[mojo11]

I must say, I don't like starting a new ball of yarn in the middle of a row as I'm not confident with the russian method of joining yarn. And, often, I'm working with hybrid commercial yarns that have polyester or synthetic blending with animal fibers and they don't splice together very well for me.

I don't worry about using the Russian Join (which is handy, since I've never learned it). I just drop the old strand and start with the new one. It's a little loose for the first stitch -- maybe two -- but everything'll get fastened down fine on the next row/round (sometimes it takes a little extra "convincing" on that row when you get to where the last/first stitches are, but you just have to be firm with it.) Once the ends are woven in it's not coming apart, which is the goal here. If it's especially "slick" yarn, I might go so far as tying a square knot in it to hold it together. That can be taken out later -- or not if I determine that its not going to matter.

That said, if I'm working in a pattern that's very "open" and I don't think I can hide the woven ends very well, I'll get a bit more concerned about where I stop/join. Or if there's a color change involved -- stripes or some such. Then you obviously have to start at the beginning.

Worst case is that I run out in the middle and have to back up to the start of the row. NOBODY likes to do this, but it's not exactly the End Times if you have to.