Baby Rainbow Sampler Blanket

• This pattern is adapted from the full-sized Rainbow Sampler Blanket. As such, the different parts as described in that pattern have been kept as is, for easy reference.
• In most rows you’ll make a ch1 before turning your blanket. This is a turning chain and does not count as a stitch.
• Stitch multiples are given in the tutorials, simply ignore them if you’re following the instructions in this pattern.
• The instructions for the Rainbow version of this blanket are the same as for the Pastel version, but you do use different colours. The colour that you use for the Rainbow version is indicated between brackets in blue, in case it differs from the colour in the Pastel version.
• Want to swap yarns to Colour Crafter? Check out the Catona-to-Colour Crafter conversion table.

We’re going to start off easy with a few rounds to get the base of the blanket established.

With Colour A, ch146, turn.

From now on we’ll be trying out all sorts of new stitches so you can add them to your crochet stitch repertoire. Are you ready for your first new stitch? We’re going to make popcorn stitches. Popcorns are stitches that are very visible in your work. They lay on top of your crochet, so they’re not very subtle. Especially not when you crochet them in a contrasting colour, such as in this section.

In the next row, you will crochet hdc’s with Colour B over the purple strand of Colour C and change colour when you crochet a popcorn. It’s to be expected that you see the strand of Colour C through the stitches of Colour B. It’s a darker colour trapped in white stitches, you can’t hide this completely, no matter how hard you try. It will not stand out in the blanket itself, the popcorns are much more interesting!

For detailed instructions on colour changing, see the Techniques section.

When you learn how to crochet, Granny squares are probably one of the first patterns you try. These are squares consisting of clusters of 3 double crochets that we call Granny clusters, and worked in the round. However, the pattern is easy to adapt to a row-based pattern. It’s a lovely rhythmical pattern. You will find this stitch on a couple of occasions in this blanket.

You’ll find that some stitches stretch more than others, causing your blanket to be a little bit wider than it was after the previous section. Don’t be alarmed, this will even out later with the border and blocking. As long as the blanket looks and feels good, you don’t have to worry.

Click here to continue to part 2.