The Knotty Side of Knitting

Why your skeins have knots in them

We’ve all been there, you’re blissfully knitting along, enjoying a nice rhythm, and then it hits you…or your hand, more specifically…the dreaded knot.  After a few exclamations and rhetorical questions, you’re left with a decision to make.  What do you do? Do you keep knitting and hope that said knot will never come undone? (I used to do this in my early knitting days)  Or do you back up, cut the knot out and treat it like a new skein of yarn with your method of choice for joining? Rather than get into a philosophical debate here (though you’re welcome to leave your thoughts in the comments section) let’s take a look into why these knots are there in the first place.

Why:

These knots are a result of the process of creating the yarn.  Whether it was hand spun or machine made, during the creation process, fibers can break.  The easiest method for fixing this, is to knot them together and continue the spinning process.  Sometimes, in a single ply yarn, the break is clean and results in a big knot, and sometimes, in a multi-ply (or yarn with multiple strands) a single fiber breaks, resulting in part of the yarn being knotted.

These knots tend to happen more in your lower cost yarns that are machine made.  These yarns are made in kilometers, in large processes and then cut and wound into smaller hanks.  When you are working with strands of yarn this long, you can bet your bundle that it’s going to break, leaving the manufacturers to knot the yarn and continue the process to avoid down time.  The problem comes when the longer yarn is wound and cut into hanks or skeins.  It would take a lot longer, and a lot more effort to identify where these knots are, and try to work them out.

Hand dyed yarn is not generally an exception, because the yarn purchased for dying is often machine made.

If you are really annoyed with knots in your yarn, the best way to encounter less of them, is to purchase hand spun yarn.  It’s more expensive but the yarn is often a better quality, much more beautiful and you are supporting a fiber artist and/or local yarn store over the big brands.

What to do about it:

The consensus on knitting websites, both from knitters and the yarn manufacturers, is that: if it’s a single ply or fiber in a multi strand yarn – work on, but if it’s a clean break, stop knitting about three to four inches before the knot, break the yarn and join it fresh.

If you are concerned about the number of knots in a particular skein, save the label for the skein and contact the manufacturer.  Most have policies about replacing skeins that have on average more than 2-3 knots.

The Fixings:

Break and Join: Simply cut the knot out of the yarn and continue knitting as if you were adding a new skein of yarn.

Russian Join: Here’s a really good link with photos from Craftsy.

Splice and Felting: Here’s a really good link from Interweave.

What’s your favorite method for joining?