NOTE: Since the original posting of Part 4 – Finishing Your Project, my mom reminded me of an easier way to finish off the project. It totally gets rid of my stage 3… weaving in the ends. Thank you, Mom! The directions found below have been updated and reflect the change. Changes made within the remaining directions will be denoted in red. I left in the stage 3… weaving in the ends. Some people may still want to finish off their project in this manner. In order to eliminate stage 3, your yarn tails must be the same color as the tassels you are adding, otherwise you would have an odd colored yarn in your tassel. So, If you are using tassels that are a different color than the yarn tails, DO NOT incorporate the yarn tails in the tassel, and use stage 3 to weave in ends. (3-8-10)
You have now finished crocheting and joining all your strips. Time to finish it up. We will do this in 2 or 3 stages: Finishing the outside edges, adding tassels and (optionally… weaving in ends).
Finish Outside Edges:
1] To finish off an edge, work on the right side of your project, and begin at the bottom. Place the first 6 loops on your crochet hook. (6 loops on hook)
2] Slide the 3 loops closest to the end of crochet hook (end loops) over the other 3 loops closest to the hook (front loops), allowing the 3 end loops to come off the hook. (3 loops on hook)
3] Pick up the next 3 loose loops. (6 loops on hook)
4] Continue taking the ends loops off the crochet hook by sliding them over front loops, then picking up the next 3 loops.
5] When you get to the last 3 loops, pull a yarn tail through the 3 loops and loosely tie.
6] Do the other edge in the same manner.
Add Tassels:
NOTE: If your yarn tail are a different color than the tassels you are adding next to it, DO NOT incorporate the yarn tail in the tassel. Follow the remainder of the tassel instructions leaving the yarn tails alone. After the tassels have been added, proceed to Stage 3… weaving in the ends, and finish your afghan.
1] The yarn tails from each strip can be incorporated into the same colored tassel next to it. To prepare a yarn tail, begin by sliding your crochet hook from the front to the back, sliding the hook between the first three loops of one strip and the first three loops of the other strip.
2] Grab a yarn tail from either strip and pull it through the 6 loops. Let it stay there until you are ready to add your tassel. (Note: You want the yarn tail to be the same color as the tassel. If you have crocheted different colored strips, you may want to add different colored tassels. Do it in a manner that is pleasing to you. You can incorporate a yarn tail from either side for the tassel, you can even incorporate both, as long as they are the same color as the tassel you are adding.)
3] To make a tassel, find a “board” you can wrap yarn around that is approximately 8″ long. I used the top of a container. You can also use a book or cut a piece of cardboard to the desired length.
4] Loosely wrap yarn around your board 8 times and cut yarn.
5] Slide the loops off the board, holding the top of the loops in your left hand.
6] When adding tassels on the bottom edge; slide your crochet hook from the back to the front, sliding the hook between the first three loops of one strip and the first three loops of the other strip.
7] Grab the top of the tassel you are holding in your left hand, and pull the tassel through the 2 sets of loops about 3″.
8] Slide your yarn tail over and hold it with the other ends of the tassel.
9] Take the bottom of the tassel and feed through the top loop of the tassel.
10] Gently pull on the bottom until the knot formed in step 6 is secure. Do not pull it too tightly. You do not want to misshape the loops on your strips.
11] Cut the bottom loops of your tassel, so there are now 16 individual pieces of yarn. If necessary, even the bottom of the tassel by cutting off long pieces.
12] When adding tassels to the top edge; untie the knot holding two strips together. Repeat steps 6 – 12.
NOTE: You will only need to weave in the ends if you did not incorporate your yarn tail into your tassel as described in Stage 2 – Adding Tassels.
Weave in Ends:
1] Turn project over so back is showing. Each yarn tail will need to be woven into the back.
2] Thread a yarn tail into a yarn needle.
3] Weave the yarn tail through the center crochet of each strip, making sure not to poke through the front of your piece.
4] Weave each piece in 1″ – 1 1/2″. Clip the thread close to the piece.
You are now done! Easy, right? BTW… The examples used in this tutorial are for an afghan I’m making. I am not done with it yet so I can’t give you the “finished picture”. When I am done, I will include the pic, in these instructions.
Part 2 – Crocheting the Strips
Part 4 – Finishing the Project
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Thank you so much for doing this – I am SO inspired!
I’ll be glad to point you into the ways of tatting. You could get hooked!
Thank you SO much. I have about 10 balls of worsted that have been frogged over and over again because I couldn’t settle on an afghan pattern that didn’t bore me to bits. But this will be new for me and sounds perfect. I’m about to run out to buy a loom, I hope I find one locally!
Hope you have fun with it! It’s easy once you get the hang of it. Keep us posted.
It’s a fantastic idea and will be my second work in this hairpin lase style 😉 Thank you!
My sister-in-law said she saw one at JoAnne’s recently. I think you could easily make one with two knitting needles and two pieces of wood (try paint sticks) Just drill holes in the sticks to hold the needles. You might have to use rubber bands to hold the needles in place.
I can send a photo of the loom if you need it. Just give me the email.
Thank you so much for the excellent detailed instructions on finishing hairpin lace. I have searched everywhere and you are the only one to give such clear instructions.
Sincerely,
Alice
I’m so glad you found it helpful! Hope your project turned out great!
I have the same loom as you and have been wanting to learn to hairpin crochet for so long, your instructions are perfect for me! I am a visual person and would have picked it up quickly if I could have sat with someone and watched them – I tried the videos and couldn’t get it. I sat at my computer and went thru each photo and I got it!! Thank you so much!
Iam just like Devianna,
I’ve had the loom for several years now,handed down to me from a family friend, and knew one day I’d find a post as Easy to follow instructions and Fabulous pics showing me exactly what it should look like!
So on behalf of many if not ALL here We THANK YOU for a fantastic pattern to follow & learn from ?
You made my heart soar this morning. This is exactly why I love having our blog… the ability to share bits of this and that with others. It is such a fun craft once you learn it, and although I enjoy a good video, I love the “stop action” of photos. And… being visual myself, I need LOTS of photos when I’m learning something new. I wish you years of joy with hairpin lacing. Once you get the basics down, there are lots of different things you can do with it. Do let me know how it goes and feel free to share photos of your work with us on our Facebook page or email them to me at weefolkart@yahoo.com. ~Kimara~
I cannot wait to have a go at hairpin lacing, I have never heard of this type of craft before, but when I saw your site I was very impressed…It looks wonderful
Despite all the "steps", it's really very easy to do. Have fun and keep us posted on your progress 🙂
Thank you for the terrific instructions and lots of pictures! I won a huge set of hairpin lace tools on ebay a few months ago, but had to store my craft things because of relocation. Now I will finally have the chance to do hairpin lace in many sizes of patterns and yarns, with the help of your instructions!
It really is easy to do and a great take-along. Have fun and try all sorts of projects. Depending on the size, there is so much you can do with hairpin lace.
it is wonderful, marvelous, splendid. I know how to do but your finitions are extraordinary and as i am crocheting a blanket for a baby, I’ll try to do the same, thank you so much. I should like to print one for me because often when we try to find again it’away. Last week i lost all my favoris, the computer live me. thank you for your agreement or answer. Sorry for the mistakes.
micheline Laplaine
Feel free to make a copy for yourself but be warned… it will be a huge, no a HUGE, print job if you include all the photos!!! I'm glad you found the tutorial useful 🙂
Thank you for taking the time to make such a fantastic tutorial and for keeping another old craft alive and well.
This is so beautiful I’m definitely going to have to give it a try.
Thank You for the wonderful detailed explanation for Hairpin lace.
I used to make all kinds of things with hairpin when I was a child.
Now many, many years later, I found my loom but forgot how to start and how to crochet the center.
It’s all coming back to me now !
Thanks a Bunch.
Here’s a tip…
tie a long piece of yarn to the top of each side of the loom.
As you go, wrap your working yarn around the loom and yarn tails.
When you are finished and take your work off of the loom, the yarn tails will keep the loops from twisting. In detailed work, you need the loops to all be in the same direction and not twisted.
Thanks for the tip. It is brilliant! The rows can twist so easily when you are joining them. This is such a great idea. Thanks for sharing it with us and our readers!
Hi-
Great tutorial! How do you finish the top and bottom edges of a hairpin lace blanket if you don’t want tassels? I can use the technique you recommend for the 2 sides, but am left with unsightly borders on the top and bottom. Is there a way to attach the long strip that is to go around all 4 sides?
Thanks
To be very honest, I’ve always added the tassels but if you don’t want to, here are a couple thoughts.
First, the bottom is pretty clean looking. I would just weave in the yarns as described in the last part of the tutorial. For the top, I would probably take a set of unfinished loops and bend them over so the top of the loops is over the center of the next strip. I would weave the yarn tail from that strip through the loops and tie them off tight against the strip then weave in the yarn tail.
You could leave it like that, or when you are done tying it off, you could add a border to the top and bottom. It could be something as simple as a chain stitch or a shell.
If you want to have the same look all the way around, you could use 3 strands of yarn, like the loops. Make you chain stitches as long as the side borders, making sure to work them into the two side borders for a continuous chain around the afghan.
Hope that makes some sense 🙂 Please, share your directions and a photo when you get it worked out. I would love to see what you finally did.
Kimara,
I have completed my afghan project. The problem is that the bottom of my afghan is at different lengths. I thought it was just that I had added to many loops so I started to count the two different lengths. They are both 77 loops down. Could it be that the afghan has stretched that much. I do not know what to do at this point. Please help me as I do want to finish this project.
Without seeing the afghan, Alison, it is hard for me to know exactly what happened. If all your strips are the same size… having the same number of loops, your afghan should be the same. Reread Part 3… Joining the strips. Again, without seeing the afghan I can’t say for certain, but it is possible one strip was crocheted looser than the other or it may have been stretched after it was crocheted. HOWEVER, if you continue to join 3 loops from one strip with 3 loops from the next strip, it should work out.
I’m sorry I can’t be more helpful. If you would like to send me photos, I might be able to offer more advice. You can send them weefolkart@yahoo.com.
~Kimara~
Alison, I had that same problem, and when I really looked at the project, I could see where I either dropped a stitch (or missed it) and sometime I took some from the same side twice (ie, left, right, right, left, right, left, right) see the double right? Look for something like that.
Thanks for sharing your experiences, Wilma. I don’t even want to tell you how many times I missed a loop here or there and had to take out a row to fix it. I got much better at checking the back of my work frequently as I went along 🙂 ~Kimara~
Thank you very much!!! I finally got how to crochet this beautiful braids!! Thank you so much for such a clear and beautiful tutorial!
You are quite welcome. I have made so many of these over the years and each is beautiful in its own way. I’m glad we could help. ((hugs)) ~Kimara~
Theses instructions are great! I’ve recently heard of “hairpin lace” and it looks like a lot of fun. I’m confused though, you add more strips to make it wider, but how do you make it longer? Such as, a blanket for a bed.
You can make it longer by adding more loops to your loom. When you do that, make sure to always add a number that is divisible by 3 so when you join the rows together they come out even. The loom itself will provide some restrictions. There are only so many loops that you can add before it becomes too cramped to work. You should be able to make it long enough to cover a bed, but if you are looking for it to be long enough to go to the floor it probably won’t fit on a standard loom. In part 1 I talk about making your own loom, and you could use metal dowel rods cut to size to give yourself more length. https://weefolkart.com/hairpin-lace-part-1-4-loom/ Good luck 🙂 ~Kimara~
Duh! Now that you said to add more loops, it seems so obvious! Thank you so much!!! No, I wouldn’t want it to touch the floor, just enough to cover the top of the bed. I love learning new crafts and skills and this seems like a lot of fun and relaxing (once you get the hang of it lol)
Once you get the hang of it, it is a breeze! And addictive. Do keep us posted on your progress. You are going to have fun. I bet everyone you know will wind up with one of these as a gift 🙂 ~Kimara~
Thank you so much for you’re help! ?
You can slip part of the finished strip off of the bottom of the loom, if you need to make the strips longer than the loom will accommodate comfortably. I put the section I’ve taken off the loom into a sandwich bag and rubberband it to the bottom of the loom to keep it out of the way. Doing it that way, I’ve done strips close to six feet long.
That is a great idea. Thanks so much for sharing! ~Kimara~
How do you finish the ends if you don’t want to use tassels?
Start by weaving the ends into the center crochet of each strip. Then, do a chair or single crochet around the bottom. You will have to “eyeball” this since there isn’t actual stitches that you will be crocheting into. In other words, you may to put 4 single crochets into the loops and 1 in each center crochet of each strip. You can either simply finish off the top and bottom, or you can skin “braiding” the side loops and go all the way around the blanket. If you want, you can keep going and actually add a border by doing several rounds.
On the other hand, the blanket will not come apart, and you can simply weave in the ends and leave it, although I prefer at least a chained finish.
Hope that makes sense without photos!
~Kimara~
Do you have a picture of your final project? I love these colors! I’m interested in seeing how many tassels you have on each end.
Thank you!