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This knitting pattern for a rainbow water bottle carrier is the perfect thing to knit up for Pride or for rainbow-loving folks to use throughout the year. It doesn’t use a lot of any color of yarn, so if you have rainbow scraps this is a great way to use them.
Why Use a Water Bottle Carrier?
A water bottle carrier is basically a little bag with a strap that you can slide your water bottle into and then carry with the strap over your shoulder, keeping your hands free for other things.
These are great for using on hikes or at events where you want to have you hands available but also need water always at the ready.
Mine is made specifically for the water bottles my daughter uses, which are the Bubba Trailblazer bottles. These hold 24 ounces and are almost 3 inches/7.6 cm wide across the bottom. But the pattern explains how to make a rainbow water bottle carrier just right for the bottle you use.
Supplies for a Rainbow Water Bottle Carrier
I used about 105 yards total of medium/worsted weight/weight 4 yarn. All of them are Red Heart Super Saver except the yellow, which is Big Twist Value. See my crochet Pride flag post for recommendations on colors from different brands.
I used purple for the base so that color was used the most. About 25 yards of purple and 16 yards of each of the other colors will get you a carrier the same size as mine, but if you make a different size your yarn usage will vary.
You’ll also need a set of size 7 US/4.5 mm double pointed knitting needles, a yarn needle and some scissors. If you want to use a stitch marker to mark the end of your rounds, grab one of those, too.
Gauge is not important as long as you’re happy with the fabric you’re getting, as we’ll make it a custom fit.
My bottle water bottle carrier is about 3 inches/7.6 cm across the bottom and 8 inches/20 cm tall. The strap is 2 inches/5 cm wide and about 24 inches/61 cm long. It will stretch under the weight of your bottle, so making it shorter would be OK too, especially if you’re making this for a child.
How to Knit a Rainbow Water Bottle Carrier
Because this is worked from the bottom up, I chose to knit it in reverse rainbow order, starting with purple.
Cast on 6 stitches and divide onto 3 double-pointed needles.
Join for working in the round and knit 1 round.
Knit in the front and back of each stitch. 12 stitches total.
*Knit 1, kfb. Repeat from * around. 18 stitches total.
*Knit 2, kfb. Repeat from * around. 24 stitches total.
Continue working in this manner, with one more stitch between each increase on each round, until the base is your desired width. I just set the bottle on top of my knitting and when it was pretty close to the same size, I stopped. I got to knit 6, kfb around, so I have 48 stitches total.
Purl 1 round.
Decide how tall you want your carrier to be. I decided on 8 inches/20 cm. Since there are six colors in the rainbow for my rainbow water bottle carrier, that means (8 divided by 6) that each stripe needs to be about 1.3 inches/3.3 cm tall. In knitting the purple stripe I determined that was about 8 rounds.
Knit 8 rounds in purple, then change to blue and knit 8 rounds, then green, yellow, orange and red, working 8 rounds each time. Bind off in red after completing the 8 rounds.
Knitting the Strap
I decided to go full-on rainbow on this water bottle carrier knitting pattern, so I divided up the strap into rainbow colors as well. Given that I wanted a strap around 24 inches/61 cm, I worked each color in a 2-inch/5 cm stripe, again in reverse rainbow order.
When I got to red I worked for 4 inches/10 cm, then worked each of the other colors again, so each end starts with purple and the red section sits on your shoulder. If you want a shorter or longer strap you can adjust accordingly, or work it in a solid color.
Cast on 8 stitches in purple.
Knit for 2 inches/5 cm. For me that was 20 rows of garter stitch.
Change to blue and knit for 2 inches/5 cm, then change to green and do the same. Continue in this manner for yellow and orange.
When you get to red, work twice as many rows as you worked for the other colors.
Work 2 inches/5 cm in each color again, reversing the order (orange, yellow, green, blue, purple).
Bind off in purple after 2 inches/5 cm have been worked.
I used my yarn tails to sew the strap to the bag. I did a whip stitch on the inside of the bag, then stitched the strap to the bind off edge of the bag as well.
Add this project to your Ravelry queue.
And there you have it! This rainbow water bottle holder knitting pattern would of course be great worked in a solid color, ombre stripes or with whatever scraps you have on hand.
