The Yarn Tails - Weaving Them In

My first dinosaur 

 My biggest fear when giving a gift or shipping an order is the whole project unraveling because of a weak knot. My second fear is the yarn tails coming out and turning my beautiful, unique project into an embarrassing mess. Going back to the first dinosaur I crocheted, my second fear came true. I don’t know if my sister was planning on telling me or if she was trying to save my feelings, but she spilled the beans when I asked her about the quality of my work. She sent me a photo of the aftermath of the dinosaur my nephew had just spent months snuggling with. All of the yarn tails from attaching the legs and spikes were all hanging out!

When I sewed the dinosaur together, I took the long tail ends and stuck them through the body and out the other side. I then pulled the yarn tail taut and snipped the excess yarn off. My hopes were that the tail would somehow get tangled in the stuffing and wouldn’t come out but that was not the case. Part of me believes this happened because of the double crochets and how large the stitches were. Due to my lack of knowledge and knowing the difference between US and UK terminology, I did this entire project using double crochets instead of single crochets, as you know, would've made the stitches tighter.

 
Any time I see the photo of the dinosaur with the yarn tails hanging out, I think of all of the baby blankets I have gifted over the years. I wonder if the use and the constant washing has caused those yarn tails to come out and maybe the recipients of these blankets just haven’t said anything to me yet. The yarn tails in a blanket are weaved into the project differently then a stuffed animal, but if this fear of mine has already happened once, what’s not to say it hasn’t happened twice or with all of my projects? 

For future projects I was more aware of the yarn tails and where I was weaving them. When I am able to, I now sew on any attachments and tie all of the yarn tails together in the inside of a project and then I fill it with stuffing. But if a stuffed animal I crochet ends up providing and receiving lots of love and the wear and tear of this love causes the yarn tails to sneak out, then I am absolutely okay with that.

Happy crocheting my friends!