How to Change Colors while crocheting (No weaving in ends & no cutting yarn!)

Early on in my crocheting "career" I was intimidated by projects that required multiple color changes since I was never taught how to properly incorporate different yarns. At that point, every time I need to change colors I would fasten off and start with the new color. This was very tedious as it left many tails to be woven in and if the color changes were frequent it made it impossible to crochet without a pair of scissors nearby. It also caused the fabric to pull apart a little. I avoided multicolor projects like the plague. In my own patterns if I wanted several colors I would take all the strands of yarn (usually two or three) that I wanted and crochet them all at once as if they were one strand. That was okay, but for some projects it would have been better if I had changed the colors since multiple strands made the finished project quite bulky.

After a few years of that I finally went to YouTube. (I don't know why I waited so long.) There I found several videos depicting the same technique, which is now the method I always use. So I proud to present my first photo tutorial demonstrating my favorite method for changing colors:

half way through a dc (two loops left on hook)

Stop half way through the last st (#loops left on hook sc=2 hdc=3 dc=2, tr=2 sl st=go back to middle of previous st, cluster=right before last yo & pull through)

 yo with new yarn still holding previous color,

Pull through all loops on hook

Continue crocheting for a few st while holding the first color on top of the st you are working in, then chrochet normally, if you are working in the round and joining then you will switch colors just before the sl st,

If you are going  to be changing colors frequently in the same spot in the pattern then only crochet over the first color with the joining sl st,

Changing Colors Every Other Rnd, E.g. Rnd 1-2 CA Rnd 3-4 CB

To carry the yarn up to the nxt rnd without changing colors sl st over the strand when you join at the end of each rnd

Carrying the yarn up to the nxt rnd

When you're all finish the wrong side of your work should look like this:

I hope this was helpful. If anyone needs clarification, find any typos or would like a video tutorial please comment. Also if anyone has projects that they have used this technique on or has another technique I would love to see them. In case anyone is wondering the project used in this tutorial is the Basic Striped Baby Beanie which I will be posting soon :)