How to Add Yarn to a Single Crochet Stitch

Use a clothespin to join the yarn ends.

Once you’ve mastered the single crochet stitch you can use it to create almost anything, from amigurumi to clothing, afghans, scarves and gloves. If you run out of yarn before the project is finished, adding more yarn is as simple as tying a loose knot. Try to time yarn changes for the end of a row, although you can use this technique to change yarn at any point during your work as long as you have about a 6-inch tail of yarn left in the original skein.

Things You'll Need

• Yarn needle
• Scissors

Instructions

1. Begin the final single crochet stitch to be done before your yarn change. Insert your hook into the appropriate stitch of the previous row, from front to back. Yarn over, wrapping the working yarn around the hook from back to front, or clockwise if you were looking at the crochet hook from the hook end. Pull this loop of yarn through the stitch in the previous row, leaving you with two loops on your crochet hook.

2. Loosely knot the ends of the new yarn and old yarn together. Leave about a 6-inch tail in the old yarn, so when you drop the knot it dangles a few inches below your work.

3. Use the new yarn to yarn over your crochet hook again, from back to front. Pull this loop through the two loops already on the crochet hook, completing the single crochet stitch and joining the new yarn at the same time. Leave enough slack in the new yarn that the knot you made continues dangling several inches below your work; don’t pull the knot snug against the stitches.

4. Continue working at least one full row with the new yarn before you untie the knot you made. Thread one loose end at a time through the yarn needle, working each end back and forth through the stitches for several inches. If you changed colors when you joined the new yarn to the old, make sure you weave each yarn into its respective color.

5. Snip any remaining excess yarn, as close to your work as possible.

Tips & Warnings

• This is the same basic technique you’d use to switch yarn colors, creating striping or other color-changing patterns.

References

• Dummies.com; How to Make a Single Crochet; Susan Brittain, et al.
• Dummies.com; How to Join Yarn in Crochet; Susan Brittain, et al.