seamless + symmetrical

Today I’m going to demonstrate, step by step, a technique to achieve a seamless join when crocheting in the round.

This technique achieves an almost invisible join.

As you can see in the photo below you can see the placement of each join. It’s very unattractive!

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Instead of ending each round in the traditional way,

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ie: slip stitching into the top of the beginning 3 ch,

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which produces ‘gaps’ and a visible join,

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see, this is what I’m talking about, the photo below shows how it can turn ugly, quite quickly! yuk!

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I‘ll show you how to produce a neat, invisible join.

Look at the photo below, it’s hard to tell were I ended or began each round.

It’s easy, so lets get started!

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Ok, we have completed a round of crochet and we are really to join, as shown in the photo below.

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Firstly, cut the yarn ensuring to leave a tail,

then remove your crochet hook from your work.

The large loop shown in the photo below was the loop that was on the crochet hook, expand the loop,

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drawing the yarn through the stitch,

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that’s it, pull the yarn all the way through, as shown in the photo below.

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close up shown in the photo below.

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Now, thread a tapestry needle,

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and insert the tapestry needle under both loops of the stitch to the left of the beginning 3 ch, as shown in the photo below.

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close up shown in the photo below.

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Draw the yarn through as shown in the photo below.

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Next, insert the tapestry needle in between the loops, from front to back, of the last stitch worked, as shown in the photo below,

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draw the yarn through, as shown in the photo below.

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close up shown in the photo below.

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Adjust the tension to produce a perfect join, as shown in the photo below.

Lastly, turn over your work to the wrong side and weave in the end.

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ta da! seamless + symmetrical!

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110 Comments on “seamless + symmetrical

  1. This is fabulous! Thank-you so much for taking the time to write this up with the very helpful photos!

  2. Perfection! How generous you are to reveal this clear way to have a great connection.

    It is always a pleasure to visit this site. Your color sense and and approach to making traditional techniques become contemporary is fabulous.

    Best wishes, as spring begins to arrive in your part of the world.

  3. This is really neat. Thank you for sharing. But how do you handle a join if you do not want to cut the thread because you are working all the rounds in the same color, as the blue circle in the first photo? I would love to be able to make the join invisible but not have to cut my thread.
    Have a Blessed day,
    Diane

  4. Thanks Sarah. This is a very useful tutorial. Clear instructions and as always wonderful photographs. I can’t wait to give it a try.

    Melinda.

  5. Thanks a ton Sarah, for teaching this!! I have been trying various methods to achieve his but this never was totally invisible like yours!! I am going to try it out soon!!

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  7. This is a great tutorial and very clear, i just finished a hat and had the same problem. Will use it next time.

    Thanks
    Al

  8. Hi Sarah!
    Thanks for this great tutorial 🙂
    However, as this means you have to cut the yarn to end one row, I wonder if there is any way to get it as neat even if you continue with a second row with the same color? Or do you cut and close every row the same way?

  9. Sensational! Thanks for taking the time to put the tutorial together and sharing that – I can’t wait to try it out. I’m sure it works just as well on shapes other than round?

    Kind regards – Dawn

  10. So clever! Thank you very much for sharing this. Now my projects aren’t going to show that ugly join. I’m spreading the word!

  11. Sarah, Thank You so much… the photos alone are worth a mint in showing how to do this seamless technique… I’m very grateful as this seam look was the bane of my life, so of course you always avoid making this style of motif…
    I also have a problem with reading your blog when the writing is so light… looks very neat & lovely but hard to read… does anyone else have this prob or is it just my tired eyes again…
    Thanks again… for this hooking goodness… OOroo… B

  12. Thank you so much for this Sarah, it’s just what I need for joining on the thing I’m working on at the moment, so thank you, thank you, thank you!
    Your crochet from the last week is wonderful, as it always is, the colours sing!
    Love Vanessa xxx

  13. great tutorial! i’m also wondering if you continue in the same color do you cut the yarn for each round? or is there a trick to continuing with the same color intact?

  14. Brilliant Sarah! Thank you so much for sharing this tutorial. I love your color schemes. They make my day sing!

  15. Tks for sharing!
    I love your work, the colours, the patterns! Everything. But I’m really curious just like Ter: if you want to use only one colour? The process of cutting the yarn is still needed?

    Tks again

    Mimi Crafts

  16. Pingback: cut + close «

  17. Absolutely amazing! I will certainly use this technique, and not just with circles, with all “joins” – thanks a bunch for sharing this information.

  18. thanks for sharing, such a carfeully put together tutorial. I look forward to trying the technique out soon

  19. Hi Sarah, This is the first time I have been to your site! What fun I’m having going thru your post…. I love this turtoral! It is simply amazing….I can’t wait to give it a try!!!!!

  20. This is the best tutorial ever!! Wonderful! I wish I had seen this tutorial when I first began to crochet, the seams are so perfect. I am definitely going to have to try this.

  21. Sarah… I have just discovered your blog, and am SOO happy that I did.. I have always hated and been highly annoyed by that unattractive gap that happens when you join in the round. I searched hopelessly throughout the web to find a way to solve it, and I’m so glad I stumbled upon this while I was flipping through your blog! Thank you so much for sharing!!

    Cheers,
    Aromy

  22. Hi. I love how the round doesn’t have a seam, but I would like to know what others have asked. Do you do this for EVERY row, even if working in the same color? Do you rejoin the yarn in the next stitch with a chain or sc?

  23. Hi,
    What is this pattern?
    Where can I get it?
    Thanks
    Bass

  24. Wow – this is great! So simple, yet so effective! And you need to get the darning needle out to weave in the ends anyway, so it’s no big deal to get it out when joining the round!

    Thank you so much for this! 🙂

  25. Thanks a lot!

    This looks really nice.I`m so glad that you let us know about this magic thing.
    Thanks again.

    Tina from Sweden

  26. I, too, am interested in the answer about cutting the yarn after each round if using the same color. Or if this can be done for the square grannys?

    Thanx

    DW

  27. Thank you very much for this tutorial.
    It helped me to crochet a security blanket for baby
    ( excuse me if my english is not good enough! but i’m french!)

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  29. OMG! I totally love this! Thanks so much for sharing this great tip!

  30. I love this join also, but have questions about continuing with a row of the same questions. I see that this has been asked a few times, but no responses. My answer would be, if you are continuing with a row of the same color….Russian join your skein to the tail and continue…. how would y’all do it?

  31. this is one of the most brilliant tricks. it’s just so simply brilliant .

    It would have been perfect if that was doable with out breaking the yarn.

  32. I loved this technique explanation – the photos were a fantastic help, and I’ve been having problems with the “gap” when joining rounds. Thanks!

    Having looked, the question of how to handle working with one colour was answered on this page: https://sarahlondon.wordpress.com/2009/08/13/cut-close/

    A little extra cutting to avoid a seam is fine with me. ^_^

    I don’t know if it’s okay to post other site’s links here, but this might help for those who don’t want to cut:

    http://www.hook-and-hype.de/?page_id=100

    (Looks nice enough; haven’t tried it out myself yet.)

    Cheers.

  33. I was searching for info on invisible joins and came upon your blog. I took a few minutes to look around and you have hooked me! Just wanted to take a minute to pause and let you know that I have subscribed, too! Thanks for your great info and beautifully clear pictures!

  34. Wow. So simple and yet so powerful. Thank you so much for the excellent detailed instructions and photos. It all made perfect sense and I can’t wait to try it out!

  35. I think I love you… I’ve wanted to know how to do this for AGES!! I’ve been crocheting for years, but I’m just now learning how to do invisible decreases, invisible joins, etc! Thank you so much for posting this wonderfully-clear tutorial!

  36. Thank you so much for this! Your tutorials are so easy to follow. Just a question – by this method, does it take a considerably longer time to finish each round?

  37. Thank you so much for posting this. I am thankful I stumbled on it late last night. I like to make large cowls in the round and there is always this crazy looking mess (well to me it looks awful, some folks are ok with it)…..I was ready to stop my round work. Books, Mags have not given a solution as awesome as this. I have done three large rounds with my project and I have been so pleased!!!!

  38. Thank you SO MUCH for this wonderfully clear explanation of how to do a seamless join. I have been struggling all evening, trying to accomplish this from written instructions in a pattern out of the latest issue of Crochet Today. NOW I get it!

  39. I loved this tutorial. Is this done only when you are changing colors after each round? Or do you have to do this after each round, say when you are doing a hat…

  40. Thank you very much!! Wish I had found this years ago. My round crochet potholders would have been so much nicer than 🙂

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  43. What if you are not changing colors and are doing many rounds? Do you cut the yarn and weave in the end every round??

  44. I’m glad I found this… but… what if you want to keep using the same color for the next row? Is there a way to continue without the snip?

  45. Ok I think this is great if it’s your last round of you’re changing clolors. But how is this join done if you’re using the color thoughout. I’m not cutting and rejoining for each row!

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  47. Oh my gosh!!! THANK YOU!! I am in the middle of a round, striped bag project and have been wringing my hands over those awful seams. I don’t think I’ll rip it out and start over….. but from here on out, I am definitely using your method!! Thanks so much!!

  48. Sarah! you NEVER disappoint! I always learn something useful on your blog. Thanks! xoxo

  49. This tutorial was great! I have only been crocheting for 46 Years and just learned something new. Thank youthsnk you thank you.
    >

  50. Makes perfect sense! I do this with my knitting, why not crochet too?! Thanks for sharing!

  51. Thank you for this elegant and simple solution.

  52. Thank you for your tutorial…I only wish I had seen it before I began my most recent project. Drat!

  53. Great tutorial! Do you make an invisible join every round, even when you don’t change color?

  54. I love this technique! I understand that YES, you do have to cut the yarn after each row (regardless of whether you are changing color or not); but how do you start the next row. Like everyone else I’l like to know how you start the next row! Thanks for sharing!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  55. Like the others, I too would like to know about the joining when you are using the same color every round. While it is a terrific way to join when you are changing colors, it would seem that you would have to use a lot more yarn when you are using one color. Am anxious to hear your solution 🙂

  56. Thank you so much for this great tutorial.
    Your instructions and photos are wonderful.
    Blessings.

  57. Fantastic tutorial!! Love the detailed instructions & close-up step-by-step photos!! Thank you!

  58. This is awesome! Thank you so much. I have hated those joins and wondered why there wasn’t a better way…you did it! Your step by steps are perfect!

  59. Thank you for the great tutorial, I have been trying to figure out a way to acheive this with an owl blanket that I made that using a hexagon around circles and just couldn’t get anything concrete down that truly worked….now I know exactly what to do for the next project! 🙂

  60. muy muy bueno muchisimas gracias…la verdad que me quedan feas las uniones y gracias a usted vere si mequedan mucho mejor..mil gracias

  61. Thank you so much for this information. I always hate the line, but most people don’t notice it….I always did! Not anymore, thanks to you!

  62. Thank you for that quick and easy tuturial, i am an experienced crocheter but this was one problem that always dogged me. I did always manage to get it neat but in a round about way, this makes life a lot simpler and I love simple.

  63. Thanks for sharing. I had pinned this until the time I would need it. Today was the day. It looks so much nicer than the way I use to do it.

  64. Thanks for taking the trouble to document this great tip by also crocheting and showing a “bad” circle first, and then taking all the photographs of the “good” circle with clear instructions. I will certainly use this way in future.

  65. Wow! What a great tutorial! I am going to try this on my next round project. I imagine this would also work with granny squares too, right?

  66. great tip thanks. That is also a lovely flat circle, how do you make it lie so flat pease?

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  68. Thankyou so much, something that has always looked quite unsightly to me, genius!!
    Really appreciate your generosity😊👏👏👏

  69. We need answers. How do you join the next row, and do you have to cut each row?
    Your technique is great, but we have to know.

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  71. This is brilliant Sarah and looks much neater for photo’s, thanks so much for the tip.

  72. Woman….you’re awesome!!!! I love the way you explained and the pictures provided to make it easy for anyone to learn this way of joining. Thanks so much for the wonderful tutorial!!! Again…you’re awesome!

  73. OMG! When I think of the hundreds? thousands? of ugly, lumpy slip stitch joins I’ve made in my 50 years of crocheting – especially on baby booties – I could just cry!

  74. Wonderful!! Love it!! I have always thought there must be a neater way to finish a round. God Bless you ..Thanx so much. And so easy ,too!!

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