How to Hide Yarn in Tapestry Crochet

If you want your tapestry crochet project to look really good, one of the key things you need to master is how to hide yarn in tapestry crochet.

My top tips and tricks for hiding the carried yarn and getting your tapestry crochet project looking great are as follows:

Gently pull on the carried yarn.
Go down a hook size.
Choose your yarn carefully.
Think about the colours you use.

I explain each of these tips in more detail below.

Why hide your yarn in tapestry crochet?

Tapestry crochet is a crochet technique that involves using two or more yarns at a time. The stitches are made over the carried yarn to carry it along until it is needed again. For more details on exactly how this is done, check out this tutorial.

To get the best and neatest results with tapestry crochet , it is important to learn how to hide the carried yarn, so that it does not peep through the stitches. My tips for achieving this are explained below.

1. Gently pull on the carried yarn

When you pick up the carried yarn to start crocheting with it again, give it a gentle tug before you start crocheting with it.

This will ensure two things:

The carried yarn sits snuggly under/behind the stitches you have just made and does not bulge out between them.
The last stitch made with the carried yarn is not loose, i.e. it is tightened up neatly.

If you are making a square or hexagon and are turning a corner, even if you’re not changing yarn at this point, give the carried yarn a gentle tug at this stage as well. This is easier than waiting until you next need the yarn as you don’t have to then pull the yarn “around” the corner. This will give you a much neater and more even result.

However, whenever you tug on the carried yarn be careful not to pull too tightly. If you pull too hard, your work will start to gather up. It is important to pull it just the right amount to get good coverage without puckering up your work.

*“Paper Dolls” tapestry crochet blanket*

2. Go down a hook size

Generally, I recommend going down a hook size from the usual hook size that you would use for a particular yarn. This is because the stitches need to be relatively tight and close together, so there are no gaps between your stitches through which the carried yarn could show.

If you start a project, you’re gently pulling on the carried yarn as described above, and you find that the carried yarn is still showing through, then try going down a hook size to see if that helps. Nine times out of ten, a simple change of hook size will sort this out.

Swatching can be really important here too. Before you start a project, make a small sample and have a play around with different hook sizes. You can then choose the hook that gives you the best yarn coverage and the result you like the most.

3. Choose your yarn carefully

Related to hook size is also your choice of yarn. Not all yarns that are indicated as being of a particular weight (e.g. DK, aran) are actually exactly the same. If you’re making an item where size is particularly important, and the yarn you’re thinking of using is somewhat thinner or thicker that the one suggested in the pattern, you may wish to think about using a different yarn which is closer to the recommended yarn. Otherwise, once you have worked out the best hook size (as described above) for your yarn, you may end up with a much larger or smaller item than you were hoping for.

Another point to consider is the halo or fuzziness of your yarn. Personally, I like using relatively smooth yarns for tapestry crochet as they give really good stitch definition. However, if you’re using a smooth yarn, then you may need to use an (even) smaller hook size to ensure that the stitches are tight enough to cover the carried yarn. On the other hand, if you’re using quite a fuzzy yarn, with a large halo, then you may find you don’t need to go down so much in hook size as the yarn will already cover the carried yarn sufficiently well.

4. Think about the colours you use

If you get the above points nailed, then really you can use absolutely any colours you like and still get a brilliant result.

However, if the yarn does still peep through slightly, you may wish to just accept this as part of the design and choose your colours accordingly.

For example, a hint of yarn peeping through here and there can sometimes give quite a pleasing mottled or variegated look.

Another idea is to select one yarn with a nep or use a tweed yarn, where the second colour in that yarn matches the colour of your second yarn. In that way, any yarn peeping through can just appear to be a natural part of the yarns used.