The Russian Join is particularly helpful when:
- You are joining non-felting yarn (to use instead of a spit-splice)
- You are joining fine-weight yarn, such as fingering or lace weight
- You are conserving yarn - there's very little waste.
I'm using a regular tapestry needle & Cascade 220 yarn (worsted, 100% wool.) With finer yarn, I like to use a darning needle, which has a sharper point.*****
Weave the tapestry needle in and out of the yarn - you'll be stitching the end of your strand of yarn back down into itself. For loosely-plied yarn, you should stitch at least a couple of inches. (Farther than I show here.)***
Pull the end of the strand through your stitches, forming a loop.***
Thread the new strand (pink for illustrative purposes) through the loop you just made.***
Stitch the yarn end back into itself as you did before.***
Pull the end of the strand through.***
Pull the ends of the yarn so that your loops close, but don't pull tight. You want the yarn to lay flat and not bunch up.***
Trim the ends close to the yarn join.***
Ta-da! Continue knitting or crocheting.***
After you have worked through this join, tug your fabric a bit lengthwise & width-wise. A couple of ends may poke out. Just trim them down, eventually they'll work to a resting place.
Thanks to Angelique, who originally showed me this technique. Miss you, Angelique!
76 comments:
This is so incredibly cool! Thanks for posting it. I love figuring out ways to join that avoid having more ends to weave in!
Wow, I never knew knitting could be so complicated!
This is real cool as I've knit and crochet for years and never seen this join. Thank you so much for sharing it with all of us.
cool!!! looks good AND easy. i will definitely be using this someday.
Was viewing the Twist site when I found the Russian Join. Have knit & crocheted for over 50 years and never seen this before. Can hardly wait for my new skein joining to try this. And your yarns look yummy. Hope to visit your shop soon. Thanks for sharing the Rusian Join. Joyce B
I use this all the time, it's the easiest join I've learned, and I've never had a problem with it showing. Some people I know don't care for it, but to each their own I guess!
This is an awesome way to join the yarn! Can't wait to use it on my current project!
you rock!
Wow! This is incredible!! I am going to start testing this method - thanks for sharing.
How does it handle lots of washings? I make a lot of baby afghans and I like to know it can handle the wash....
This is incredible! I hate having to weave in the ends of my yarn, and it seems to happen all too often. I'm really excited to try this as an alternative!
Great! Your step by step is clear and easy enough for beginners...and, your manicure is impeccable! (unlike most)
Thanks!
I am working on an afghan for my 18 year old daughter who is away at college. I L-O-V-E this! Thanks!
Thanks so much for posting this technique. It's like a miracle! lol
AMAZING! just found this on Pinterest - thanks for sharing!
AMAZING! thanks for sharing - found it on Pinterest!
My mom used to use this join with her crocheted blankets. They've held up for over 40 years of washing, so I would say the join is a good one! Thanks for the clear directions!
Just came across this and WoW, wish I had know this earlier! I will definitely be employing this technique from now on. I really don't like having to weave in a 'thousand' ends after my crochet or knitting project is completed. Thanks for sharing! :)
This is sure to be a time and yarn saver. Can't wait to try it. I love to crochet but really hate sewing all the tails in. Thanks so much for sharing.
This is awesome! Thanks for the tutorial.
Thank you! I wish I had known this trick years ago.
Whoa!!! What a great idea. Thanks for sharing.
I can't believe I've only just heard of this NOW - thank you for the tutorial!
Very cool! Thanks for sharing :)
I haven't tried this yet but looks really neat. Thanks.
Wow this is brilliant can't tell you how much I hate weaving in ends so this sounds like a great idea!
I'm definitely going to try this!
GENIALE. GRAZIE!
Great idea! If you're changing yarn colors, how do you make it end up at just the right spot? Sorry--I'm a "born-again" knitter so I'm just remembering how to knit again.
Awesome! Thank you SO MUCH for posting this. I can't wait to try it.
Awesome ! Thanks !
Awesome ! Thanks !
Thank you very much ! it's so useful ! I think that I will now work all my new crochet projects that way. Thank you for sharing. Take care.
Fantastic idea. I'm thrilled to have found it
I am going to try this! Weaving in ends is one of my least favorite things.
Awesome!!! I have been knitting and crocheting for over 30 years and have always hated joining colors till now. This is so simple and great!! Thanks again!!
I just tried this with a chunky yarn (100g) and it worked perfectly! You can't even tell were the two yarns are joined! This is awesome, thank you for posting!
Jeanie
I knit prayer shawls...some are washed often. When adding another skein, I tie a hard knot...then use a darning needle sew it back as in your demo. It does not come undone.
Um, WOW, and WOW! I will be doing this from now on!
This has made me want to pick up the yarn again!! Just like most ppl I hate the weaving in of tails, so this has made me think that I should grab my yarn bag and get to work!!
this seems ok but will it work with debbie bliss paloma which is quite thick. I am knitting a scarf on 15 needles
Debbie Bliss Paloma - I haven't tried it with a bulky, chainette yarn like that. The good thing about a yarn like that is that it condenses nicely, and gets thinner easily.
Sometimes at the shop we do a variation of this technique, where instead of doubling the yarn back onto itself and making two loops, we take Yarn A, sew it into Yarn B about 5" down from the end, then take Yarn B's end and sew it into Yarn A. (That's hard to explain in a comment. Might have to do a new tutorial.) Anyway, that saves some of the bulk, because this technique doesn't always work well with super-bulky yarns.
So, that being said, just try it! The worst that will happen is that you'll have to cut out the Russian join and join in the normal way. Good luck!
Wow this is great! I am going to be tying this soon! I have never seen this
Excellent! thanks for this tip!!
Wow, can't wait to try this!
I have got to try this! Thanks!
It worked great! I will never weave in ends again!
Wow this is awesome! I can't wait to try this. Thank you!
Wonderful tip! I've come across this before but forgot about it..This is also very handy when using up all my scrap yarn! :-D Thanks!
This is such a fantastic tip! I've used this join twice and am very pleased with the results.
OMG ! just did this with baby wool as I didn't want a knot so very very fantastic why oh why had I not done this before ! Thank you!
Love this ,so easy
Thank you for sharing your talent and knowledge. Very much looking forward to trying this out!
I am working on a blanket and need to make frequent changes of color, but how do I do this so I can control where the joins are?
Jan - I wish I had a good answer to that, but I think it would be difficult to control exactly where the color changes. You'd have to measure how much yarn each stitch takes, and then make your first loop end at exactly the right length...sounds daunting. This probably isn't the best join for switching colors.
Thanks for the quick reply! That was my thinking on it... but I thought maybe there was something I might have been missing. It is a pin that I am going to leave in Pinterest, however. You have some amazing information here!
I learned this join on a machine knitting site many years ago. The woman who gave it said she got it from her grandma who got it from a nice Russian woman who lived next door, thereby giving it it's name. I do not know if this is the way it really got it's name, but it would be interesting if it did.
Love it
As for joining exactly in the right place, here is an idea to try. If you knit or crochet one or two stitches past the spot you want to change and then pull out enough stitches to make the weave, you will be able to see the kink in the yearn where you want to change colors and put the weave there. I haven't tried it yet so let me know if it is helpful.
My least favourite part of any knitting or crocheting project is sewing in the ends. Anything that let's me bypass that when I'm finished is a blessing. Thank you so much for sharing this!
This is so cool. I have been crocheting for years and have never seen this. I work at a male prison and they have a Huge knitting and crochet program (through us they donated over 5,000 pieces to shelters in the past 2 years!) and they hadn't heard of this either. I was so glad to share this with them. From donated yarn, they get a lot of partial skeins of yarn so this is tremendous. Thank you so much for sharing this.
I love this! I just did it and it worked! I have been crocheting since I was six and am 61 now. I have never seen this. Thanks so very much. Brilliant!!!
Thanks so much for this tip. Awesome!!
Thanks ,really neat I tried it and it works out beautiful. I enjoy all your pins !
Have been Crocheting since I was 17 and am now 55. First time I've heard of this join. thanks for sharing.
Thank you, i did it and helps a lot
Que gran idea, muchas gracias por compartirla, un saludo.
Good idea ♥♥
Very cool idea. No More Knots From tying ends together. Thank for the awesome idea.
I love this! Thank you! Oh my goodness! How wonderful!
I am so happy that I came across this page. I had seen the Russian join done several years ago on YouTube and the lady that did the video was very hard to unterstand and the way she was doing the join looked nothing like what you just did and yours was not a video and I got this now...thank you, thank you, thank you!!!
Thank you for showing this technique, sometimes in a rush to knit something for someone, I'll opt for one color because of all the finish work to be done. Now with this I won't be so stingy with using different colors.
I use this join often. But have never been able to figure it out when doing a color change.
I just tried this join at the end of a row, starting a new color. Success! It takes a little more planning, and a little more fuss, but I got it right the first time and it sure beats weaving in all those ends.
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