Best way to weave in ends in lace knitting

I am knitting a multicolored lace top that requires changing yarn every 4th row or so. What is the best technique for weaving in ends? Or is there a preferred joining method to eliminate ends.The yarn Adriafil 100 percent cotton.
I have read about separating the ply and doing them separately,which seems very time consuming.
I also saw a video on “magic knot” and Russian join which would eliminate ends, but not so sure I like the idea of knots. Should I weave them in after blocking?
Does it matter that it’s lace as opposed to st s?

I try to weave in ends on the same color stitches with colorwork. I avoid knots in general but on rare occasion I will use one one. On my current project I succumbed to a knot when I realized, many rows later, I hadn’t left enough of a tail to weave in securely. I hate that knot but not enough to reknit all those rows. When I knit lace I just do my best to weave in the tails so they won’t show on the RS of the work. It can take some real effort to figure out how to do it and you might have to get really creative to avoid making it really ugly on the WS. I’ve only had success with a Russian join on one project and that was a godsend. I can’t find the ends now. I wouldn’t attempt a Russian join with cotton yarn as in the past it was, for me, a dismal failure. I’m not sure a Russian join with different color yarns would work well with any yarn. I’ll link a video that shows a method some love. It can used with color changes or so I’ve read.

Now I want to know what you’re knitting. :stuck_out_tongue_closed_eyes: What pattern are you doing?

Thanks you. I’ll keep weaving it in as carefully as possible. Good idea to do on same color. I’m making a vintage woman’s sleeveless cotton top by Paton yarns. I bought the pattern on Etsy. There is no reference #.

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I was on my first cup of coffee this morning and forgot you asked about weaving in ends before or after blocking. Opinions vary. I weave in ends before blocking but leave a tail long enough to allow for some stretch and if I need to I can then weave in more of the tail after blocking. I found this video that might be helpful. I like the duplicate stitch method because it’s secure and doesn’t show as much as other ways of weaving in ends. I figure the WS of a shawl is likely to be seen and it should look as nice as I can manage.

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I knit lace and I tend to use the russian join if I have to change colours because it really is invisible, and I’ve never had one come apart. With lace yarn it’s so thin you will need a super sharp needle to burrow in.

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@GrumpyGramma is a wealth of knowledge and most of it from experience! :heart:

I can always depend on you all at this site to be so thorough. I really appreciate it!

Thank you. You’re too kind. I’ve gained experience in the School of Hard Knocks that specializes in How To Frog and Get the (expletive deleted) Stitches Back on the Needle. :wink: I think I truly can figure out ways to screw up simple projects that nobody else has ever discovered. :flushed: IF I have knowledge that can help someone else I like to share it. Chalk it up to many hours of knitting and far, far too much time down the online rabbit hole of looking up how to do things. salmonmac and others came to my rescue early on when I found this site knowing nothing about knitting and held my hand, figuratively speaking, through my first project.

I’ve learned that saying “I never” or “I always” will come back to haunt me and bite me in the backside. My reference to knots above and resorting to using one is why I won’t say I never use knots. There are exceptions to everything, even if I’ve not encountered one up to now. As soon as I say I never or I always an exception will be staring me in the face.

Well said! :heart:

Beth