Changing colour & bringing in new yarn – ‘To knot or not to knot?’ Personally I don’t like knots, they produce weak areas, can unravel and have the most annoying habit of moving to the front & spoiling your beautiful work that has taken you hours to create – the following are a few examples to help you eliminate the need to use them….
1) Simple Russian join: is best used with chunky yarns when adding a new ball as the old one runs out – however, I have used this method in freeform when adding a completely new yarn/colour, allowing the colour change to happen where it will… it’s a great method for eliminating those pesky tail ends that require weaving in later
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
2) Russian join: is ideal when joining even finest yarns & again, a very useful method in freeform when adding a completely new yarn/colour, allowing the colour change to happen where it will… & another way of eliminating those pesky tail ends that require weaving in later
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
3) joining yarn with a ss (slip stitch): insert hook into stitch or space indicated by pattern, place slip knot onto hook & carefully draw through, make 1 ch & continue as pattern instruction
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
4) joining yarn with a dc (US sc): start with the slip knot on hook, insert hook into stitch or space indicated by pattern & draw up a loop (2 loops on hook), YO & draw through both loops on hook (this counts as the first dc (US sc)) then continue as pattern instruction
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
5) The following are the colour/yarn changes I use most frequently: mainly because they are quick & neat & can be applied at the beginning, middle or end of a row/round
a) place new yarn along the top of your work and crochet a few stitches over it before the old yarn runs out; then pick up the new yarn & crochet over the old.
b) when 2 loops of last stitch remain on hook, drop old colour & just bring in new colour by drawing through the 2 loops & finishing off the stitch crochet over tail end as you go, eliminating the need to weave them in later. This method is applicable to all stitches
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Joining Fabric pieces, Squares & Motifs – the following are some of the most common methods I find useful in both my traditional & freeform work….
1) Whip Stitch: is possibly the easiest & most popular method for joining your crochet fabric, squares & motifs &, depending on the effect you are after, can be worked on the wrong or right side – worked in back loops only (see diagram) or in both loops for a thicker finish – for a less visible seams work with the same yarn as fabric or make a feature of your seam by using a contrasting yarn – be sure to secure your ends well as this method has a tendency to unravel in time
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
2) Mattress Stitch (Ladder St): gives a totally invisible seam & is always worked with right side facing preferably with the same yarn as fabric or one that tones in – after joining yarn slide the needle through two loops of one piece then through two loops of the other – repeat this a couple of times & draw together firmly – then gently & manually ease the stitches back with your fingers – continue until the join is complete. I use this method for joining my Freeform patches to create my Freeform fabrics
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
3) Chain Stitch No 1: is a decorative method for joining crochet fabric, squares & motifs & most popular in crochet lace work – I also like to incorporate it into my Freeform work – after joining yarn to first piece, make a number of chains then ss (slip stitch) or dc (US sc) to the next piece leaving one stitch unused between joins
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
4) Chain Stitch No 2: is another decorative & easy use of chains for joining your crochet fabric, squares & motifs
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I prefer the following 2 joining methods for joining squares because, not only do they produce a decorative, raised seam but they are strong & reliably don’t unravel
5) ss (slip stitch) join: after joining yarn, work in back loops only (see diagram) or in both loops for a thicker finish
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
6) dc (US sc) join: after joining yarn, work in back loops only or in both loops (see diagram) for a thicker finish
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Thank you, Ms Ann Bell… so happy to know the instructions are helpful 🙂
Your instructions are so clear and easy to follow. Thanks for the time and effort you have put into devising your method and for sharing
Thank you, patternprincess1.. you’re most welcome to link this info on your site… I’m always happy to help 🙂
This has been most helpful. Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge. You have put a lot of effort into this. Would you mind if I created a link on my site to yours? I could never explain this better than you have and I would love to get you more visitors.
Thank you, Mona…enjoy!! 🙂
thank you for sharing. I like to try new things and this is surely something I didn’t see before… grtz
Thank you Vivi…. 🙂
Este tutorial esta rebueno para coser cuadraditos y hacer terminaciones! 😊
Wonderful, Annette… I’m glad it’s been helpful 🙂
Im New to Crochet And Can I thank you For this please?… Its wonderful for me to follow…I will use to “sew up” my squares …
You’re very welcome, Una… 🙂
Thanks for this diagrams it was a great help!!!
You;re welcome, Carmen… enjoy 🙂
Muy interesante.
Gracias,
Carmen
You’re very welcomed, Ceresa… enjoy 🙂
Thank you so much for the detailed directions and diagrams! I’ve been looking for this. I love the idea of freeform crochet and plan to try it with my scraps.
Of course, one can use a dc [USA sc] stitch in the inside edge only, right sides together … this makes a nice neat join, with the rs join looking very neat and tidy and the ws join has a neat ridge.
You’re most welcome, Dora… glad it’s been helpful 🙂
very good your explanation. i will use some of these join techniques, for sure. Thank you!
You’re most welcome, Martha – glad I could help
Thanks! I really appreciate your response and explanation of the advantages or disadvantages of each method. I’ll try several ways of joining!
I usually use either slip stitch or dc (US sc) stitch for stitch when join squares – I prefer to work in the back loops of each square only (the middle centre stitches) this will make your join less balky – IMO if you also chain between each stitch it may result in a slightly ruffled look (but you might like that so give it a try) – again, also IMO, working every other stitch with a chain in between may weaken your join & it could also work out that your corner joins (where your squares meet) is a skipped stitch & this too may weaken your joins… my best advice is to have a trial run to see what works & looks the best for you… hope that helps
I had looked everywhere until I found this page! Thank You! I want to do the Chain Stitch #1 to join knit squares. If I do only ch 1, sc1 (US), would I need to skip every other stitch on the square edge, or just sc into the next stitch? Thanks for any help!
Thanks, Gail. I appreciate you taking the time to let me know
Again first rate instructions. You make it so very clear.
Blessings Gail
thankyou for the great information and diagrams. I’m just starting to try out some “freeform” crochet and knitting, and it is a bit intimidating, but this should help, m
Thank you for showing these. I have only used the whip stitch and the slip stitch join. I am excited to try a different one on my next project, I suppose it depends on the project and effect. Really, very handy. thanks again.