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Tail Weaves in St St by Binka Schwan
Skill Building Fall 2024
This is the first of four Skill Building articles that will address how to weave in yarn tails in various knitted fabrics. This article will discuss tail weaves in stockinette stitch, the second will address reverse stockinette stitch, followed by garter stitch, and the final article will focus on seed stitch and ribbing.
Yarn tails can often be a challenge, especially when there are many of them to weave in after knitting a large project. We all are guilty of wanting to finish our projects, and weaving in yarn tails is the final step of finishing. Because we are often so anxious to finish, the tail weaves are done quickly and sometimes haphazardly. This can impact the result of the project, so working the tail weaves correctly the first time benefits you in the long run. If the yarn tails are woven in in such a manner that they are not anchored, any stretching of the fabric can cause the tails to become loose and even pull out and poke through to the public side of the project. I think we have all had that happen to us at one time or another!
There are many methods of weaving in yarn tails, particularly in stockinette stitch, which is the most popular garment fabric. For example, you can weave the yarn horizontally through the purl bumps, or you can weave them diagonally through the purl bumps across many rows of knitting. You can also weave them in as you begin knitting across a row. The problem with all of these methods is that they may pull out and pucker with stretching, and the yarn tail can often be seen on the public side of the fabric, especially if you are weaving in a tail of a different color. And the public side of the fabric can become distorted if the yarn tails are stretched.
The following examples show a diagonal and horizontal tail weave. Figure 1 shows the tail weaves before stretching the fabric. Figure 2 shows what happens to the tails after the fabric has been stretched. Note that the yarn tails have become significantly looser. Also note that in Figure 3, the public side of the fabric has become distorted and puckered, and you can see the aqua yarn tails peeking through on the public side of the fabric. It is important to remember that normal wear of a garment can stretch the fabric and cause the tails to become loose if they are not anchored properly.
I weave in all yarn tails after I have blocked my work and seamed all the pieces. That way I am certain that the fabric is at its final measurement, and the stitches and fabric have relaxed. I can also take the opportunity, before weaving in the yarn tails, to manipulate the tension of stitches around the tail weave area to ensure that the fabric and tension are even. If your garment has seams, you can simply work one tail up and one tail down in the seam allowance to allow for less bulk in the seam. This is the preferred technique for weaving in yarn tails in seamed garments when you have started a new yarn at the beginning of a row. However, the duplicate stitch method is preferred for stockinette stitch when there is no seam, such as on a scarf, shawl, blanket, or a piece that has been worked in the round. Duplicate stitch tail weaves are ideal when knitting in the round since you have no edges to begin a new skein. I am not afraid to start a skein in the middle of a row or round as I know that when my tail weaves are woven in with the duplicate stitch, they will be invisible on the front of the fabric and have appropriate stretch for the fabric. Even if the project is worked in a bulky yarn, when done correctly, the tail weaves will not pull to the public side, will stretch with the fabric, and will be hidden although the area may be a little thicker.
So how should the yarn tails be anchored in stockinette stitch so that they are not visible on the public side and stretch with the fabric without coming loose? The duplicate stitch tail weave method is by far the best method for weaving in yarns in stockinette stitch. Duplicate stitched fabric has the same elasticity as the surrounding stitches, and the tails are secure. Arenda Holladay has a blog post and video where she demonstrates how to work the duplicate stitch method in stockinette stitch. I urge you to watch the video and the read her blog. I will show you, step by step, how to work duplicate stitch tail weaves in stockinette stitch, but her blog and video tell you even more about where to use duplicate stitch. It is easy to work this method in stockinette stitch as the tail weaves are done on the purl side of the fabric.
Duplicate stitch can be worked in many knitted fabrics if you understand the anatomy of the stitches used in your project. Once you understand this, it is easy to work the duplicate stitch tail weave.
To work duplicate stitch, basic stitch anatomy must be understood. In my Spring 2017 Skill Building article in Cast On, “The Knit and Purl Stitch–Stockinette Fabric,” I focus on basic stitch anatomy. If you have any questions about the knit stitch as compared to the purl stitch, please read this article. It will help you when working the duplicate stitch tail weaves. Let’s look at the two key figures from that article. Figure 4 looks at the stitch pathway on the public side of stockinette fabric, and Figure 5 shows the stitch pathway on the non-public, or private, side of stockinette fabric.
You can see that for both sides of stockinette fabric, the stitches interlock both horizontally and vertically. But the public side is a smooth fabric of knit stitches, and the non-public side is composed of purl bumps. For stockinette fabric, you will be weaving in the yarn tails on the purl side, following the stitch pathway highlighted in blue, as shown in Figure 5.
The basic technique for duplicate stitch is as follows for stockinette stitch. Start with both yarn tails on the non-public side of the work. Then cross the yarns so that one tail will be woven in the direction it would have gone had you continued to work with it, and the other tail will be woven in the direction it would have come from. Then follow these steps:
- Thread a tapestry needle with one yarn tail.
- Look at the public side and make certain that all stitches are even in size and that they match the tension of all surrounding stitches. This is especially important if you are working at a spot where you are joining new yarn not at the beginning of a row where a seam would be.
- Work duplicate stitch for at least 1–1.5”. Because you are following the path of the yarn, the tail weave is locked in place, and it is not necessary to make a long tail weave. Trim the tail about 1/8” from the fabric.
- The second yarn tail should be duplicate stitched in the opposite direction from the first yarn tail.
Let’s look at the method for working duplicate stitch, stitch by stitch. Figure 6 shows that I have threaded a tapestry needle and inserted it diagonally into two purl bumps on the non-public side of the stockinette fabric. This is the right leg of the stitch that is outlined in blue in this figure. Note that I have drawn the yarn tail pathway so you can see where the needle will be inserted across the row, working from right to left. For this and the following figures, I stretched the fabric so that you would be able to see exactly where the needle was placed and what the outcome was.
After the first placement of the needle/yarn tail into the first two purl bumps, the yarn tail is then inserted into each purl bump twice working across and following the pathway of the stitches.
Figure 7 shows the yarn pulled through the first two purl bumps. Figure 8 shows the needle inserted into the next two purl bumps. Note that the needle exits from the initial purl bump that started the process. This is the second time the yarn is inserted into this purl bump. Figure 9 shows the completion of one duplicate stitch. Figure 10 shows the next step where the yarn is inserted into the top purl bump for the second time, beginning the next duplicate stitch. And Figure 11 shows the second duplicate stitch completed. Figure 12 shows the beginning of the next duplicate stitch and Figure 13 shows the completion of three duplicate stitches. If you refer back to Figure 6, you can see that the duplicate stitched fabric matches the illustration in that figure.
Working duplicate stitch in stockinette fabric is very easy, and the result is quite satisfying! The stitches will not stretch or unravel, and they will be invisible on the public side of the fabric. Figure 14 shows the result on the public side of the fabric with the swatch in its normal relaxed state. Bet you can’t find where the tail weaves are! And if you do see a smidgen of color, remember that I have used a darker contrast yarn. If I were using the same yarn that the swatch was worked in, it would be truly invisible.
However, duplicate stitch may not be the best choice for some fabrics. For example, there are better techniques than duplicate stitch for reverse stockinette, seed stitch, garter stitch, and ribbing. The next articles will demonstrate the preferred techniques for tail weaves in these stitch patterns.
I hope this article has given you the confidence to try duplicate stitch. The next article will cover how to work tail weaves in reverse stockinette stitch.
Bibliography
Hiatt, June Hemmons. The Principles of Knitting. Simon and Schuster, 1988.
Holladay, Arenda. “Those Pesky Yarn Tails.” Cast On, Spring 2003.
Jones, Joyce. “Tail Weaves.” Cast On, Summer 2022.
Levering, Sharon. “Tail Weaves.” Cast On, Summer 2020,
Copyright 2024, The Knitting Guild Association, Cast On Fall 2024, All Rights Reserved
