Rainbow Blanket Tutorial

Heather’s eye for colour and beautiful crochet has seen crocheters across the world flock to follow her on social media in their thousands. With over 228,000 Facebook fans, you might even have already admired her work. You'll also find her on instagram with more than 30,000 Followers tuning in to see her latest makes.

Heather has created two stunning granny square blankets just for us and we hope you love them as much as we do! Over to Heather...

Hello! To open up my exclusive colour pack shop with The Knitting Network, I have chosen two rainbow packs which are always great favourites. There are two colour recipes to choose from...

…Pink Rainbow (above) and Red Rainbow (below).

Each pack contains seven colours with two balls of cream in my favourite Stylecraft Special DK.

The packs are enough to make a small lap/baby blanket 64cm square or a larger blanket 88cm square ideal for throwing over the back of your favourite chair or a child's bed, with plenty of colours left to add to your stash for future projects.

Here's how to make them:

1. Using a 4mm crochet hook, make a magic loop (I prefer this starting method as it does not leave a hole that is too big in the centre)

2. Pull through a loop for the 1st stitch

3. Make 3 chain for the 1st treble

4. Make 2 trebles to complete the first cluster

5. Make 1 chain then 3 trebles thus forming a corner

6. Repeat this twice more

7&8. Pull the tail to close up the magic loop. Make 1 chain then join with slip stitch into the 1st treble of the round

9&10 Fasten off 1st colour by pulling yarn through loop and cutting to leave a tail about 10cm /4inches

11. TURN WORK OVER and make 2nd round from the back. This is very important to stop the granny square from twisting.

12. Using a new colour pull up a loop making sure you leave an end of about 10cm / 4 inches for sewing in later

13. Holding the tail firmly at the back of the work make 3 chain for the 1st treble

14. Make 2 trebles to complete the first cluster (this is half of a corner)

15. In next chain space make 3 trebles 1 chain 3 trebles (this is a corner)

16. Repeat this twice more in the next 2 chain space

17&18. To complete the 1st corner make 3 trebles then 1 chain

19&20. Join with slip stitch into 1st treble of the round

21&22. Pull yarn through and fasten off cutting yarn to leave a tail 10cm / 4inches

23. TURN WORK OVER. You are going to do this every round to keep a perfect square. It prevents the awful twisting that is often seen and has the added bonus of making both sides the same so there is no right or wrong side to the blanket!

24. Using a new colour pull up a loop making sure you leave an end of about 10cm / 4 inches for sewing in later

25. Holding tail firmly at back of work make 3 chain for the 1st treble

26. then 2 trebles to complete the 1st half corner. In the next chain space make 3 trebles and the same in the corner.

27. Complete the corner by making 1 chain 3 trebles

28. Continue around the square making clusters of 3 trebles with 1 chain only in the corners. Note this is different to many other granny square patterns as I prefer a closer texture. Fasten Off

29. TURN WORK OVER each round- this means you work in alternate directions, anti clockwise then clockwise which prevents a twist forming

30-36. Keep hooking until you have your desired number of rounds

37. Join with slip stitch into 1st treble of the round

38-40. For the picot edging, first I make 1 round of dc (English), using the same coloured yarn and putting 1 dc in each stitch

41&42. Join with slip stitch into 1st dc of the round

43&44. Then for the 2nd round I make 1 dc, 3 chain, 1 dc in the same stitch

45-47. Miss a stitch then repeat all the way round

48. Join with slip stitch into 1^st dc of the round and pull yarn through and fasten off, cutting yarn to leave a tail 10cm / 4inches

49. On completion use a darning needle and sew the tails into their own coloured stitches

50. I sew in half on the front and half on the back

51. Trim ends neatly with sharp scissors

The result is a perfect square which can be used from any side! Notice it has 90 degree corners and parallel sides - all very pleasing to the eye and easy for joining.

So there you have all the information you need! Don’t forget to post your work on Instagram and use #inspiredbythepatchworkheart so I can see what you are making. I can’t wait to watch your blankets unfold!

If you enjoyed this, why not visit my blog for more crochet projects, including the popular Gingham Blanket C2C JAYG Tutorial. It creates a wonderful texture and is the perfect project to progress to.

Happy hooking!

All the best, Heather xx