After the Last Stitch

Crochet Beginner's Guide 6

After finishing the last stitch, depending on your progress with the project, the following are a few steps that can be taken:

If you are saving your progress and will come back to the project later:

While keeping the loop on the hook, make the loop on the hook larger by moving your hook away from the piece you have made. This is to prevent your piece from getting undone. For extra security, you can put a stitch marker in the loop to “lock” this position.

If you just put down your project without doing this, there is a risk that the loop will fall off the hook, and your project might unravel.

If the project is finished: Fasten off the yarn

Cut the yarn and pull the cut end of the yarn through the last stitch.

• Leave a proper length (approximately twice the length of your needle).
• The loose ends are sometimes called yarn tails.
• Fastening off the yarn is sometimes abbreviated as “FO.”

For extra security, a chain stitch sometimes will be made at the end, before cutting the yarn. The pro is that this additional chain stitch makes the project ends more secure; the con is that it will leave a bump (a knot) in the project.

After fastening off the yarn, usually you will need to weave in ends, which is a method for hiding the loose ends so that your project looks neat. More details about weaving in ends is introduced in a later post.

If you made a mistake or don’t like what you have made, you can unravel/frog your project to wherever the mistake is. To unravel/frog:

Take the loop off the hook and pull the working yarn to release as many stitches as you would like, even the whole thing.

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