color (purple) in your left hand, and hold your working/new color in your right as normal. You will not let go of the end yarn in order to keep it taut/tensioned-- it may feel awkward at first, but you don't want to drop and pick up the yarn. (I'm not holding the end/purple yarn in my hand in this pic, my timer went off too soon :))


While holding the yarn as described above, insert your working needle into the 2nd stitch on the needle as if to knit it normally.


Take the end of the old color (purple) and lay it across the top of your working needle (counterclockwise fashion, the OPPOSITE of how you would wrap your working yarn to make a stitch.) You're just laying it on top of the needle and holding it there w/ your left hand.


Another view of laying the end yarn over the working needle. Notice its just draped across.


Now, while holding the end yarn in place as described above, knit a stitch with your new color (black). Note that the knit stitch is wrapped the OPPOSITE way that the end yarn is wrapped.


Another view of knitting the 2nd stitch on the needle with the end yarn draped over the working needle.


Pull the working yarn (black) thru as knitting a stitch normally. Note that the stitch is not only being knit, but the working yarn is "catching" the end yarn and going under it to create the stitch. Only the working (black) yarn will be pulled thru and made into a stitch.


This is what the 2nd stitch on the needle looks like, as the end yarn is woven in behind.


While still holding the end yarn in the left hand, knit a stitch with the working yarn normally. (You don't have to do anything "special" on this step except for retaining the end yarn in your left hand.) The working (black) yarn will go over the end yarn to "hold" it down and make it point downwards.


(Second view.) How the 3rd stitch on the needle looks, as the stitch is worked normally as described above.


What 3 stitches look like with the end woven behind the latter 2 stitches.

Now, that's it. :) What I mean is, all you have to do is lay the end yarn over the working needle and knit, and then not lay the end yarn over the working needle and knit. Weaving in ends is just that 2-step process-- weaving in the end yarn and locking it down. Only the first stitch is knit normally, until you have enough of the end woven in as you prefer. (an inch? two? six stitches? twelve? up to you.)

The following pics are a repeat of the process above as I work across the row.


Again, lay the end yarn over the working needle in a counterclockwise direction, and knit the stitch with the working yarn as normal.


The end is woven in as the working yarn makes its stitch.


The working yarn makes a stitch as normal, and in the process "locks down" the end yarn that's being held in the left hand (but isn't being draped across the needle now).


2nd locking stitch complete.


Here I've woven in the end of the yarn over 10 stitches + 1 (5 pairs of weaving & locking, plus the original 1st knit stitch). After the end is woven in to your desired length (and after a pair of weaving/locking stitches), you just drop the end and knit across as normal. This pic is of the WS after knitting/weaving across one row.

If you look *super* close, you may be able to see where the end yarn (purple) is doubled-- every other "purl" bump on the WS will have a "double" bump where the end yarn has been locked down after being woven in. Its easiest to see this where the purple end is hanging-- the bump above is a doubled bump with the end woven in, and every other stitch preceding it also is doubled.


Purl back as normal. All of the weaving happens on the wrong side (WS), so you have to have the right side (RS) facing you as you weave in your ends so that they end up on the WS. No work happens on the purl back/WS row.

Here you repeat the weaving steps, this time with the end of the new yarn (the black end that was left from when you added the new color).


New RS with new color. Note you can't see the purple end woven in thru the RS (and its pretty tough to see it on the WS, too!) :)


Knit 1st stitch on needle.


Holding end of yarn in left hand, lay it over the working needle in a counterclockwise dx.


Knit stitch with end yarn draped over (sliding the working yarn under and catching the end yarn).


Knit 2nd "locking" stitch as normal.


Proceed across row, alternating weaving & locking til end is woven in to your satisfaction. As above, drop end and knit across as normal. (WS after knitting across row & weaving in the end yarn.) Near to impossible to see the black yarn end woven in, but its there.


This is the RS after a few normal (non-locking/weaving) rows have been knit. Note that you can't see the purple yarn thru the RS where it has been woven in.


This is the WS after a few normal (non-locking/weaving rows). Again, you can't see the woven in ends, but you can tell where they are from where the ends hang. You can trim these to your heart's desire too.

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I am super grateful to JP for allowing me to share this technique I learned from her. It has made a huge difference to me (and will in the future too!)... but my immediate gratification came from the Lizard Ridge project. I had been carrying up the working/alternating yarns up the side of the afghan as directed in the pattern. If I didn't, I would have to have 96 ends to weave in for each panel (not including the ends when starting a new ball, or the cast on/bind off rows-- there are 48 short rows to work and 2 ends each to weave in.) It would be mind numbing to weave in 384 ends over 4 panels, so I just carried the yarn up the side...


1st Lizard Ridge panel with stranded yarn up the side

I didn't care for the look, and was terrified of finishing the afghan with all of these strands to contend with (and, one end of the afghan may have strands off of the side edge!). Again though, there's no way I was going to weave in those ends after... but this new weaving in ends as you knit is just the best.thing.ever...


Nice, neat edge with ends woven in as I knit. Not sure how close I'll trim those ends once done.

It may feel awkward at first to do, but you really get a hang of it and it doesn't take that long (and doesn't make me recoil like a darning needle does). I can see this technique opening up worlds to me-- I won't be afraid of stripes anymore, and as I am letting my fear of colorwork go, it will make the process more enjoyable as I won't dread the finishing.

Good luck! Thanks again to JP for teaching me this AND allowing me to share it with yall... she teaches various knitting classes across the bay area-- jump at the chance to learn something from her! :)

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