It is unavoidable in knitting, you will run out of one ball of yarn and need to add another one. Or the pattern may call for a colour change forcing you to make a new join.
It has been a long-held taboo to put a knot in your work to accomplish these changes. Although it might feel comforting to tie the two strings together, it has been proven that as the object/project is worn the knot more often than not, will work itself loose. (I will admit I cheated with the Wall Flower and used knots to tie the strands of intarsia yarn together. See how unsightly it is? Unsightly yes, put the Wall Flower won't be worn.)
If you are knitting with wool or any other animal fiber, a spot felting technique can be used to join together yarn of the same or different colours. This technique is often called the Spit Splice because many knitters use spit to start the felting process. I have found it just as easy to walk over to the sink for a bit of water. Once wet you have to rub the yarn together with your hands. Within moments the process is complete. Should you like to see how the splice is done, check out this video.
But as you know, I often use acrylic yarn and this felting technique just won't work. There are a couple of other ways I've used in the past to join new yarn. The golden rule of adding new yarn in knitting is to do it at the edge, usually at a seam. This works best when the edge actually will be seamed, but isn't particular helpful on projects like scarves or shawls where the edge shows. In cases like this I've used a technique called the (video attached) Russian Join. Should you decide against watching the video, know that it sews the yarn back into itself on both the current strand and the added strand (each separately). It is a rather slick way to avoid having a doubling of the width.
As I researched for this post I found there are many other techniques that were unknown to me. Should you be looking for new techniques to use to join yarn, check out this very thorough website.
The knot quandary in knitting seems to have been resolved. Don't use knots in anything worn or where both the front and back will show. (BTW, I may regret all my knots in the Wall Flower as I work with them in making double stitches. The knot will be very bulky. That means I may be finding another way to address my 9 joins in the photo. I'll report back when I get to one.)
It has been a long-held taboo to put a knot in your work to accomplish these changes. Although it might feel comforting to tie the two strings together, it has been proven that as the object/project is worn the knot more often than not, will work itself loose. (I will admit I cheated with the Wall Flower and used knots to tie the strands of intarsia yarn together. See how unsightly it is? Unsightly yes, put the Wall Flower won't be worn.)
 |
| I count a total of 9 knots on the back of Wall Flower |
But as you know, I often use acrylic yarn and this felting technique just won't work. There are a couple of other ways I've used in the past to join new yarn. The golden rule of adding new yarn in knitting is to do it at the edge, usually at a seam. This works best when the edge actually will be seamed, but isn't particular helpful on projects like scarves or shawls where the edge shows. In cases like this I've used a technique called the (video attached) Russian Join. Should you decide against watching the video, know that it sews the yarn back into itself on both the current strand and the added strand (each separately). It is a rather slick way to avoid having a doubling of the width.
As I researched for this post I found there are many other techniques that were unknown to me. Should you be looking for new techniques to use to join yarn, check out this very thorough website.
The knot quandary in knitting seems to have been resolved. Don't use knots in anything worn or where both the front and back will show. (BTW, I may regret all my knots in the Wall Flower as I work with them in making double stitches. The knot will be very bulky. That means I may be finding another way to address my 9 joins in the photo. I'll report back when I get to one.)
Comments
Post a Comment