Magical Joining

I have decided that I must have some sort of knitting ADD.  I have too many projects on the needles and get myself over-stimulated.  But it's just so much fun!  Since I returned home to my stash and my snuggly project bags I have not touched the Kaleidoscope.  Instead I have been working on my Umbre Lovre.

I am loving the stripes as much if not more than I loved the mosaic blocks on the edge.

Last night on the way to zumba I listened to the latest episode of Knitting Pipline, in which Paula explains how she uses the Russian Join.  At first I tuned it out.  After all, I used to always weave in ends.  And when I taught myself how to do a felted join when I knit my Gramps Cardigan I thought it was magic.  But when I got home I realized that I was going to have to join some yarn very soon and I did not want to weave in ends because I did not want any added bulk in weird places on the fabric.  On the other hand I could not felt them because this is knit out of Knit Picks Comfy Sport, which is a cotton blend.  So I decided to dig out my grandmother's sewing supplies and go for it.

(From last night when I first gave it a shot)

I love this join.  It was so much fun to knit (Chris was suitably impressed) and so far has proven very resilient.  I did not watch Paula's video, just followed her verbal instructions, and out came magic.  The way it is work involves taking a sharp sewing needle and weaving the end of your yarn back in on itself. 

(From this morning when I decided I may possibly need another skein at work today)

The best part is it is all but invisible from the front side.  You really have to look to see that a few stitches are thicker than the others.

Now I just have these ends hanging inside that I really don't know what to do with.  Has anyone done a Russian join before?  Do you just snip them off or do you do a little weaving?

To see more explicitly stated FOs, check out Tami's Amis.