Tuesday Tip: When Weaving In Ends, How to Clip the Yarn Tail

Tuesday Tip copy

Last month we talked about how good finishing can make a project, and I promised you more posts focused on the all important topic of weaving in ends.

I’ve written several Tuesday Tips on seaming. We’ve looked as seaming garter stitch, shoulders, and even tackled the dreaded topic of selvedge edge and mattress stitch. No matter how wonderful your seaming, if your ends are not woven in well, your piece will look homemade. So the question is: how do you weave in ends? Last month I wrote about skimming, but what about that tail? Today we look at

How to Clip the Tail

I remember when I first started knitting, I would carefully weave in my ends, clip it right to the fabric and then as soon as I wore my knitting, it would pop out. I would clip it again…pop, clip, pop, clip . . . until I was out of tail!

Here’s the secret to keeping the tail in:

How to Clip the Tail

1) After you have split the plies as you weave in your ends, change direction to weave in a bit more.

Learn more in the post on skimming.

How to Clip the Tail

2) After you finish weaving in the end, make sure to stretch the piece out to its full width.

How to Clip the Tail

3) Clip the tail leaving 1/4” to 1/2” of yarn.

How to Clip the Tail

4) With the tip of your scissor, fan out the end of the yarn.

How to Clip the Tail

5) Spread the yarn tail fan out and smoosh (highly technical knitting term) it down into the fabric.

This content was originally published in Creative Knitting Magazine.


How to Read Your Knit StitchesFor more ways to weave in your ends (and join new balls, and tons more), check out my class, “How to Read Your Knit Stitches & Master the Pattern.”

CLICK here for digital download or DVD.

To read past Tuesday tips, just click on the Tutorial category of the blog (or here I did it for you!).

If you have a “is there a better way to do that”, or “how do you do that” question, leave me a comment, and I’ll add it to the Tuesday Tip list!

You may also like

10 comments

  • Lisa T December 7, 2016   Reply →

    Good one! Thank you. SO looking forward to my class with you on magic loop at VKL. I have issues.

  • Patti June 2, 2017   Reply →

    You are a hoot! Your tips are great!

  • Kelly June 27, 2019   Reply →

    Patty, how would you handle the ends on single ply yarn? Mine is easy to spit splice when I need to add more or the yarn came apart as it’s so delicate. Or will it felt together on it’s own over time as I suspect it will? Thanks!

  • Lisa February 11, 2020   Reply →

    Do you do the same thing on a piece where the wrong side will show, like a scarf or shawl?

  • Michelle Forbes March 9, 2021   Reply →

    Patty Question: how do you work a wrap and turn when the stitch to be wrapped is a purl stitch on the right side, AND the first stitch on the wrong side row is a purl?

  • Julia Cochrane January 5, 2022   Reply →

    In step 1, is something missing? “After you have split the woven in your end…” doesn’t make sense to me. Thanks!

Leave a comment