When knitting a jacquard pattern with knitting needles, you need to constantly change the thread of one color to a thread of another color. You should not only know how to change colors correctly, but also pay attention to the quality so that the tension of the threads is uniform and the design does not lose its shape.

Knitting jacquard with broaches or How to pull thread when knitting small jacquard patterns

As a rule, thread pulling is resorted to when threads need to be changed frequently. In such cases, the colored areas are small, consist of no more than 5 loops and are arranged in even rows or in a geometric pattern.

Threads of colors that are not used are pulled along the wrong side from one section to another. It is imperative to monitor the uniform tension of the thread: if you pull the thread of a color you are not using too loosely, the thread will sag and the loops will increase over time and fall out of the pattern; if the thread in the broaches is pulled too tightly, this will lead to folds in the drawing.

To avoid this, change colors as follows: straighten the knitted stitches on the right needle, pull the broach thread along the knitted loops, and then with the index finger of your right hand in the knit rows, press the broach thread to the last knitted loop on the right knitting needle. And in purl rows it is more convenient to press the drawing thread with the thumb of your right hand. The pulling thread is usually pulled freely along the loops of no more than 4-5 loops. If you need to make the broach longer, then you need to cross it with the working thread, and then continue knitting.

You can change colors on any side of the work: both on the back and on the front; one thread is held on the index finger of the right hand, the other on the index finger of the left hand. The loops are knitted with the right hand, and the unused thread is transferred with the left hand.

On the right side of the work, knit with knit stitches and pull the thread of the unused color so that it remains under the right knitting needle. On the wrong side of the work, knit with purl stitches and with your left hand, pull the other thread in front of the work and under the right knitting needle. From the wrong side: the threads are pulled in front of the loops.

Be sure to remember that the broaches must run from edge to edge. To do this, always knit the last edge loop in the row with the thread that was used to knit the last loop of the row. At the beginning of a row, you should always secure the thread of the previous row. Therefore, always knit the first edge loop with the thread from the previous row.

Make sure the thread tension is even, so that the pattern does not become deformed.

Video tutorial from Dasha: How to knit jacquard with broaches

I also really liked the video from Drops studio:

how to fasten a new thread

Jacquard patterns knitted in two colors in one row

This technique is used in large patterns. In this case, the main thread passing from the wrong side is pressed in, and it passes like a wave along the pattern, but is not visible from the front side.

Insert a thread of the second color into the work, passing it all the time above and below each loop.

On the front side, knit with the right needle and hold the thread of the second color in your left hand. Insert the right needle into the loop and pass the yarn under the needle.

On the wrong side, continue in the same way: hold the thread of the second color before working and pass it 1 time under the knitting needle and 1 time above the knitting needle. Wrap the knitting needle (knit loops) only with the working thread.

How to knit multicolor jacquard patterns

To knit patterns consisting of small colored sections, special spools are used, onto which the required amount of yarn is wound. When changing colors on the front side, the threads cross in the same way as when knitting jacquard patterns of two colors. To change colors on the back side, do the same as on the front side, just hold the spools of thread BEFORE working.

The use of spools significantly speeds up the process of knitting with threads of different colors. In order not to drag a whole ball of thread with you, it is better to prepare several spools in advance and wind the required amount of yarn on them to knit a colored section.

There is also such a simple device as a thimble-separator. It is placed on the index finger of the left hand and threads are pulled through it. Thus, the threads do not get tangled during operation and have a constant, uniform tension.

When knitting, a situation often arises when one skein is finished or the thread breaks, and it is necessary to attach the working thread from the next skein.

Attaching a new working thread when knitting with a Russian join.

Most often, this situation is resolved in the following way: a new thread is introduced at the beginning of the row. These ends of the threads can later be woven into the edge remaining in the seam. But there are situations when this method is not suitable. For example, we are knitting a scarf or the edges of the product will be visible. In this case, we simply need a discreet thread joining technique, such as a Russian join.

I don’t know why this joining method is called Russian (Russian join) and where its history came from, but what can I say, we are very pleased, because this method of joining threads during knitting is popular all over the world.

With this method of joining threads, you will avoid the need to hide the ends of the threads at the end of knitting in an openwork fabric, such as a mesh. To make the connection, leave an end of thread about a meter long from the previous skein so that this procedure is comfortable.

Let's take a step-by-step look at how to attach a new working thread.

Invisible Russian thread joining, step-by-step guide.

Step 1. Thread the end of the thread into a needle with a large eye, or use a needle threader. Leave a very short end of the thread, about 1 cm long.

Step 2. Starting about 4-5 cm from the needle, thread the end of the needle into the core of the yarn along a 5-7 cm length, leaving a loop between the eye of the needle and the place where the needle “drilled” into the fibers of the yarn.

Step 3. Insert the end of the new thread into the loop near the eye of the needle.

Step 4: Pull the needle all the way through the core of the yarn, then remove the needle. The short end will remain where the needle left the core of the yarn.

The simplest and most effective way to join a new thread when knitting is an inconspicuous connection without knots.

Method one - tie in the ends. We overlap the thread from the product and from the ball and knit 3-4 loops with double thread, then continue to knit with one thread, this time from the new ball. On the English-speaking Internet this method is called Overlap join(Attachment by overlap). You can see photos of what this method looks like in the finished product. And for those who prefer videos - the Knit-in Join video.

This is the easiest and fastest method, but due to the fact that the ends of the yarn remain outside, it is not very suitable for double-sided products (scarves, stoles).

Method two - Felted Join. Unwind a few centimeters of the ending thread and the new one, tear it off (namely tear it off, not cut it off), and then roll them together, making one whole thread out of them. It’s similar to how in felting you get something homogeneous from scraps of yarn, which is how it got its name. Watch the video master class at the link.

It is better to introduce a new thread into knitting at the beginning of the row, this will make it easier to tuck the ends of the threads into the seam. For tricks on how to calculate whether there is enough thread from an ending ball to complete a row, read on the website

/ 06/13/2018 at 11:06

Good day, dear needlewomen and crafters. Have you ever had such annoying troubles? You knit a beautiful thing, wear it, wash it, and then you notice that out of nowhere a hole appears on the product. Moreover, it is completely unclear where it came from? It didn’t seem to get caught anywhere, and nothing was torn... One of my friends had this happen once. And as the reason later became clear - the knot with which she was connecting the threads simply untied...

The connection of threads when knitting really plays an important role - both in terms of reliability and in terms of the aesthetic appearance of the product. Today we’ll talk about the ways in which this can be done, and it’s up to you to decide and choose which one is best suited.

Method 1: Straight knot

To be honest, before I somehow didn’t care much about how best to connect threads when knitting. Once upon a time, I saw in an old knitting manual that this should be done using a so-called straight knot.

Later, from other sources, I learned that this knot turns out to be one of the oldest known to mankind. Archaeological excavations prove that it was used by the ancient Egyptians of the Old Kingdom era (2990 BC), and the ancient Romans and Greeks called it the “Hercules” or “Hercules” knot, because they believed that this was the knot of Hercules ( Hercules) tied the skin of a defeated lion around himself. And they have been using the direct knot for many centuries - in various fields and for different occasions.

And this knot is made very simply.

Place the end of one thread on the end of another thread:

We wrap the upper end around the lower one, as with normal tying knots:

Now we put the end that lies on top on the lower end

And we wrap it around the other end from below:

Pull the short ends and tighten the long ends with force so that the knot is secured:

I used this method for a long time. It didn’t let me down and worked well on fleecy yarn containing wool or on acrylic. The knot turns out small and strong.

But that was not the case when I had to knit from smooth “slippery” threads, such as mercerized cotton, or cotton with viscose, silk, or wool with nylon. The knot turned out to be insidious! You pull the threads to secure it, and suddenly it slips and... unties.

I will add some more interesting facts regarding this “insidious” knot. It is noteworthy that it was used for a long time by sailors to tie together two ropes of the same thickness, and this knot is still recommended in some sailing textbooks.

But here is what is said in the Anschley Book of Knots, widely known in certain circles abroad (London 1977): “Previously, this knot in the navy had a specific purpose - it was used to tie the reef seasons of the sails when they took reefs... It cannot be used to connect two cables that will be subject to strong traction. This knot creeps, it is dangerous when it gets wet.”. Elsewhere in his book, Anshley writes: “This knot, used to tie two cables together, has claimed more lives than a dozen other knots combined.”. In general, the conclusions are obvious...

Method 2: Weaving (industrial) knot

No matter how convenient and familiar a straight knot may seem, for slippery threads we had to look for another solution. And it was found. This is a weaving or industrial knot. It turned out to be strong, invisible, and completely reliable on any yarn!

They say that this knot is used by professional weavers in factories to eliminate thread breaks, and that this knot does not crawl even on fishing line! True, I did not test the strength and reliability of this knot on a fishing line, but on slippery threads it completely justified itself.

So, watch how it's done. At the tip of one thread we make a loop like this:

We pass the tip of the other thread from below into this loop and bring it under the first thread on the right, like this (it’s better to pull the tip out longer):

The same tip that was just inserted into the loop is inserted into the same loop again, on the other side:

Lightly pull up the short ends, holding the knot with your fingers, checking that everything is correctly and evenly positioned:

We tighten the long ends with force so that the knot is no larger than the diameter of the threads:

What else is good about this knot? It turns out to be so small in volume and so durable that, if desired, you can even trim the ends of the threads right next to the knot, so that these ends do not need to be threaded later. But for greater reliability, I still prefer to leave the ends.

In conclusion, I want to say that there are quite a lot of ways to connect threads. Some knitters even like to introduce a new thread without knots at all in some cases, but this method is not always suitable. The fact is that there you need to knit several loops with double thread at the junction points, and then tuck in the ends. The result is thickening, which can be too noticeable on some patterns and some yarns. But in certain cases this method is good.

Well, one more little trick that many knitters use, myself included. Whenever possible, when knitting individual parts of a product, I try to attach a new thread at the beginning or end of a row, so that the connection point can then be hidden in the seams, and it will be completely invisible. It’s just that if I see that the remaining end of the thread is not enough to tie the row to the end, I break the thread before the beginning of the row and attach another one.

So, to connect the threads when knitting without a knot, take an embroidery needle or any other with a wide eye. Thread the end of the yarn into the eye.
Then you need to slightly loosen the twisting tension of the thread; to do this, you need to slightly twist the thread against the twist. Let's pass the needle between the threads. The needle should go inside the twisted threads of our yarn and not pierce them.
Pull the end of the thread, leaving a loop.
In this loop we insert another thread that needs to be attached to our yarn.
We thread the end of the new thread in the same way as the first.

So we connected the threads without a knot

Invisible knot for tying threads ("Weaver's knot")

Fig. 1 - we make a loop of red thread, so that the running end is on top.
Fig. 2 - we thread the running end of the blue thread into the loop from below and pull it under the root end of the red thread.
Fig. 3 - stretch the running end of the blue thread over the loop.
Fig. 4 - we pass the end of the blue thread into the loop.
Fig. 5 - tighten the knot. We have a “weaving knot”.
Fig. 6 - cut off the ends and continue knitting. It's simple!