Finishing · Easy
Invisible join
An invisible join closes the last round with a yarn needle in place of a slip stitch. Cut the yarn, pull the tail up through the last stitch, and sew one false stitch top across the gap, so that the edge looks the same all the way round.
How to work it
Under the next stitch
Thread the tail in a yarn needle. Skip the top where the slip stitch would have gone: the first stitch of the round, or the chain that stands for it. Pass the needle under both loops of the stitch after it, from front to back, the way a hook would go in. Pull the yarn through, but not tight.
Back into the last stitch
Bring the needle back and push it down into the top of the last stitch, in the place the tail came out of, so that it passes under the back loop of that stitch.
Set the size
Pull the yarn until the new loop is the same size as the stitch tops beside it. It lies over the skipped top and looks like one of them. Weave the tail in on the wrong side without pulling the loop any smaller.
At a glance
- Also called
- seamless join
- Used for
- the last round of a circle, a square or any motif; the last round before a change of color
- Takes the place of
- The slip stitch that joins the last round
- Tool
- A yarn needle
- Stitch count
- Sewn over the skipped top, the false top takes its place, so the number of stitch tops round the edge does not change.
- Works on
- Joined rounds and continuous rounds, circles and squares
A slip stitch join leaves a small bump where the round ends. The invisible join leaves what looks like one more stitch top, so the eye finds no end to the round.
Some makers sew it another way: the needle goes under the first stitch of the round itself, then back into the last stitch. The false top then lies between the last stitch and the first, closing the gap, and it makes one more top round the edge than the round has stitches.
The join ends the yarn. To go on in another color, join the new yarn where the round was closed and start the next round there. A standing stitch does that without a chain.
Tips
- Most makers keep the invisible join for the last round of a piece and for the round before a change of color, and use a slip stitch for the rounds between.
When it goes wrong
- My false stitch is smaller than the stitches beside it.
- It was pulled too tight. Loosen the loop until it matches its neighbors, then weave the tail in without pulling on it.
- There is one stitch top too many round the edge.
- The needle went under the first stitch of the round. To keep the count, undo the join, skip that first stitch or the chain that stands for it, and go under the stitch after it.
Questions
- How do I do an invisible join in double crochet (UK treble)?
- The same way. When the round began with a chain 3 that stands for the first double crochet, skip the top of that chain, pass the needle under the stitch after it, then back into the last stitch.
- Is an invisible join the same as fastening off?
- It is fastening off and joining in one. The yarn is cut, the tail closes the round, and then the tail is woven in.
- Can I use it in the middle of a piece?
- Yes, before a round in a new color. The new yarn is then joined where the round was closed.