Darn it

Most crocheters seem to dislike weaving in the ends of their work, but I find it satisfying.It's the moment that your work goes from 'work in progress' to that 'special something'. Plus, if you do it well it will ensure that your creation stays in one piece. 

Some leave about 8″ of yarn at the start and end of their project, but not in my house! In my house wool is precious and I think that's a waste so I just leave about 1” and I've never had anything fall apart yet. 

Sometimes I darn as I go along but normally I do what I did last night -  I'd crocheted 15 leaves, so I had a darning session with a pot of tea in front of the TV and got them all completed in one go. Yay!

Here is more info on how to darn in the ends with a needle...

If you want to leave a short tail

This is fine for little leaves as they are probably going to be sewn to a flower anyway, so are not going to unravel. 

Take the yarn needle and weave it into your project so that the eye of the needle is near the tail you want to get rid of. Then thread the needle with the tail. Pull the needle through and taadaa, tail has vanished and is neatly tucked inside so that your project won’t unravel. 

If you want to leave a long tail

This is probably better for bigger projects. 

Take the yarn needle and thread the 8″ tail. Find a nice ridge of crochet stitches near by to the end of your work, for example on a granny square the edge will do, on a leaf the edge or the centre, on a flower the ring in the centre, or the edge of a petal. Push the needle through that ridge so that the tail completely disappears.  Either keep sewing it in until it has all gone, hidden inside your work, or ruckle your project up a little and snip the tail short before straightening out your project so the end disappears within. 

If you can't be bothered with the whole darned thing

You can work over loose ends as you go along instead, by holding them next to the chain or ring that you are working into. This method is a bit fiddly but it does save you darning the tails in at the end.