How do I join a new ball of yarn?

There is nothing structural about a join. The stitches around it hold everything together, and the tails are secured afterwards by weaving. That is why a knot is unnecessary, and why joining at an edge is easier than joining anywhere else.

Step by step

1. Judge whether the ball will see you to the end of the row.A rough rule is that a row takes about four times the width of the knitting in yarn. If in doubt, join at the start of the row rather than run out halfway.
2. At the edge, just change yarn.Drop the old yarn, leave a 15cm tail on both old and new, and knit the first stitch with the new yarn. It will feel loose for two or three stitches, which is normal.
3. Tighten the join later, not now.Give the two tails a gentle tug once you are a few rows on, to even the tension either side of the change. Pulling hard at the time distorts the stitches.
4. For a mid-row join in feltable wool, spit splice.Untwist and thin out about 5cm of each end, overlap them, wet them, and roll them hard between your palms until the fibres felt together. It produces a genuinely continuous yarn with no tails. It only works on wool that has not been superwash treated.
5. For anything else mid-row, use a Russian join.Thread each end onto a needle, pass it back into itself along its own length for about 4cm, pull gently to close the loops, and trim. It leaves a short, slightly thicker section but no tails to weave.
6. Weave the tails in along the same colour.Follow the path of the stitches on the wrong side for 4 to 5cm, then change direction for a centimetre so it cannot pull back out. Do not weave straight down a column of stitches, which shows on the front.
7. Match the join to the yarn direction.Join at the same point in a stripe or colour change if you have one — the join is invisible at a colour change and always slightly visible in the middle of a plain area.
8. Trim the tails after washing, not before.The first wash settles the fabric and works the ends in. Cutting flush beforehand can let a short tail pop back out.

Tips

• Always join at a side seam if the piece is going to be sewn up. The seam swallows the join entirely.
• A join in the middle of a cable or a lace panel will show. Plan around it.
• Keep the ball bands. If you run short you need the dye lot number, not just the shade.

Common mistakes

• Tying a knot and cutting the tails off — Knots migrate through the fabric to the right side, and a knot in slippery yarn eventually works loose, leaving a hole in a finished garment with no tails left to fix it.
• Weaving the tail straight up a column of stitches — It doubles the yarn in that column and shows as a visible ridge on the right side. Weave along the row and then change direction.

If it doesn't work

Questions people ask