Lesson Three: Changing Color and Hiding Ends

In this lesson, we’re going to talk about

Changing color
Hiding loose ends

Changing Color

While you can certainly crochet endless amounts of beautiful things in one color, at some point you’re likely going to want to make something that requires multiple colors. So you’ll need to know how to switch between colors in crochet as seamlessly as possible.

To do this, you’ll need to switch to the new color during the last stitch of the old color. I’ll walk you through the steps of how to do that with each of the basic stitches we learned in Lesson Two.

Color change using slip stitches

When working the last slip stitch before the color change, insert hook into your work as you would normally.

Instead of doing a yarn over with the old color, hook the new color yarn on your hook. Make sure to hold onto both ends of the new color with your left hand.

Pull the new yarn through your work, making sure not to lose hold of the ends with your left hand.

Pull the new yarn through the loop already on your hook to complete the last slip stitch of the old color.

Cut the yarn of the old color. Pull the loose ends of both yarns tight and hide them. I explain how to do this later in this lesson.

Complete a slip stitch with the new color.

Color change using single crochet

When working the last single crochet before the color change, insert hook into your work, yarn over, and pull through as you would normally.

Hook the new color of yarn on your hook, holding tight to both ends of it with your left hand.

Pull the new color through both loops already on your hook of the old color to complete the single crochet. Make sure not to lose hold of the ends of the new color.

Cut the yarn of the old color. Pull the loose ends of both yarns tight and hide them. I explain how to do this later in this lesson.
Complete a single crochet with the new color.

Color change using half double crochet

When working the last half double crochet before the color change, yarn over, insert hook into your work, yarn over, and pull through as you would normally.

Hook the new color of yarn on your hook, holding tight to both ends of it with your left hand.

Pull the new color through all three loops already on your hook of the old color to complete the half double crochet. Make sure not to lose hold of the ends of the new color.

Cut the yarn of the old color. Pull the loose ends of both yarns tight and hide them. I explain how to do this later in this lesson.
Complete a half double crochet with the new color.

Color change using double crochet

When working the last double crochet before the color change, yarn over, insert hook into your work, yarn over, pull it through, yarn over, and pull through two of the loops on your hook as you would normally.

Hook the new color of yarn on your hook, holding tight to both ends of it with your left hand.

Pull the new color through both loops already on your hook of the old color to complete the double crochet. Make sure not to lose hold of the ends of the new color.

Cut the yarn of the old color. Pull the loose ends of both yarns tight and hide them. I explain how to do this later in this lesson.
Complete a double crochet with the new color.

Hiding loose ends

By this point, you’re probably wondering what to do with all the loose ends you’re accumulating. You’ve got loose ends from your chain. You’ve got loose ends from your magic ring. Now you’ve got loose ends from changing colors. And once you finish off your work, you’ll have loose ends from that too!

No matter how beautiful and perfect your work is, a project isn’t really done until all those pesky ends of yarn are hidden away. It just doesn’t look complete or well done while there are still bits hanging out. Plus, sometimes if a loose end isn’t taken care of correctly, your work can start to unravel.

There are two main ways to hide ends: working around them and weaving them in.

Working around ends

Working around ends is my favorite way to hide them. You keep crocheting as you would normally, but you do it over the loose end so your stitches do all the work of hiding.

To do this, simply lay your loose ends on top of the stitches you will be working into.

Then, crochet as you would normally. Make sure the loose yarn stays on top of the stitches you’re working into and you work around them with each stitch. Keep going until you’ve covered up that loose end!

I use this method as often as possible, but there are times when you can’t work around the ends. The loose end you make when you finish off your project, for example, comes after you’ve already finished all your crocheting!

There may also be times when the stitches you are working won’t hide the loose yarn well enough. And slip stitches don’t work all the way around the top of the stitches so they can’t be used to work around ends. For these situations, you’ll need to weave in the ends.

Weaving in ends

To weave in your ends, you’ll need to make sure you have a needle with an eye big enough to fit your yarn though.

If you look closely at your work, you’ll see that it’s made up of lots of little loops of yarn. Essentially, you’re going to weave your loose end through these little loops. The picture below is of single crochets, but it’s true no matter what kind of stitches you’re using.

If there is a “backside” or “inside” of your work, you’ll want to weave the yarn in on that side. A hat, for example, will have an inside. A scarf likely won’t have a frontside or a backside. If that’s the case, it doesn’t matter which side you weave the ends in to.

With your loose end threaded in your needle, use the needle to pull the yarn through the loops of your work. Make sure that you start as close to where your loose end attaches to your work as possible. Otherwise, you might be able to see your end.

Pull your loose end through the loops of your work. As much as you can, try to change the direction in which you pull the yarn through the loops: up, down, left, right. This helps to make sure that the loose end won’t pull back out of your work.

You don’t have to hide the entire loose end this way. Just pull it through several of the loops in different directions until you feel like the end is secure. Then, simply cut off whatever yarn remains, and that loose end is woven in!

Stuffed items

When you have finished crocheting something that needs to be stuffed, like a toy or pillow, you have a couple of options for hiding the loose end. You can’t work around it because you’ve already finished your work. You can weave in your end, but this can be kind of awkward with something stuffed.

When I’m hiding the final end of my stuffed projects, I like to hide it INSIDE my work. To do this, thread a needle with the loose end. Insert the needle into your work as close to where the loose end attaches to it as possible.

Push the needle through the project and come out at a different point, preferably as far from where you inserted it as you can. Pull the needle out and cut off the remaining yarn. Easy peasy. Your end is hidden just like that.

Conclusion

There you have it! Now you know how to switch colors while crocheting and how to hide all of your loose ends. As always, please reach out to me with any questions or if you need any help.

Move on to Lesson 4 to learn about times when you don’t work into the tops of your work as you usually do.