Needle Felt Yarn Ends for a Seamless Join

One fun way to get rid of little bits of yarn and to work with them a little more easily in a project is to make a crazy ball or a magic ball of yarn.

These are balls of yarn made with little oddments that are joined to each other so that you can just keep on knitting and not have to think about where to change colors.

Joining the yarns together is usually done by just tying them together, or, if you want to be a little fancier, doing a Russian join to more seamlessly join two yarns together.

Diana at Closet Crafter has another idea that works for magic balls or any other time you want to join two pieces of yarn together without having an end to weave in: needle felting.

A needle felting tool has a bunch of needles on it that you punch into the fibers, which eventually melds them together. It’s sort of the manual version of the felted join, but it works on acrylics and blends as well (but not cotton, Diana reports).

Have you ever made a magic or crazy ball of yarn? I’d love to hear about it and what you used it for.

[Photo via Closet Crafter.]

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There’s always room for more stitch dictionaries on your shelf, but Andrea Rangel’s Knitovation Stitch Dictionary is unlike those stitch pattern books you might already own. That’s because this one is full of colorwork stitch patterns rather than textured stitches, lace or cables, so the designs are ripe for adding to hats, sweaters and other projects with a stockinette stitch background.

The book starts with a quick introduction to knitting colorwork that’s also unlike what you’ve probably seen before, because it’s less about the colors themselves and more about the kinds of fibers you choose, how the yarn is prepared and the gauge you’re working at and how those things all change the look of a design.

Most of the book is filled with motif designs and swatches. The motifs were designed and named by Andrea’s husband Sean, who is an artist and brings a bit of whimsy to the designs.

You’ll find some classic looking leaves and flowers, mosaics and waves, but also rubber ducks, penguins, puzzle pieces, cherries and cows, snails and teapots, eyeballs and chess pieces, to name a few. Many of the designs also have funny names, like a fish named toilet bound, or cats in suits called corporate fat cat.

Of course you can use the designs in any way you want on any project you like, but there are also three patterns in the book — for a hat, a sweater and a pair of fingerless gloves — plus discussion of how the motifs were added, adjusting patterns for a different size or gauge, and adding your own motifs.

If you like adding a bit of colorwork to otherwise plain projects that other people have designed, or you’re ready to start making your own designs with fun motifs, this book is a great place to start. The fun and funny motifs are sure to inspire you to want to pick up your needles and add a little more color to your projects.

About the book: 160 pages, hardcover, 150+ motifs and three knitting patterns. Published 2023 by Interweave, suggested retail $28.

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