How to Join a New Skein of Yarn to Knitting or Crocheting
When you reach the end of a skein of yarn while working on a knitting or crochet project, you need to join a new skein of yarn. Joining yarn isn't a difficult task, but if you don't take the time to make neat, sturdy joins, your finished piece may look sloppy and might not be durable enough to hold up to daily use.
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Instructions
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Felted Join
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1
Untwist the strands at the end of your working yarn and fan out the individual fibers.
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2
Untwist the working end of the new yarn. Pull apart the individual fibers in each ply.
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3
Dampen both yarn ends with a little spit.
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4
Overlap the frayed ends and place them on your left palm.
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5
Rub your right and left palms together to felt the two yarn ends to one another.
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6
Check the join; remove the yarn from between your palms and gently pull from either end of the join. If the fibers begin to pull apart, moisten the join a bit more and rub it between your palms a little longer.
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7
Stop rubbing when the fiber no longer pull apart when you tug at either end. You've just created a felted join.
Russian Join
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8
Thread the end of your working yarn through a size 26 or smaller sewing needle.
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9
Untwist the yarn's plies and push the needle between the plies, starting about 3 inches from the yarn's end and pull the needle through the center of the plies, stopping when a small loop remains at the end of the yarn. Remove the needle from the yarn end.
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10
Pass the end of the new yarn through the loop and thread the new yarn's end through a size 26 or smaller sewing needle and pull the needle through the yarn in the manner described above. You should now have two interlocking loops.
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11
Tug the yarn ends until the interlocking loops disappear. Don't pull further or you'll untwist the plies and release the yarn ends.
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12
Trim the yarn ends at the point where they emerge from the strand.
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Tips & Warnings
Felted joins work best for knitting and crochet yarns that have a wool content of at least 80 percent. Use it for single ply and plied wool, alpaca and llama yarns.
You can only create a Russian join from plied yarns. It's excellent for joining yarns that won't felt, such as cotton, silk, bamboo, superwash wool and linen.
References
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