A ball of burnt orange yarn, a wooden crochet hook, a 4" white ruler and pair of filigreed embroidery scissors lay on a white background with an opaque white box on top of it containing blue text that reads "Crochet 101 Photo and Video Tutorial Series" and the website "www.hooksbookswanderlust.com" appears in blue text at the bottom of the image.
Crochet,  Crochet 101,  Crochet Tutorials

Crochet 101: Finishing Touches

June 8, 2021 / No Comments

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Happy Tutorial Tuesday, friends!

I’m sad to say that this is the last (at least, I THINK it’s going to be the last…but I’ve said that before) installment in my Crochet 101 series.

ICYMI, originally I only planned to have the first four tutorials (see below), but I felt it was remiss of me not to include a few other tutorials to round things out. Soooo three more tutorials LOL.

Most of the patterns and tutorials here on my blog use stitches that build on the basics, so we are walking it back a few steps to the beginning just in case you or someone you know wants to learn crochet from the beginning.

Every tutorial I’m going to post features a beginner-friendly video tutorial, so whether you learn best from photos or watching someone do it live, I’ve got you covered.

Below is the complete list of Crochet 101 tutorials. If you missed any, you can click on any of the links you need!

In each of these videos, I take a deep dive into common crochet terms, how to work a particular stitch or technique, and the structure, or anatomy as I like to call it, of those stitches.

Finishing Touches

In this tutorial, I am going to show you two methods for tying off your work once you’re done stitching AND how to weave in those ends so that they stay put!

Crochet Speak

Aside from all the stitch names, it is essential to familiarize yourself with the basic terms associated with crocheting. You will see these terms in the photos that follow as well as defined for you below. They are also covered in the videos. I’ll be adding to this list of terms each week as we cover additional material.

Yarn Tail or Yarn End: the literal end of your yarn
Working Yarn: the part of the yarn that feeds directly from the skein (pronounced skane), ball, or cake
Working Loop(s): generally refers to the single loop on a crochet hook between stitches, but can also mean the loops on your hook as you are in the middle of working a stitch
Yarn Over (abbreviated as ‘yo’): the act of wrapping the working yarn over your hook from the back to the front
Top ‘V’: references the top view of a stitch, which looks like a ‘V’
Back Bump: the bottom loop of yarn in a chain stitch, opposite the Top ‘V’
Tension: how tightly or how loosely you work your stitches.
Chain Stitch (abbreviated as ‘ch’): yarn over, pull through working loop
Pull Up a Loop: the act of pulling a yarn-over of working yarn through a stitch and up to add an additional working loop to your hook.
Single Crochet (abbreviated as ‘sc’): insert hook into the indicated stitch, yarn over, pull up a loop so that you have two working loops on your hook, yarn over and pull through both loops on your hook.
Double Crochet (abbreviated as ‘dc’): yarn over, insert hook into the indicated stitch, yarn over, pull up a loop so that you have three working loops on your hook; yarn over and pull through the first two loops on your hook; yarn over and pull through both remaining loops on your hook.
Post: the vertical aspect of a stitch.
Half Double Crochet (abbreviated as ‘hdc’): yarn over, insert hook into the indicated stitch, yarn over, pull up a loop so that you have three working loops on your hook; yarn over and pull through all three loops on your hook.
Treble Crochet (abbreviated as ‘tr’): yarn over two times, insert hook into the indicated stitch, yarn over, pull up a loop so that you have 4 working loops on your hook; yarn over and pull through the first two loops on your hook, three loops remain on your hook; yarn over and pull through the first two loops on your hook, two loops remain; yarn over and pull through both remaining loops on your hook.
Slip Stitch (abbreviated as ‘sl st’): Insert your hook into the indicated stitch and pull up a loop, pull that loop through the working loop on your hook.

Video Tutorial

A full video tutorial can be watched on YouTube here.

Photo Tutorial

While much of what I talk about is really best shown to you in a video, I thought it might be beneficial to supplement the video with some photos as well.

Tying Off Your Work

There are two ways of tying off your work, and they each have their pros and cons. Method 1 looks nicer, but always makes me nervous that it might come out if snagged just right, but there’s no arguing it has the more polished look compared to Method 2. Method 2 uses a chain stitch that lends a bit more strength to the finish, but it leaves an unsightly knot. I’m going to show you both, but generally, I tend to opt more for Method 2, mostly because I usually work a border around my work, which hides that unsightly knot.

PRO TIP: Regardless of which method you choose, make sure that you leave yourself with a nice, long tail, approximately 6-8 inches / 15-20 cm, for weaving in your ends.

Image shows a swatch of double crochet with the last stitch just completed, working loop still open, working yarn uncut. Arrows point to and label each of the working loop, yarn tail, and working yarn. Text reads: "When you are ready to tie off your work, then you will need to cut your working yarn at least 6" (15 cm) long to allow for proper weaving."

Method 1

  • Image shows a finished swatch with the hook still in the working loop and an arrow just to the left of the working loop pointing up. Text reads: "Tie Off Method 1: Pull your cut working yarn through the last stitch by simply pulling up on the working loop."
  • Image shows swatch tied off and ready to weave in ends. Text reads: "Tie Off Method 1 Complete: Ready to weave in ends."

Method 2

  • An arrow pointing up appears to the left of the working loop and hook. Text reads: "Tie Off Method 2: After completing the last stitch, chain one, then pull the cut working yarn through the stitch simply by pulling up on the working loop, then tug that tail to tighten the chain."
  • Image shows swatch tied off with a tightened chain stitch and ready to weave in ends. Text reads: "Tie Off Method 2 Complete: Ready to weave in ends."

Weaving in Ends

You’ve finished your project and tied off, now what? You don’t want to snip the yarn tail at the knot you tied out, because that would risk unraveling your work. Instead, you need to weave the tails into the fabric of your work. Grab a blunt-tipped yarn needle and thread your yarn tail onto it.

  • Image shows a tied off swatch of double crochet with the last yarn tail threaded onto a needle. An arrow pointing at the tip of the needle is labeled "Blunt Tipped Tapestry Needle." Text on the image reads: "When you're ready to weave in your ends, you will need a blunt-tipped tapestry needle so as not to compromise the fibers of your yarn by puncturing it."
  • Image shows a swatch of double crochet that has been tied off and the yarn tail threaded onto a large-eye, blunt-tipped needle. Text reads: "As you prepare to weave in your ends, you will want to make sure that you weave them on the BACK side of your fabric and at the bottom of your stitches for aesthetic purposes. You will make 2-3 passes to make your ends as secure as possible."
  • Image shows the needle inserted into the post of the last stitch, working down the post to reach the bottom of the stitch. Text reads: "If you have taller stitches, this means you will need to thread the yarn tail down through the stitch that the tail stems from to its base."

PRO TIP: Want to know the trick to weaving in ends and making them stick? Weave them multiple directions! I am going to call them passes, working a pass to the left, a pass back to the right, then one last pass to the left.

  • Image shows the needled threaded under the first 5 stitches of the row working to the left. Text reads: "Pass 1: Working under the V at the base of your stitches, thread the yarn tail under 2-3" (5-7 cm) worth of stitches in one direction, or 1/2 to 1/3 of the length of your yarn tail."
  • Image shows a needle protruding from the middle of the fabric five stitches in from the right side edge. Text reads: "Pass 1 Complete"
  • Image shows a needle threaded in front of the blue-colored first bar and behind the orange-colored second bar of the first stitch working to the right. Text reads: "Pass 2: Next, skip the first (blue) bar of the V in the last stitch you came out of, then insert your needle under the other (orange) bar then under both bars of each subsequent stitch and weave back the opposite direction of the last pass."
  • Image shows the needle coming out of the last stitch, working right. Text reads: "Pass 2 Complete"
  • Image shows a needle threaded in front of the blue-colored first bar and behind the orange-colored second bar of the first stitch in the row, working to the left. Text reads: "Pass 3: Just as in Pass 2, you will skip the first (blue) bar of the stitch's V and insert your needle under the other (orange) bar, then under both bars of each subsequent stitch working the opposite direction of the last pass. NOTE: Depending on the bulk of your yarn, you may need to move to a lower row of stitches to do this."
  • Image shows a needle threaded under 5 stitches, working toward the left. Text reads: "Pass 3 in Progress"
  • Image shows a pair of embroidery scissors cutting the remaining yarn tail from the back of a swatch of double crochet. Text reads: "Pass 3 Completed: Snip tail, all done!"
  • Image shows the needle threaded with the beginning yarn tail. Text reads: "Repeat the process for any other yarn tails/ends you have on your project."
  • Image shows finished swatch, all tails woven in and the right side of the fabric facing up.

How’d You Do?

You did it! Woohoo! You now have everything you need to get you started on your crochet journey! If you are looking for some beginner projects to practice what you’ve learned, check out my Beginner-Friendly Crochet Projects board on Pinterest! Or if you’re looking for more on the basics, check out my Crochet 101 board. It has tons of resources like essential books, tools, stitch tutorials, and more!

Beginner Friendly Crochet Patterns
Crochet 101

Got the basics down and ready to try something new? Awesome!! I’ve got a whole range of Pinterest boards chock-full of patterns and tutorials based on skill level!

Crochet 102 – Building on Basics
Crochet 201 – Intermediate
Crochet 301 – Advanced

Beyond that, there is so much crochet-related content (and non-crochet content like books and travel 😉 ) on my Pinterest boards, I hope you consider following me!

Follow Me on Pinterest

That does it for this series, but I hope you follow along with me because there are always more stitch tutorials, patterns, and so much more! Until then, keep practicing and learning!

xx,

Pin Image: "Crochet 101: Finishing Touches Photo + Video Series; www.hooksbookswanderlust.com"

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