Sometimes you don’t want to knit a huge project. Sometimes you see very fine yarn, and you think, “ummm, I’d rather use worsted weight.” Sometimes you think glitter in yarn is too blingy. But sometimes, there is a perfect project that isn’t too big, doesn’t use tiny needles, and is just the thing for a bit of glitz. And this scrunchy pattern may be just the thing. Two strands of Red Heart Croquette yarn add a little glam to any ponytail.
Hair scrunchy knit with 2 strands of Red Heart Croquette held together.
Red Heart Croquette cakes each come with 45g [1.5oz] of yarn. The yardage is fabulous at 239 yds [219m] because it’s a #1 (see Yarn Standards) super-fine yarn. It behaves like a lace-weight, but could pass as a light-fingering weight, depending on the needle size. It comes in 11 colorways. Each cake has between 4 and 5 space-dyed stripes with coordinating colors. The one I used for the scrunchy is called Spice Market and it has pinks, salmon, and a pastel sherbet orange.
Red Heart Croquette in Spice Market Colorway.
To make this scrunchy, you need a hair elastic that’s 1¾” [4cm] in diameter, a darning needle, scissors, and size US 6 [4mm] needles. I happen to use circular needles for everything, but straights can be used for this project because we’re knitting back and forth in rows.
The un-assembled scrunchy, with the elastic hair band around which I’ll sew all that fabric!
The nature of this scrunchy pattern is that it’s a bit random, and can be customized even by beginner knitters. It’s worked in random strips of garter stitch and stockinette stitch. You’ll even notice that I’ve used short rows to give the center of the rectangle a bit more width than the edges. They are completely optional. I used German short rows, which I’ve taught in earlier posts.
Short rows provide internal shaping which adds texture to the scrunchy.
Scrunchy Pattern
Holding one end of Red Heart Croquette from the center of the cake and taking the other end from the outside of the cake together, cast on 36 stitches using size US 6 [4mm] needles.
Rows 1 – 8: Knit.
Rows 9 – 12: Work in stockinette stitch (knit one row, purl one row).
Following rows… randomly work garter stitch or stockinette stitch.
If you’d like to insert short-row wedges, do the following:
Starting on a right-side row, knit 30, turn and work a German short row stitch, purl 23, turn and work a short-row stitch, knit 17, turn and work a short row stitch, purl 11, turn and work a short row stitch. Now knit across, working the short-row stitches with double-strands or hitched stitches by knitting them together. Knit the following row, working the short-row hitched stitches the same way. Refer to my video on Turning German Short Rows, if need be.
Work until your piece is 8″ long. Then bind off. Sew the two ends together.
For those of you who are slightly more adventurous knitters, you could start the Scrunchy with a provisional cast on. Then un-pick it at the end and graft the two ends together with Kitchener stitch.
Scrunchy is sewn together at bound off and cast-on edges.
Turn the scrunchy wrong-side out. Place the elastic doubled (or single if you need a looser fit) around the scrunchy fabric at about a ¼ of the width point, and baste it loosely onto the knit fabric.
The elastic is loosely basted into place.
Fold the scrunchy in half lengthwise so that the edges are wrong-sides together with the right-side facing out. With the darning needle, whip-stitch the edges closed. Fluff the fabric around the elastic and it’s ready.
You can make this scrunchy in a few hours.
3 scrunchies this size can be knit with one cake of Red Heart Croquette. Tomorrow I’ll continue with another pattern using 2 different colorways of Croquette in one design. Later this week, I’ll introduce you to another Red Heart yarn…note the aqua green project in the photo above…that’s what’s coming soon!
This is part 1 of 5 in this series.
Go to part 2: Easy knit late summer stole – perfect – using Red Heart Croquette yarn
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