I’m getting a bit ahead of myself here but want to be well prepared. I will shortly be knitting myself a short sleeved top, primarily for Christmas but also for any family meals out or other ‘fancy’ occasions, and I’ve bought some Sirdar Soukie DK yarn which is a blend of 40% polyester, 33% acrylic and 27% cotton and also contains sequins. It comes in 50g balls so I will have to do quite a bit of joining together. The pattern I have in mind is Bowknot Blue from the Knitty.com website. What method would be best for joining together each new ball? I like the Russian join but I can’t see that working in this case and I’m wondering would Magic Knot be better? Or anything else?
The “magic knot” is actually a real knot called Fisherman’s knot and it is strong enough to hold most yarn if you do not cut off the ends close to the knot. So if you go the “magic knot” way, try to get the knot on the wrong side and do not trim the ends. If you trim the ends too close it might open itself.
Personally, I would weave in as I knit. There are plenty of youtube videos about this. I am firmly in the no knot in knitting camp.
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Me too - I only wrap the new yarn end round the needle like I’m about to do a normal stitch when I join new yarn. I don’t have a problem with using knots if the project is already supposed to have lots of colours and texture, usually scrap yarn projects anyway.
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I’m one that has never been able to get the ‘magic’ knot to hold anything even when not cutting the ends. If a yarn is heavy enough (DK should be) and more than a single, I’ve found the braided join works best, holds together through just about anything, and doesn’t leave a knot. For my thinner yarns, I just knit on for 10 or 12 stitches and then weave in the ends after a few rows.
I have just discovered the magic knot. I followed a you tube video on how to do it. It didn’t take long for me to realise it was a 'reef knots. One I learned in brownies many years ago.
I find it very strong and I think it will hold up well.
I used the “magic knot” to join super bulky yarn into a shawl and trimmed the ends. When I came back to it on the next row, I watched with horror as the knot slowly unwound itself before my eyes! As there wasn’t any yarn to catch, I had to rip back. I would use that knot again, but only on a textured fabric, and I’d leave the ends long enough to weave in.