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When you get to the end of your yarn and need to add either the same color yarn or a new color of yarn, most of the time you might just tie the two with a regular knot. There are other ways to join your yarn so that the knot is smaller or there is no knot or yarn tail whatsoever.
Create a Crochet Russian Join
So exactly what is this “Russian join” for crochet, why do you need it and how do you do it? The Russian join allows you to join two pieces of yarn that has no knots and no weaving in the yarn tails. It helps you finish your crochet projects faster so you can start on new ones. Using the Russian join for crochet is helpful for attaching a new color yarn but can also be used to attaching a new skein of yarn with the same color. The Russian join technique is putting the yarn into itself, making a loop, and putting the yarn into the loop and pulling it tight.
To create the Russian join you will need a small darning needle. Thread your needle, making sure to have a few inches available. Wrap the second yarn around the first yarn. Put your needle in between the fibers of the yarn.
Create a Cheater’s Braid
You can also try the “needle join” which is often referred to as the Cheater’s Braided join as an alternative to the Russian join. You may prefer this to the standard Russian join. Thread the embroidery needle with the end of the yarn, lineup the next tail of the yarn with the needle so it is parallel, Push the needle into the yarn, about one needle length down, like you are threading it through a tube. Fill up the needle with the yarn and maybe a little more. The old tail will be on one side and the new yarn tail will be on the other side. Then you will thread the new yarn into the old yarn.
Create a Magic Knot
Okay, so this technically is a knot but I wanted to provide it as another method of joining crochet yarn because it is very effective. Another alternative to the Russian join is the “Magic Knot”. Bella Coco shows us how to connect yarn using the “Magic Knot” method in this video below.
