Kaleidoscope Cove Baby Blanket

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I have always loved playing with colors and pairing different colors together in a project. When I was in college I worked at a quilt shop and one of my favorite things was helping people pull fabrics for quilts or other projects they were making. I just think it is so fun to pair different colors to see how they work together, and create with them. It doesn't matter if it is fabric, yarn, paint, or any other craft medium, playing with colors has always been something I love about creating projects. 

I think that is one reason I sometimes feel drawn to colorful yarn, even though I know it isn't always the easiest to work with. Not every project works well with multicolor yarns, but I love finding ways to use them. I have a couple of techniques that are kind of my go-to's when working with variegated or striped yarns. One of them is to pair the multicolor yarn with a solid. This is a great way to break up the busyness of the multicolor yarn and it can help your stitch pattern stand out too, instead of just getting lost in all of the color. 

When I use this technique of pairing a solid with a variegated or striped yarn I almost always find myself using white yarn, or another very neutral color. I think white or off-white, or even gray or black, are kind of the easy options to pair with a multicolor yarn because they go with pretty much anything. But because I love playing with different colors I wanted to challenge myself to pair some colorful yarns with other solid colors. I think there are a lot of ways to do this and the effect can be very different depending on which route you take. You can choose a contrasting color to make the 2 yarns be very separate, or you can use solid colors that blend with the multicolor yarn to make it all kind of disappear and blend together. You can choose one solid to pair with a variegated yarn, or multiple solid colors. Even the way that you incorporate the different colors into your pattern will have a huge effect on the outcome of your project. 

When I decided I wanted to challenge myself to pair multicolor yarn with solids that were not my normal neutrals and also play around with those different variations of stitch placement and number of colors, I thought making some baby blankets would be a fun way to do this. They are big enough that you can see the full impact of the color choices, but small enough to work up pretty fast, which means I can keep making different versions, trying different ideas and using different colors and stitches. 

For this first blanket that I made as part of this little challenge I paired a rainbow colored Red Heart Super Saver Bitty Stripes yarn (in the color Crayon Box) with a solid blue color. The blue is not an exact match for the blue in the stripes, but it is close enough that the blue stripes in the rainbow yarn kind of disappear into the solid blue, but not completely. I chose to use a moss stitch for this blanket. It is one of my favorite stitches and after making a lot of amigurumi projects lately that require paying close attention to stitch count and placement, I really wanted a project that would be kind of mindless and easy. 

I did a 2 row repeat, 2 rows of rainbow, then 2 rows of blue, repeated until the blanket was the size I wanted. I chose this because I didn't want to cut the yarn after each row and by doing 2 of each color you always change colors on the same side and can just carry the yarn up on that edge. Then when you make the border you can just work over the top of those pieces and they are completely hidden. I added a border that was a pretty simple single crochet border but in one round I added some of the rainbow yarn, then worked over it with the blue to make little dots of color all the way around. Unfortunately some of my border ended up with the blue from the rainbow yarn so it is kind of hard to see, but you can see the little spots of green and orange around some of the edges. 

I think it was fun to see how to rainbow colors paired with the blue yarn. I feel like it is a very different look than you get when you pair the rainbow with a white yarn. I am working on another variation using different colors that I will share soon and it is a completely different look. It is fun to see how the different colors work together. 

How to Crochet the Kaleidoscope Cove Baby Blanket

Finished size: 31" square, see note below for size changes

You will need:

• 1 skein Red Heart Super Saver Bitty Stripes in Crayon Box (the sample size did not use the full skein, about 350-400 yards, skein size 515 yards)
• 2 skeins Red Heart Super Saver in Blue Wave (the sample size used 1 full skein and a small amount of the 2nd skein, about 400-450 yards total, each skein 364 yards)
• I (5.5 mm) crochet hook
• yarn needle

Instructions:

The sample blanket is on the small side for a baby blanket, about 31" square, but it can easily be adjusted to change the size. Changing the blanket size will change the amount of yarn needed, so that is something to keep in mind if you adjust the size. The blanket is made using the moss stitch, which uses a simple single crochet, chain 1 repeat. 

*To start the blanket you will start with an even number of chain stitches, an odd number for the number of stitches plus 1 chain for turning, which gives you your even number. The sample is made with a starting chain of 110, to make a larger blanket increase the number of chains to desired size keeping an even number of chains. To make longer just continue the repeat until you have the length you want, ending with a set of rainbow rows. 

*You will change yarn every 2 rows, carry the yarn up the side (you will crochet over the carried yarn when you make the border)

Kaleidoscope Cove Baby Blanket

Start with the rainbow yarn

ch 110
Row 1: sc in second chain from hook (ch 1, sk 1, sc in next st) repeat to the end (55 sc, 54 ch sp)
Row 2: ch 1, turn, sc in first st, sc in ch sp, (ch 1, sk next st, sc in ch sp) repeat until 1 st left, sc in last st (56 sc, 53 ch sp)

switch to blue yarn

switch to second color without cutting yarn from first color

Row 3: ch 1, turn, sc in first st, (ch 1, sk next st, sc in ch sp) repeat 2 sts left, ch 1, sc in last st (55 sc, 54 ch sp)
Row 4: ch 1, turn, sc in first st, sc in ch sp, (ch 1, sk next st, sc in ch sp) repeat until 1 st left, sc in last st (56 sc, 53 ch sp)

switch to rainbow yarn and repeat rows 3 and 4, continue repeating those rows changing colors every two rows until you have 102 rows, or the length you desire ending with a set of rainbow rows

When you finish the last set of rainbow rows you can cut the rainbow yarn, continue with the blue yarn to make the border

Border

Begin with blue yarn (continuing with the attached yarn)

Round 1: 1 sc in each st across the top of the blanket (working into the top of the sc sts and into the ch sps), 3 sc in corner, sc evenly down the side of the blanket, 3 sc in corner, 1 sc in each st across the bottom edge, 3 sc in corner, sc evenly up the side of the blanket, 2 sc in same space as first st to make last corner, sl st to first sc to join 

Round 2: ch 1, 1 sc each st around, working 3 sts in corners, sl st to first sc to join

switch to rainbow yarn

Round 3: ch 1, [1 sc in first st, ch 1, sk next st] repeat around working (sc, ch 2, sc) in each corner, sl st to first sc to join

switch to blue

Round 4: ch 1, [sc in first st, in the next st work sc in the skipped stitch from round 2 working over the ch from round 3] repeat around working 3 sc in the corner ch sps instead of into the previous round

Finish off and weave in ends