Knit Your Own Hair Rollers Using this Pattern

Just have fun and use any of your scrap yarns. I used Red Heart Kids 4 ply worsted yarn and 2 (not 4)
DPNs about size 7. You may want to try a few different needles to get the tension you like.

It's a great pattern and you don't need stuffing. I didn't want to buy a huge bag of stuffing for a few rollers so I developed this pattern.

Knit the an I cord and then switched to knitting and purling back and forth increasing to 24 stitches. I wrote my pattern out and you'll find it below. photo 1

What it looks like after increasing and then decreasing back to the I cord process. The one on the left is made by stuffing it. That was made with about a set of size 9 DPN and was too loose. Photo 2

This is how I made the knotted end. I ran the waste yarn through the I cord using a basting stitch and then pulled it to roll or curl, no pun intended, to make the knot. You can do a regular knot only but I didn't find that big enough. After pulling. photo 3 and 4

And here they all are. First curler is the one with stuffing using size 9 DPNs and too loose. The other two are using size 7 DPNs and my pattern below. photo 5

Ok, I had to use some one for a model and all I could do was use my own head. My husband wouldn't let me put the curlers in his hair! He didn't have enough hair anyway! Sorry, honey. And the photo is a little blurry, sorry about that, too.

Here's the pattern but remember I wrote it as I went and it's not set in concrete. You may find an even better way to make them. BUT, I did try them out last night and even with my short hair they stayed in all night. I think they would stay in as long as you want them to if you used them during the day and on dampened hair.

Hair Curlers

Size 7 DPNS

any scrap 4 ply worsted yarn (I used Red Heart Kids)

Darning needle

CO 3 stitches (leave a long tail for sewing later) on one needle and knit and I cord about 14 rows or about 2"

Now KFB (knit front and back of stitch) every stitch around. 6 stitches

Slide stitches down so you can stay on the knit side and use only two needles. You will not be knitting in the round.

Row 1, knit

Row 2, purl

Row 3, K1, KFB 1 across. 9 stitches

Row 4, purl

Row 5, K1, KFB 1 across. 13 stitches

Row 6, purl

Row 7, K1, KFB 1 across. 19 stitches

Row 8, K1, *KFB 1, K3, repeat from * to end (I think it was 4X) ending with K1. 21 stitches

continue to k1 row p1 row for 10 rows

Row 18, Purl

Row 19 K1, K2tog, K3 (I think 4X) end with K1. 19 stitches

Row 2o, purl

Row 21, K1, K2tog across. 13 stitches

Row 22, purl

Row 23, K1, K2tog across, end with P1. 9 stitches

Row 24, Purl

Row 25, K2tog across. 5 stitches

Row 26, P2tog, P2tog, P1. 3 stitches

Make an I cord about 4" or about 20 rows tie and leave a long tail for sewing.

NOW, take the tail from the cast-on Icord and weave it in and out like a large basting stitch from end to the middle. See photo above. Pull to roll or curl the I cord into a knot and secure. DO NOT CUT THE YARN. Roll the middle snuggly but not too tight and use the rest of the yarn to stitch it closed. Tie off, cut and bury the end.

The longer I cord, the last one you knitted, becomes the loop. Fold it over to the knotted end and decide how big the loop needs to be to fit over the knot and stitch it into place. See photo above. You want it to be a little bit shorter than the fat curler part so when it's slipped over the knot, it pulls it tight. Nothing is done too tightly, though. The length kind of depends on how much hair you have on the roller.

Please let me know if you have any questions. I wrote the instructions as good as I could and explained them to the best of my ability. But please, too, remember it doesn't have to be exact. You can do a lot of fudging.