Russian Join

I tried something new that I wanted to share with you. It's always kind of a pain in the ass to weave in the ends of bulky yarn because they just create a huge, noticeable bump, don't they?

Usually, when I'm knitting and have to join in yarn, I will just join in without knotting or anything. So I'm knitting with the end of the first ball and the beginning of the second ball for about 5 stitches. Yeah, that creates a little bit of a lump, but it's usually not that noticeable. Especially if you are working with worsted weight or smaller yarn.

But bulky... That's a horse of a different color. Now, in the past I've just tried to make the best of it with my method. I usually try to change skeins at the beginning of the row to lessen the effect of that. But this time, I decided to try the Russian Join Method.

I learned to do this from this YouTube video. And honestly, I cannot imagine how anyone ever learned to do anything before YouTube was invented.

This is a solid join, very strong, and easy to do. I makes the yarn slightly thicker, but much less thick than my method or by weaving in the ends. The only downside to this method is that, since you are weaving the yarn into itself, if you have a multicolor yarn like mine, that might stand out.

But, since I am working with a pattern designed to diffuse the color changes, it works out fine.