The biggest issue with secure knots, like the Magic Knot or the Super Knot is that we can’t control the position of those knots when we join a new ball of yarn or add another colour to the project.
These knots are so secure that we can confidently trim the yarn tails close to the knot and avoid weaving in a gazillion yarn ends later on.
But because we can’t place the knot in a least visible spot (between two stitches), we often have to redistribute the yarn between the stitches to move the knot to the wrong side of the fabric. It is not such a big task compared to dealing with numerous yarn tails, but it is still a nuisance.
That’s why after I published a tutorial about the Super Knot, I kept experimenting with different knots in search of the one that gives us the best of both worlds – a secure knot that we can place exactly where it should be.
An adjusted version of a knot known as the Ashley’s Bend fit the bill. I called it the Pinpoint Knot and I am happy to share with you this interesting, yet fairly simple way to join yarn without leaving the yarn tails and without the need to rearrange stitches in order to hide the knot.
First, we’ll see how this knot is made, and then I’ll show you how to tie it in the exact spot where it will be least visible in your project.
WATCH EVERY STEP IN THIS VIDEO TUTORIAL
(if you don’t see the video, turn off the ad blocker in your browser)
PART 1 – MAKING THE PINPOINT KNOT
STEP 1
With the strand attached to the project, make a loop so that the yarn tail is on top of the main strand and is pointing down. This loop will be at the right-hand side of the join.
STEP 2
Take a strand that you want to join and insert that strand from the top down into the loop we’ve just made.
STEP 3
Move the yarn tail of this strand to make a loop so that the tail sits underneath the main strand and is pointing up.
Now we have two linked loops. The tail of the loop at the right is on top of the main strand and it points down, while the tail of the loop at the left is underneath the main strand and it points up.
Let’s turn these two plain loops into a knot that is so secure that we can confidently cut the yarn tails and have no tails to weave in when the project is finished.
STEP 4
Move these two loops toward each other to open a double loop between them.
Now the loops look a lot like a Venn diagram with two overlapping circles.
STEP 5
Insert the yarn tail on the right into the double loop from back to front.
STEP 6
Then insert the yarn tail on the left into the same double loop, but do it from front to back.
STEP 7
Pull the tails and the main strands to tighten the knot. It is important to tighten it really hard – first, to make the knot as small as possible, and second, to make sure it doesn’t fall apart later on.
STEP 8
Finally, trim the yarn tails close to the knot.
Now, let’s see how we can place this knot so that it sits at the back of the work in the least visible spot. Usually, this spot is between two stitches that, preferably, are located at a side edge of the project or, at least, close to the edge.
PART 2 – PLACING THE KNOT AT THE BOTTOM OF A STITCH
The steps that we follow when we make this knot are exactly the same as the steps described in Part 1 of this tutorial.
But, when we make a loop with the strand that is attached to the project in step 1, we should do it in such a way that the spot where the tail crosses the strand is as close to the bottom of the stitch as possible. This spot is the final location of the knot.
Then we follow steps 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 to make the second loop, find the double loop and insert both tails into that double loop – one tail from back to front, and the other one from front to back.
In step 7, start to tighten the knot by pulling the yarn tail that is a part of the strand attached to the project, (the one at the right-hand side of the join)
Make sure you tighten that part of the knot without shifting the location of the knot.
If you look closely at this knot, you will see that it is made up by two smaller knots – one formed by the strand at the right, and the other one formed by the strand at the left.
Our task is to tighten the smaller knot made by the strand that is attached to the project. Because we don’t want to shift the knot, we tighten this smaller knot only by pulling the tail, not the strand itself.
Once this smaller knot is tight, it will anchor the full knot in that exact location – at the bottom of the stitch.
Now we can pull both the yarn tail and the strand that forms the loop at the left-hand side of the join. This strand does not have any impact on the location of the knot, so we can pull both the strand and the tail to tighten the knot as hard as we can.
Finally, we trim the yarn tails, and continue to work on the project.
In eight simple steps, we accomplished three very important tasks – the yarn is joined, there are no yarn tails to weave in, and the knot stays exactly where it should be, in the least visible spot.
SAVE IT FOR LATER:
