The last two times we talked about joining, we kept it pretty simple.  We stayed nice and clean.  Easy.  This time we’re going to get our hands dirty.  It’ll be a little messy, a little icky, a little slimy.  But, boy, the finished product is going to be so worth it.  (Can you tell that this is my favorite join?)  Today we’re going to talk about (drum roll, please):

The Spit Join!

Start out by totally destroying the ends of your old yarn and your new yarn.  Unravel at least two inches of both ends.  Rip them up, make them messy.  The messier the better.

Then interleave the unraveled ends together.  It doesn’t have to be perfect, but the more contact you have between old and new yarn, the better.

Then (and this is the gross/awesome part), lick your yarn (or spit on it, or if you’re super squeamish, dribble a few drops of warm water on it).  Carefully take your damp yarn between your palms, making sure to keep the unraveled ends interleaved, and roll it back and forth.  Really put some elbow grease into it, and get some friction going.  The heat from the friction, plus the damp will actually felt the wool together, making a single, long piece of yarn.

When you knit up the finished yarn, the spit join totally disappears.  No ends to be seen!

Pros: Totally invisible!  No tails to weave in at the end. No worry about wrangling more than one piece of yarn while you’re knitting.  Great for double-sided knitting (like scarves), where you don’t want ends showing up anywhere.

Cons: Since this join is based on felting, it only works on felt-able fibers (wool, alpaca etc).  It’s also a little futz-y to do, and frankly, a little gross.   Probably not one to do in public, unless you’re like me and have no shame.