Ways to Join New Yarn without Weaving in Ends

Lots of knitters hate weaving in yarn ends, so it’s popular to wonder if there are ways to join in new yarn that don’t involve having to weave in ends when the knitting is done. Here’s a quick look at three of the most popular options and how to do them.

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First, you can tie the yarn ends together using a knot that’s known in the yarn world as the magic knot. It’s super strong, easy to do, and theoretically you can tie it, trim the yarn ends super close to the knot and never worry about it again. I usually leave a little bit of a tail when I do this just in case, but I don’t think I’ve ever had a knot come undone when I did it properly.

This is the way to make a magic ball, where you take all your tiny yarn leftovers and join them together to knit with. Knotions has a tutorial for how to do it.

If you’re working with wool or other natural, feltable fibers, my favorite way to join a new ball of yarn is what’s known as the felted join (or, if you want to be more dramatic, spit splicing, since you can do it with saliva instead of water). Basically you separate out the plies a little bit on the end of the new yarn and the old yarn, add a little water and rub the ends together between your hands until they sort of felt together.

I’m working on an intarsia vest right now that has about 20 different balls of yarn across the width of it and the only way I can handle it is by working with a piece of yarn about as long as my arms and using the felted join to make it back into a continuous strand. If you want to know how to do this, check out the tutorial at Brooklyn Tweed.

Another good option is known as the Russian join, which has the benefit of being able to be used on any kind of fiber. You need a yarn needle to work it, but once you know how it’s pretty quick and easy to do. Sheep and Stitch has a good photo tutorial of how this one works.

Of course if you’re working a sweater or a hat or something with an inside, you can sometimes just leave your tail ends hanging and not worry about it.

What do you do when you join new yarn? Do you like weaving in ends? I’d love to hear your thoughts!

[Photo: Sheep and Stitch]

An Easy Way to Weave in Yarn Tails as You Knit

Great Ways to Weave in Ends

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I’ve shared a lot of Christmas stocking knitting patterns over the years (see posts 1, 2, 3 for example) but what if you want to knit a stocking for a non-human member of your family. If you’re looking for Christmas stocking knitting patterns for your cats or dogs, this is the post for you.

These large paw print stockings are perfect for either dogs or cats, so they’re great to knit if you have both. They are worked in the round using DK weight yarn, and the stocking measures about 17 inches/43 cm from the top to the heel. You can get the pattern from nicolaluke.

The K4 Project has a super cute Kitty Christmas stocking pattern, which is worked in worsted weight yarn. They also have a dog version, or you can buy both and get a discount if you have both dogs and cats to knit for. Both projects have two patterns, showing how to work the stockings flat or in the round.

Put your dog into a Christmas scene with this stocking pattern from ifanhourChild. It shows a dog in a dog house in the snow, and has room for the dog’s name at the top. It’s worked flat using worsted weight yarn and the pattern includes charts for many small and medium dog breeds (there’s a separate listing for bigger dogs) so you can stitch a dog that looks like yours.

Annie’s Woolens has both dog and cat stocking knitting patterns that are worked in worsted weight yarn in the round. You can change up the colors to suit your pet if you want, and they come with an alphabet chart for personalization. Or you can stick with holiday colors and buy a kit to make the dog or cat stocking.

Waiting for Santa Paws is a pattern from Kate Agner on Ravelry that would be cute for a dog or a cat. It looks like a leg with a paw print on the bottom part of the foot and more paw prints running around the top of the leg. This is a great option if you don’t want to mess with a heel turn because it doesn’t have a heel, because dogs and cats don’t have heels so why would their stockings?

Book Review – 20 to Knit: Tiny Christmas Toys to Knit

Book Review – Knit Christmas Stockings

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