Does anyone like to weave in ends? Some people must enjoy it. They probably find it calming and meditative – a nice moment where you reflect on what your hands have created and officially finish off the project (well, until you block it). I would like to be the kind of knitter who could really find joy in weaving in ends. But I am not. I am the kind of knitter who will leave a finished object in a pile for weeks, just because I can’t face the ends. Or do a quick and poor job of securing my ends, threatening to ruin a perfectly nice hand knit in my impatience to be done.
So it was a great relief to me when Boost Your Knitting gave me not one, but two ways to avoid weaving in ends. I now splice any wool that will felt and knit in my ends with glee. But there are some projects for which these two methods just don’t work.
Photo © Jesse Wild.
Today though, we’ve got a bonus Confident Knitting tutorial with the solution. It’s called the Russian Join. It creates a nearly invisible join and works a treat for yarns that don’t felt (such as superwash wool or plant or manmade fibres). It’s particularly handy if you, like me, hate weaving in ends, or for a project, like the Findhorn Wrap, where you don’t want a terribly obvious wrong side with lots of visibly woven in ends. It takes a sharp needle and a little time, but it’ll be worth it. Especially for a project like the Findhorn Wrap. It has 144 individual rectangles. At two ends a rectangle, that is 288 ends, at a minimum, to contend with. I challenge even the knitter who loves weaving in to want to tackle that mountain of ends!
And now, without further ado, here’s the tutorial: Russian Join Tutorial on YouTube
And there you have it! A method for joining in yarns that will come in handy in so many situations. You’ll also find a photo tutorial for the Russian Join, along with Emily K. Williams’ Findhorn Wrap pattern, in Confident Knitting. It’s available to purchase in the online shop. What are you feelings about ends? We’d love to hear about them in the comments!