The Blowout Cardigan and Weaving In Ends With Bulky Yarn

I made the Blowout Cardigan for the Winter issue of Knitscene magazine. It’s a fun little cardigan worked in bulky yarn with a lace pattern on the sleeves; the perfect thing for holiday parties and cold weather layering. The bulky wool, Universal Yarns Deluxe Superwash Bulky, is soft and easy to work with, but it did present a challenge. I usually attach new skeins using the wet splice method, but I didn’t think the ends would felt together well enough in superwash wool. Simply weaving in the ends wouldn’t do either, because the yarn is so thick it would leave a noticeable bulge wherever I attached a new skein. Instead I used the method shown below, I don’t use it often, and I thought it would be unusual enough to merit a photo tutorial.

 

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When it’s time to attach a new skein drop the old yarn and pick up the new yarn leaving about a six inch tail of each. I like to tie an overhand knot to keep the tension even in this spot, but I take it out before weaving in the ends.

 

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Using a tapestry needle weave each end into the stitch next to it to close up the small hole where skeins were changed.

 

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Now comes the fun part! Separate the plies of both strands of yarn. The yarn I used was a 4 ply, so there are 8 single plies to weave in.

 

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Using a sharp needle weave in each end by skimming the needle diagonally through the backs of the stitches. First in one direction…

 

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and then back the opposite way.

 

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When all the ends are woven in it will look like this.

 

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Clip the excess yarn and you’re done!

 

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copyright Knitscene/Harper Point Photography

It may seem like a little extra work, but weaving in ends this way produces such a neat result that it is totally worth it!

Thank you for knitting!