How to Change Colors in Crochet (Clean Joins Every Time)

Every stitch ends with a loop on your hook, and that loop sits on top of the next stitch. So if you change color only when you start the new stitch, a bit of the old color shows on top of it.

The fix: finish the last stitch of the old color using the new color. Work that stitch until the very last yarn over, then drop the old color and do the final yarn over with the new color instead.

1. 1.Work the last single crochet in the old color up to the point where you have 2 loops on the hook.
2. 2.Drop the old color to the back of the work.
3. 3.Pick up the new color, leaving a tail of about 6 inches (15 cm), and yarn over with it.
4. 4.Pull through both loops. The loop on your hook is now the new color.
5. 5.Continue with the new color.

Give both tails a gentle tug to snug the stitch up. You'll weave them in later, or crochet over them.

It's the same idea, just later in the stitch.

1. 1.Work the last double crochet in the old color until you have 2 loops left on the hook.
2. 2.Drop the old color and yarn over with the new color.
3. 3.Pull through the last 2 loops.

For any stitch, the rule is the same: the final pull-through uses the new color.

For stripes worked in rows:

• Change color during the last stitch of the row, then chain and turn with the new color.
• If you're changing every two rows, you can carry the unused color up the side of the work instead of cutting it. Catch it under your working yarn at the start of each row so it doesn't make big loops.
• For wider stripes, cut the old yarn and weave it in. Long carried strands along the edge look untidy and can catch.

An even number of rows per stripe brings you back to the same side each time, which makes carrying yarn up the edge easy.

Joined rounds: change color on the slip stitch join. Insert the hook to join, then complete the slip stitch with the new color. The new round then starts cleanly in the new color.

Spiral rounds (amigurumi): because a spiral has no join, the stripe ends one row higher than it started, a little step called the jog. To soften it, work the last stitch of the old color as a slip stitch, or use a "jogless" technique: change colors, then work the first stitch of the new color as a slip stitch. Search "jogless stripes crochet" for step-by-step photos; designers use a few variations.

Running out of yarn mid-row uses the same method as a color change. Finish the last stitch with the new ball of the same color.

You can also join new yarn into a stitch with a standing stitch: make a slip knot on your hook and work the stitch as normal, starting with the loop already on the hook. That's useful for starting a new color on a granny square without a slip-stitch join.

Color changes mean ends, and ends are where projects come apart if they're not secured.

• Crochet over them: lay both tails along the top of the row and work your next few stitches around them. Then trim. It's fast, and many people do it for every change.
• Weave them in: thread each tail onto a yarn needle and run it through the backs of stitches of the same color for 2 inches (5 cm) or so, then turn and come back a little way in the other direction.
• Weave as you go: weave in the ends of each stripe as you finish it, rather than leaving fifty for the end of a blanket.

If you're choosing several colors for stripes or squares, it helps to see them together before buying yarn. Our color palette generator builds harmonious combinations and shows how much of each color to use, and the temperature blanket generator plans a whole year of daily color stripes.