Scrunchie Bag Pattern Review

As I mentioned in my post about female fiber artists who inspire me, Loupy Studio’s work is always so cool and this pattern is no exception. I mentioned how I’ve been wanting to make her scrunchie bag pattern for a while—and now I finally have.

Pattern

The Scrunchie Bag by Loupy Studio is knit flat with alternating stripes and then partially seamed together create a tube-shaped handle. It then gets threaded with paracord to create the scrunchie effect. For those unfamiliar with the pattern, this is not only a cute design feature, but also makes the strap length adjustable. Honestly, I cast it on more for the fun of knitting it than for the finished bag. I think the design is clever, and I wanted to see how it would come together.

Yarn

For the body of the scrunchie bag, I used I Love This Yarn in Black along with I Love This Yarn Prints in the colorway Blossomopolis. I picked acrylic mostly because I had plenty of it sitting in my stash, and since I wasn’t sure how much I’d actually use the bag, I didn’t want to buy new yarn for it. I figured acrylic would be a good fit anyway—it’s durable, it doesn’t stretch out over time, and it has enough structure to hold the scrunchie shape while still being soft in your hands. For a bag like this, all of those qualities make acrylic a really practical choice.

For the drawstring, I wanted it to be magenta, but they typically don’t sell magenta paracord in stores. So I decided to knit my own using Silky Soft Yarn by Loops & Threads—100% bamboo silk in the color Boysenberry. It’s smooth enough to thread through the bag easily, has just the right amount of stretch, and took me hours upon hours to knit—but it’s exactly the color I wanted, so it was worth every minute.

Experience

As far as knitting process goes, this wasn't a totally mindless project. Most of the rows involve increasing or decreasing, and if you care about perfection (like I do) then it's important to keep track of all 283 rows as you go. Luckily, the pattern includes a reassuring note:

“A final note: I know the perfectionists might not want to hear this, but don’t

worry too much if you make minor mistakes in this pattern (like going too many

rows in between increases). As long as you get the main components right

and stick to the stitch count, you’ll find that the scrunchie effect will hide a

multitude of sins. Good luck !”

I definitely had to take that note to heart myself. Even little details—like the i-cord border—require a little bit of brainpower. I learned this the hard way when I came back to my project the next day and forgot that I was supposed to slip the first 6 stitches of the row. The caused a semi-visual mistake that took me way too long to notice, so we’re just gonna call it a design feature. 

Overall, this was a really fun and engaging project. The pattern keeps you interested—enough going on to make it satisfying, but not so much that it feels tedious. It’s also low-risk in terms of mistakes; messing up a row here and there doesn’t have the same consequences as a sweater or fitted garment. I’m already thinking about modifying it for a smaller version, but for now, here’s how this one turned out!