Chunky Rainbow Blanket

My daughter’s favorite color is rainbow.

We are currently redecorating her room from a toddler/nursery to a big girl room and rainbows are leading the design.  So with my big yarn stash I decided to whip up a fun rainbow blanket to tie her bedding together.  By using two strands at once this chunky blanket worked up especially fast and the end result was a bold, whimsical and colorful addition.

This is a free pattern, but please do not share this pattern as your own.  You may make items to sell with this pattern.  In exchange, please link back to this post.  Do not use my photos as your own sales photos.  Please tag CoffeeandCrochetGoals to share your projects.

SIZE: Finished blanket measures 3ft x 5ft

SUPPLIES:

• Size L(8mm) crochet hook
• Red Heart Super Savor Yarn: White (3 skeins with large pompoms)
• Red Heart Super Savor Yarn: Dusty Grey (2 skeins)
• Red Heart Super Savor Yarn: Cherry Red
• Red Heart Super Savor Yarn: Pumpkin Orange
• Red Heart Super Savor Yarn: Bright Yellow
• Red Heart Super Savor Yarn: Paddy Green
• Red Heart Super Savor Yarn: Blue
• Red Heart Super Savor Yarn: Soft Navy
• Red Heart Super Savor Yarn: Amethyst
• Tapestry Needle
• Scissors
• A XXL pompom maker (I made myself one out of cardboard)

ABBREVIATIONS:

• DC – double crochet
• SC – single crochet
• SK – skip stitch
• SL – slip stitch
• CH – chain

RAINBOW BLANKET

To begin this blanket we are creating a large rainbow semi-circle.  I will describe these steps as rounds.

Round 1: With two strands of yarn; one white and one grey create a magic circle.  CH3, counts as first double crochet and make 5DC into the magic ring. (6)

Round 2: Turn your work and CH3, counts as your first DC.  1DC into the base of your CH.  2DC in each stitch. (12)

Round 3: Turn your work and CH3, counts as your first DC.  1DC into the base of your CH.  1DC in the next stitch.  *2DC in the following stitch and 1DC in the next stitch.  Repeat from * till the end. (18)

Round 4: Turn your work and CH3, counts as your first DC.  1 DC into the base of your CH.  1DC in the next TWO stitches.  *2DC in the following stitch and 1DC in the next two stitches.  Repeat from * till the end. (24)

Round 5: Turn your work and CH3, counts as your first DC.  1DC into the base of your CH.  1DC in the next THREE stitches.  *2DC in the following stitch and 1DC in the next three stitches.  Repeat from * till the end.  Tie off grey and white yarn. (30)

Round 6: Attach two strands of purple yarn.  Turn your work and CH3, counts as your first DC.  1DC into the base of your CH.  1DC in the next FOUR stitches.  *2DC in the following stitch and 1DC in the next four stitches.  Repeat from * till the end. (36)

Round 7: Turn your work and CH3, counts as your first DC.  1DC into the base of your CH.  1DC in the next FIVE stitches.  *2DC in the following stitch and 1DC in the next five stitches.  Repeat from * till the end.  Tie of purple yarn.  (42)

Round 8: Attach two strands of navy yarn. Turn your work and CH3, counts as your first DC. 1DC into the base of your CH. 1DC in the next SIX stitches. *2DC in the following stitch and 1DC in the next six stitches. Repeat from * till the end. (48)

Round 9: Turn your work and CH3, counts as your first DC. 1DC into the base of your CH. 1DC in the next SEVEN stitches. *2DC in the following stitch and 1DC in the next seven stitches. Repeat from * till the end. Tie of navy yarn. (54)

Round 10: Attach two strands of blue yarn. Turn your work and CH3, counts as your first DC. 1DC into the base of your CH. 1DC in the next EIGHT stitches. *2DC in the following stitch and 1DC in the next eight stitches. Repeat from * till the end. (60)

Round 11: Turn your work and CH3, counts as your first DC. 1DC into the base of your CH. 1DC in the next NINE stitches. *2DC in the following stitch and 1DC in the next nine stitches. Repeat from * till the end. Tie of blue yarn. (66)

Round 12: Attach two strands of green yarn. Turn your work and CH3, counts as your first DC. 1DC into the base of your CH. 1DC in the next TEN stitches. *2DC in the following stitch and 1DC in the next ten stitches. Repeat from * till the end. (72)

Round 13: Turn your work and CH3, counts as your first DC. 1DC into the base of your CH. 1DC in the next ELEVEN stitches. *2DC in the following stitch and 1DC in the next eleven stitches. Repeat from * till the end. Tie of green yarn. (78)

Round 14: Attach two strands of yellow yarn. Turn your work and CH3, counts as your first DC. 1DC into the base of your CH. 1DC in the next TWELVE stitches. *2DC in the following stitch and 1DC in the next twelve stitches. Repeat from * till the end. (84)

Round 15: Turn your work and CH3, counts as your first DC. 1DC into the base of your CH. 1DC in the next THIRTEEN stitches. *2DC in the following stitch and 1DC in the next thirteen stitches. Repeat from * till the end. Tie of yellow yarn. (88)

Round 16: Attach two strands of orange yarn. Turn your work and CH3, counts as your first DC. 1DC into the base of your CH. 1DC in the next FOURTEEN stitches. *2DC in the following stitch and 1DC in the next fourteen stitches. Repeat from * till the end. (94)

Round 17: Turn your work and CH3, counts as your first DC. 1DC into the base of your CH. 1DC in the next FIFTEEN stitches. *2DC in the following stitch and 1DC in the next fifteen stitches. Repeat from * till the end. Tie of orange yarn. (100)

Round 18: Attach two strands of red yarn. Turn your work and CH3, counts as your first DC. 1DC into the base of your CH. 1DC in the next SIXTEEN stitches. *2DC in the following stitch and 1DC in the next sixteen stitches. Repeat from * till the end. (106)

Round 19: Turn your work and CH3, counts as your first DC. 1DC into the base of your CH. 1DC in the next SEVENTEEN stitches. *2DC in the following stitch and 1DC in the next seventeen stitches. Repeat from * till the end. Tie of red yarn. (112)

Now you have a rather large rainbow, almost three feet in width.  Let make it a rectangle.  First we will divide our semi circle in half.  112/2=56.  We will be working only on one half, these 56 stitches first and then move to the other 56.  56/2=28.  This 28th stitch is the center of our half of a semi-circle…whew that’s a mouthful, but I hope that makes sense.  This 28th stitch is where we will attach our grey and white strands of yarn to begin.  I will start again describing these steps in rounds.

Round 1: SL ST to the 28th stitch with your grey and white yarn.  SK2 and SL ST into the third stitch.  Turn your work.  2DC into the 28th stitch.  CH2 and 3 more DC into the 28th stitch.  SL ST into the 25th stitch along the rainbow.

 

 

 

Round 1

Round 2

Round 2: CH2 up, SK2 and SL ST into the third stitch away.  Turn your work and work 2DC back into the base of your CH or the gap between the last rounds’ DC and the side of the rainbow.  3DC into the CH2 space of the previous round.  CH2 and 3 more DC into the CH2 space of the previous round.  3DC into the space between the last rounds’ CH up two and the side of the rainbow.

Round 3: CH2 up, SK2 and SL ST into the third stitch away. Turn your work and work 2DC back into the base of your CH or the gap between the last rounds’ DC and the side of the rainbow.  3DC into the gap between DC clusters of the previous round.  3DC into the CH2 space of the previous round. CH2 and 3 more DC into the CH2 space of the previous round. 3DC into the gap between DC clusters of the previous round.  3DC into the space between the last rounds’ CH up two and the side of the rainbow.

Round 4-11: Continue to grow your corner in the same manner as Round 3.  You will finish with a SL ST into the top, or center stitch of the rainbow.

Now that you have reached the top, or center of the rainbow.  Tie off the grey and white yarn and repeat this for the opposite side.  This will give you a rectangle to build from.  I added two more rows of granny stitches (3DC into each gap between clusters and 3DC, CH2, 3DC into each corner) to “smooth out” my rectangle.  I did not add granny stitches on the bottom of my rainbow, only the other three sides.  After you have a full rectangle completed you will tie off your grey and white yarn and reattach it into the top corner of your blanket.  We will finish off by doing a simple granny stripe across the top of the blanket.  This time I will use the term row to describe these few steps.

Row 1: CH2 and 2DC into the corner point of the rectangle.  3DC into each gap across the top of the rectangle.  Ending with 3DC into the opposite corner of the rectangle.

Row 2:  CH3 and SK first granny stitch, or DC cluster.  3DC into every gap between DC clusters, across.  End with 1DC into the top of the outside most DC from the previous row.

Row 3: CH2 and 2DC into the gap.  3DC into each gap across.

Continue to alternate between rows 2 and 3 until your blanket has grown to the length you desire.  I completed a total of 40 rows and my blanket ended just over 4 feet long.

BORDER

With two strands of grey yarn simply SC around the blanket.  To begin attach your yarn and CH1.  SC in every stitch around.  Along the side I put 2SC in each granny stitch.  In each corner I completed 1SC, CH2, 1SC to give a sharp-clean point.  Tie off grey yarn.

GINORMOUS POMPOMS

I wanted the look of fluffy clouds at the bottom on this blanket and I think these ginormous pompoms really give a whimsy look.  You can easily buy an XL pompom maker and whip these out, but I made my own pompom maker.  I cut two large circles from cardboard (a CD size) and cut one line into the center of each circle.  A then cut a smaller circle in the center.  Wrap white yarn over and over covering all the cardboard.  More yarn is always better with pompoms.  Securely tie the pompom together and attach to the blanket with a tight knot as well.  I added One in the corner.  One in in the second orange stripe.  One in the first blue stripe.  I then mirrored this on the other side of the rainbow.

This felt like a long one to describe, but when working with such a bulky yarn (or in our case using two strands at once) it really takes no time at all to create a wonderful blanket.  It took me about three days to complete this whole blanket and who doesn’t enjoy hooking a rainbow?  I am already dreaming about what else I can create using a large semi-circle or even a full circle with the math I came up with for our granny square corners.  Maybe a sun to complete a set?  I hope this blanket inspires your next #crochetgoal