I Can Knit A Rainbow (Scrunchie)

After the success I had with the blue knitted scrunchie I made (link to blog post regarding this can be seen here: Never Underestimate The Power Of A (Knitted) Scrunchie (wixsite.com)), I decided I wanted to make some more of these.

I put them off for a while, while I worked on some more projects, and while I was awaiting inspiration to hit of colours, themes or even amending the patterns or knitting style.

I had just finished working on a project (which I have not shared yet, but I will within the next few weeks) and I loved the knitting technique, and had the idea to use it in the scrunchies, once I had found the perfect wool. I had no idea if it would work, but I figured that if I amended the pattern I created and followed for the original scrunchie, along with amending the knitting technique slightly (I researched if this was do-able, and it was), I couldn't see that it would be a problem.

But I just wanted a wool that I could use that would look effective with this design and technique - something that had the potential to be amazing.

The day following on from my decision to try out this technique with the scrunchie, I had an unexpected delivery - it was a yarn that I had ordered a few months before, however it had been out of stock, and was due to be sent once it returned to stock. I had completely forgotten about it, and I hadn't had email confirmation that it was being shipped (well, not until 2 days after it had arrived anyway, haha!).

It was the perfect yarn for the project - the yarn worked with the needle size I had been using, and the colour change would look amazing with the long stitches (the long stitches were part of the knitting technique) - it allowed me to pull colour through other colours, allowing for a more effective rainbow colour blend.

I was so excited to try it out, that I paused the project I was working on in order to make this!

In order to make the knitting technique work with the design, I had to change the number of stitches in a row (I needed a multiple of 3, but one that was easy to count and work with). The start of the project was a complete trial-and-error - that was an intentional idea. It took me a few attempts to make this pattern work - not because it was complicated, or because of the adjustment time with the needles, but I had to merge and tweak the pattern I had worked with in order to make the pattern work for me. It allowed me to make the pattern, and the colour change, work most effectively. I could:

• Increase or decrease the number of stitches I was using (I can't remember the number off the top of my head, it's written down in my crafting pattern folder, but I am in the process of moving my crafting stuff into a new storage unit and my patterns aren't easily accessible at the moment),

• Experiment with the most effective cast-on technique (I used the Long Tailed method),

• See if the needle size actually worked with the combination of the wool and the pattern and method (I ended up using slightly different sized needles, and adjusting the number of stitches on the row to compensate),

• Work out the best starting place in terms of colours,

• Work out which row to start the long-tailed stitches from,

• Find out the easiest way of using this knitting technique while knitting in the round (and working out how best to accomplish corners using this method),

• Re-adjust to knitting in the round, and much more.

Although re-starting is incredibly frustrating at times, especially when you restart on multiple occasions, I am so glad that I did, as it allowed me to make this as effective as it could be - none of the experiments I made would have looked any good on their own - they definitely would not have looked even nearly as good as this did.

I completed this pattern the same way that I completed the other scrunchie - wrapping my knitted work around a hairband (although an elastic band would work) without casting off the stitches. I sewed the cast on and "cast off" edge together - only "casting the stitches off" the needle when running the finishing yarn through the stitch. This worked well for me the first time, so I stuck with it. It's difficult experimenting with the cast-off/finishing of a project, as one failed experiment could result in you having to start again from the start.

I absolutely loved making this - it took longer to knit than the first scrunchie, taking into consideration the experimentation time, however I am happy with the result.

In fact, I was so happy with the result that I couldn't pick what I preferred: Knit side or Purl side. I went with the knit side, however it did mean I had to work on another project - which will be revealed in a couple of weeks or so!

I could have done with a little more purple at the end of this, as there is a lot less of it than the other colours (especially the red and orange), however that was down to the wool (the purple was the cast-on edge and there wasn't much of it before it it changed into the blue).

In case you recognise the wool used in this project, it was used for another couple of projects - 🐁 🌈 ❤🧡💛💚💙💜 (wixsite.com)