Joining yarn to remaining stitches on spare needle

[selinechan]

Hi...I'm knitting a baby shrug in one piece, and I've gotten to the bottom of the left front, with 8 sts left on a holder. So now I'm supposed to join the yarn back to the remaining sts that I had left earlier on another holder to form the right front. Question is...do I break off the yarn first? Do I leave a long strand dangling in between the two pieces? This is my first sweater/shrug and I can't wait to finish it as it's a gift to my 2 year old niece. Thanks for all the help!

[suzeeq]

I think you should probably cut the yarn since you're going to work on another section entirely.