Sunday, February 22, 2009

Tutorial: Jogless Join

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Anyone who knows me in a "knitterly" way, knows that I *love* knitting in the round. There's something very zen about being able to knit stitch after stitch in a rhythm without stopping to turn your work.

But what do you do when you want to knit stripes? There's no seam to hide the join. And if you just join mid-row, you end up with a jog.






What is a jog?


It's the spot where your old color ends and your new color begins. When you knit in the round, you're actually knitting in spirals. So when you start your new color, the new stitch is directly to the left of your old color, creating a step, or a "jog."





For a cleaner look, you'll want to try a "jogless join" or "jogless jog." This eliminates the step and is nearly invisible. This technique was described by Meg Swansen in her book, Meg Swansen's Knitting. Rather than quote her, I'm going to show you step by step how this technique is worked.






Step 1:


First, at the end of a round, begin your new color. Just pick up your new color and begin to knit for one full round.















Once each stitch is worked in the new color, stop.
















Step 2:


Place your right needle (purlwise, or from right to left) under the right leg of the stitch below the next stitch to be worked. This will be the old color.















Bring this stitch up and onto the left needle.
















Now your left needle should look something like this.













Step 3:


Knit these stitches together.














Now your work should look something like this. Expect both the old and new colors to have some tension issues. They aren't anchored down by anything. You'll be able to fiddle with this a bit as you go.

Notice that the right needle, though it has already knit the first stitch of the new round, looks like it only has one stitch on it. Thanks to the join, this is the new last stitch of your round. Be sure to move your stitch marker one stitch to the LEFT each time you change colors this way. Failing to move the stitch marker is the single most common mistake I see. If you do not move your stitch marker, you end up with a single stitch where there should be two rows of stitches.












Now you have knit two complete rows. Notice that both the left and right needle have two rows of the new color knit on them. This is a great way to double-check that your stitch marker has been moved to the proper place.







And what does it look like when you're done?








See? It's nearly invisible! Much better than a step.












Here's a series of stripes. Each stripe is 2 rows. Can you see the joins?

You can probably see what looks like a tension problem that runs from the bottom right corner to the top left corner. Remember, with each join, our starting point moves one space to the left.

The diagonal line shows this move.

But you can also see that each stripe is 2 stitches tall all the way across. And in some rows, you'd be hard-pressed to find the join. (I'm hoping I can continue to improve to the point where it's truly invisible.)












On the back, you can see the diagonal even better. Here is where the yarn travels up the work. I loathe tucking in ends, so the double row stripe works well for me. No ends!







Give the jogless join a try for yourself and let me know how it works for you! If you have any questions, please ask in the comments.

62 comments:

  1. I'm such a beginner -- still making a shrug that I started when my 3yo was 6mo -- but I've found such a wealth of info online that I can visibly see my knitting improving since I picked it up again this year. I cannot wait to try this tip so my 2nd project is going to have stripes!

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    1. Ha! You sound like me! I have so many wips, my husband tells me all the time he'd like to just see me finish something. LOL

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    2. what a wonderful, easy and helpful solution! Thank you.

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  2. Great picture tutorial! This works very well for me, too. I even use it with self-striping yarn.

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  3. This is brilliant. Thanks so much for the step-by-step.

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  4. Clearest resource I've been able to find with detailed captions for step by step photos. Thank you.

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  5. I have been knitting like... forever... My grandmother taught me when I was just a little girl.
    But... she never taught me this. I never knew you could do that.
    Just goes to show, that you live to learn.
    Thankyou so much for sharing!

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  6. Thank you so much, you are so sweet!
    Much love and light!
    Denise
    Brazil

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  7. Thank you so very much for posting your instructions with pictures. I'm currently working on a stranded scarf and I kept finding the same instructions that said to "pick up the stitch from the previous row" and just couldn't visualize it - Thanks again!

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  8. When you start your 2nd stripe do you do the first stitch in color B and then knit with Color A? Then with 3rd stripe would you knit 2 stitches in color A before starting to knit with color B again?

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  9. Suzy, no. You first knit an entire row in your 2nd color without anything fancy. Then when you're back to the first stitch of your 2nd color, lift the stitch below so that you're knitting one leg of each color. Do this same thing for each stripe.

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  10. I am knitting a linen lace tunic on circular needles on which the trim around the neck and armholes, usually ribbed, is here made up of several rows of garter stitch. First I pick up and knit a row, then when I switch to purling for the next row I have that "jog". Can I use your technique for garter stitch in the round, only instead of switching the color of yarn I am switching from knit to purl. If so, after I have put the stitches on the left needle, do I knit or purl the two together? Thanks.

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  11. Anonymous, that's a good question. One I haven't experimented yet. Give me a couple days and I'll see what I can figure out. :)

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  12. Wish I had seen this BEFORE I made the two striped Christmas stockings I just finished. The pattern had me breaking the yarn and weaving it in to minimize the jog. Next time....

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  13. Thanks for posting! One question: how does this work when you only knit one row of the new color and then go back to base color?

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  14. Thank you so much for this excellent tutorial. I needed to learn this technique.

    Maria

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  15. Thanks for the info. I just tried this on a hat I'm making & it worked well!

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  16. Thanks for the info. I just tried this on a hat I'm making & it worked well!

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  17. This makes so much sense it's like "duh". Thanks so much.

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  18. Best tutorial I've read in a long time. Thanks

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  19. This is fantastic! Wish I'd known about this a few weeks ago... I'll definitely put this into practice!

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  20. That looks great!!! Im going to give it a try, great explanation. Thank you!!
    Frani

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  21. Thank you so much for step by step pictures and instructions. That's the way I learn.

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  22. Wooow thank you very much. I have always been lokking for at teknik to improve my knitting

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  23. Thank you so much for this help!!! I've made several hats for charity but hated the color join. I can't wait to apply this to the baby hat I'm making now. I think the same principle will work for the garter stitch border. Thank you again!

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  24. Much easier than other methods I've seen (I can actually understand your method :-)). However, what if you're working in a pattern - how do you compensate for the '1st stitch' moving one stitch to the left with each color change? Thanks again!

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  25. So glad that I found your blog! I hate jogs and this has made my projects a million times better...thank you!

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  26. I'm new to knitting but this looks so great and doable for me! Thanks for sharing!

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  27. Wonderful wonderful wonderful!!! Very well done. Thank you so much for this!!!!

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  28. I found your tutorial just in time for Christmas knitting. THANKS!

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  29. Tried this and it is awesome Thx so much. Marylou

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  30. Very helpful, thank you! One question, I'm knitting the body of a jumper in the round, bottom up, so have two stitch markers where it will eventually split for the sleeves. When moving the main stitch marker one place to the left, I guess I should also move the half-way stitch marker one place to the left too?

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  31. This is so cool. I will never forget this lesson. I've been knitting as a beginner since I was 7 years old and I'm 59, now! I've always avoided color changes, and just make things like blankets, scarves, socks and hats. I am now empowered to change colors the professional way! Thank you very much!

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  32. This is brilliant. Thanks so much for this illustration. This will solve my concerns in this point.

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  33. Thanks for sharing. I learn a new technique from you. When I do spiral 2 Color knitting, it Looks disaster.

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  34. How would this work for fair isle, in socks for example?

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  35. Thank you so much for sharing this tip! Your instructions and pics were nice and clear and it does look a lot better with this technique. Much neater and more professional looking! Well done!

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  36. I've never seen mentioned that the stitch marker should be moved... thanks for that!

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  37. Could you knit the last stich twice? Knit as usual put it back on left needle and knit again. When you knit around with the new color knit the old color and new together. Would that solve the tension problem? Or look wrong? Good idea you found.

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  38. this is awesome can't wait to try it. Thanks for sharing

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  39. This is awesome I can't wait to try it! Thanks for sharing😊

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  40. Best tutorial I've found on this method! Thanks for explaining in depth the importance and look of moving the marker each round!

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  41. Thanks for your clear explanation including photos. This is amazing!

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  42. I see the moving of the marker is causing issues for some people. I would not move a marker that is necessary for shaping; I would add one just for the color change, one that's visually different.

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  43. I have knitting since I was 7 and have just discovered this "trick". What a difference this is making to my finished products. So much more professional looking. Fantastic tutorial. Thank you so much!

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  44. I have tried so many times without success to figure this out. Thank you!

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  45. this is awesome explanation. i have always lifting the leg and brought it up like you said and knit together BUT never was told to slip the marker over and that makes it the new end of row. this worked!!!!! Thank you sooooo much

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  46. I'd consider myself a very experienced knitter and I thank you for posting this - I have learnt something new and very useful!

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  47. Hi Jackie, I have been knitting for years, thank you for the tutorial. I can't wait to make my next striped hat.

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  48. Amazing, hope I can remember it next time I knit stripes. ! thanks for posting.

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  49. Thank you for showing the process so clearly. I am a long time fan of Meg Swanson, beginning with her Mom, Elizabeth Zimmerman. Elizabeth is the architect of knitting, thinking of the structure of a piece before the decoration. She was so intelligent and witty, she changed my knitting life.

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  50. Does this technique work with any pattern? Or just for straight knitting. If you’re making a hat, say, and you’re ready to decrease for the crown, does moving the stitches (place marker) diagonally affect how the instructions will be followed? I think I’ll have to try this to see how it all plays out! Thank you though for the CLEAR pictures and instructions. I’ve been looking for JUST THIS THING!

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  51. I'm working on some Chemo hats for the Cancer Center in Charleston, WV. I'm putting some basic patterns in some of them. This tip will really make my work look so much neater. Thanks for sharing it with us.

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  52. Fantastic! I had started a cowl in red and blue and was halfway through it when I saw this. The next joins are perfect! Thank you!

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