Hello: I am new to this so I made need help along the way. I have been knitting for many years (learned in the second grade) but I have never really know how to add a new ball of yarn in the middle of the row. If anyone can help me jump right in. Thanks, Kristi
here’s some different methods of joining yarn.
http://www.knittinghelp.com/knitting/basic_techniques/misc.php
I usually try not to join them in the middle of the row, but those videos do help if it’s necessary. I use the felted join and just fray the ends, spit on them and then rub them between my palms. Works like a charm!
if i have a plied yarn, i like to snip half of the plies so the yarn is half as thick and my felted join won’t stand out as much in the stitching.
I just tie knots. A few rows later I rearrange them a little so I make sure they won’t show on the front. They don’t work loose and they don’t show.
I knit joined yarn for a couple of stitches then i weave in the ends in several directions afterwards. it looks invisible and it doesn’t seem to wash out either.
Most of the time I have just started in knitting with the new skein and then when I finish up I cross the two strands over each other like the first step in tying a shoe and when weave the ends in in different directions. Good result. Lately I have been doing what Elizabeth Zimmermann says she does, knit one stitch with both yarns and then drop the old one and keep going. Then work in the tails when you are done.
There are many ways to do things, as you can see.
It depends on the yarn and the stitch pattern.
The felted join (also elegantly called “spit splicing”)
works well on wool, not so well (if at all) on other fibers.
I generally do what Sue does: a small, neat knot. I use the two yarn ends to make the first half of a square knot on the wrong side. Several rows later I tighten or loosen the ends so that the tension is the same as the rest of the knitting, and complete the square knot. Depending on the yarn and my state of mind, I either cut the leftover ends to 1/4" or weave them individually into the back of the knitting. This is a good, simple system for cotton, linen and synthetics, and for wool that’s not too thick. It’s less good for lacy, open stitch patterns.
Faced with those, or with slippery ribbon yarns, I think you sort of find your own way. Practice some or all of the joins on the videos and use whatever works best in a given situation. A lot of knitting is like that – over time you develop an arsenal of techniques and choose the join, cast-on, bind-off, increase or decrease that works for you and your project.
I usually just knot the two together and weave in the ends, if I can guarantee that the knot will be in the back. I’ve been trying just picking up the new thread and weaving in the ends later, with mixed results. There have been a few times that I do this and then just knot them together a few rows later!