How To Add A New Ball Of Yarn

How To Join Yarn

Figuring out how to join yarn with knitting or crochet is one of the first skills a yarn crafter should master.

When I first started crocheting, I’d just kind of clumsily knot the two ends together and hope for the best. I definitely don’t recommend doing this. I’ve researched high and low for different ways of joining yarn and I’ve seen some really unusual methods. One method I saw involved wetting both ends of yarn, unraveling them and kind of weaving and mashing them together. You then had to leave it to dry over night. I’m sure it’s an excellent method but I certainly do not have the patience to wait overnight before continuing the next part of my project.

I have tried every single method there is for joining new balls of yarn and this is my foolproof method. Learning how to join yarn properly has made a huge difference to the durability and finishing of my crochet projects. I made a pair of arm warmers out of merino (very slippery!) yarn about three years ago using this method and they’re still holding strong. This is the Hulk of yarn joining methods.

Tips

  1. Always leave enough yarn to tie a proper knot. It’s worth undoing a few stitches to get some extra length.
  2. Pull your knot nice and tightly – you’ll notice the knots kind of butt up against each other to keep each other from unraveling.
  3. Snip your thread nice and closely to the knot but don’t go overboard – you want it to be a functional knot.
  4. This method works best if you’re joining two yarns together of a similar make-up. I’ve used this method for joining wool to an acrylic/wool blend and it didn’t hold as firmly as I would have liked.
  5. If you see a knot you’ve made with this method coming undone, use sewing thread to in the same colour to sew them back together. As long as they are strained against each other in opposite directions, they should stay put.