Knitting minutia: The Magic Knot controversy

When it comes to joining your yarn, every knitter has their own style. And every group of knitters is prepared to roundly criticize them for their decision. That's just how it goes with knitting: we can be an opinionated bunch.

The Magic Knot is a gift from the weaving community. You basically tie a square knot using two strands of yarn, then tug them together. Magically the knots slide together and lock in place, never to be budged. You then clip the ends short and go about your way. It's easy and fast, once you learn the correct way to do it. (Here's a video.)

I have tried the Magic Knot a few times, but I gave it up because the little cut ends - no matter how closely I cut them - always managed to turn themselves around and stick out the front of the fabric. You wouldn't think a thing like that would be visible, but it totally is.

However, it turns out that a lot of knitters have had trouble with the Magic Knot coming undone. And unlike other forms of joins, when this happens, there's no extra yarn you can use to fix the problem. You have to mend it, and mending is a huge pain.

Some say that the problem lies in the Magic Knot's properties: it holds tight under tension. The tighter you pull on it, the more firm the knot becomes. But your knitting is not under tension, and once the knot relaxes - particularly if it is in a slippery yarn - it can fall apart.

But when faced with this evidence, Magic Knot adherents simply insist that "you're doing it wrong." Personally I would love to see someone like Clara Parkes or Techknitter get all Mythbusters on this problem.

Image courtesy Flickr/.curt