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Don’t ever stop knitting: Joining part 4

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We’ve been talking about joins for a while now, and we’ve already got a bunch of options.  But, because you can never have too many options (or skeins of yarn), I’ve got one more for you.  It’s at the upper end of fiddly-ness scale, but in specific instances, it’s totally worth it.

Check it out:

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAUnravel three or four inches of the end of your old yarn.  (This works best with multi-plied yarn, rather than single-ply.)  Separate the plies out.  Leave the new yarn intact.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERATake a thin tapestry needle and carefully sew each of the plies one at a time into the end of the new yarn.  OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERATry to sew the plies into the new yarn along different paths, weaving them together to form a nice, sturdy join.  Be patient with yourself; this can be tricky to do. OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAPros: This join results in an invisible transition (no ends to weave in!) that doesn’t rely on getting spit everywhere.  This join also works really well with non-feltable yarns (like acrylic and cotton).

Cons: Probably the most complicated and tricky join we’ve talked about.  It doesn’t work super well with single-ply yarn (but you can make a bitchin’ spit join with single-ply wool).

Don’t ever stop knitting: Joining part 3

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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!

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAStart 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.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAThen 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.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAThen (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.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAWhen 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.