Knitted Scrunchies: The Best Sock Yarn Stashbuster

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If you knit socks as much as I do, then you probably have a huge stash of leftover sock yarn that you need to use up.  I think I’ll write up a series of posts on my favorite sock yarn stashbuster projects, and knitted scrunchies definitely top the list!

Here is a handknit scrunchie I made to match the socks I knitted for my pal Marisol:

Seriously – how cute is that!?  I made this scrunchie on size 4 needles and it used up about 24 yards of leftover sock yarn.  FYI – I used to knit these using smaller needles, but I they knit up so much faster on a slightly larger needle and I don’t think there is much difference in the finished look.  (You can compare the one above to this scrunchie I knitted on size 1 needles to see for yourself).

There are a ton of adorable patterns listed on Ravelry for knitted scrunchies and I’ve gotten some bad results with a few.  I strongly recommend avoiding patterns that have you knit a rectangle-shape and seam across the long-side. In my experience, the center seam is not stretchy enough.  My favorite technique for making scrunchies is to use magic loop and knit a tube directly around a hair tie.  The process looks like this:

I heard this method described in a knitting forum once and kind of figured it out for myself via trial & error, but I recently found a scrunchie-knitting tutorial video that uses pretty much the same technique I do – I think you’ll find it helpful.

Tools I used in this project:

• My Knit Picks wooden interchangeable circular needle set – the small cable length is perfect for this project and I like using the wood needles because the gauge is a bit loose here and the wood needles have more grip!
• Leftover sock yarn by Stardust Fibers
• Thick hair elastics – the kind that look like this: