When he was 4 1⁄2 years old, my son asked for a “rainbow blanket” and drew me a picture of what it should look like. Designing the blanket he wanted was tricky, but knitting it was quick and completely addictive. The bright blanket is perfect for stimulating a new baby or entertaining a color-loving toddler or preschooler, and it will amaze fellow knitters and non-knitters alike. The name of the pattern, Roy G. Biv, is a mnemonic for the seven colors of the rainbow: Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, and Violet.

Skills required: backwards loop cast-on; garter stitch; simple intarsia (for the grass/sky, but see note below); picking up stitches; increasing and decreasing; wrap/turn (instructions provided); sewn bind-off (instructions provided). Charts and written instructions are included.

Construction: the blanket is knit in sections, with each section building upon previous sections.

Needles: circular needles in two lengths: one 32-45”, one 60” for rainbow; both in US7 (4.50 mm) or size needed to obtain gauge. (Note that gauge isn’t critical for the project: smaller gauge will yield a smaller blanket, and larger gauge will yield a larger blanket. But it might affect the amount of yarn you need, especially of Red, Green, and Light Blue.)

Notions: 8 stitch markers; darning needle

Yarn requirements: Knit Picks Wool of the Andes Worsted Superwash (Worsted, 50 g / 110 yds per ball) is the perfect yarn for this project: the weight makes it a quick knit and a substantial blanket; superwash makes it appropriate for whatever adventures (or messes) it gets into with its owner; and the colors are exactly what any rainbow-lover might want.

• Red (R): 23764 Red; 1 ball
• Orange (O): 26330 Orange; 1 ball
• Yellow (Y): 26329 Semolina; 1 ball
• Green (G): 26328 Grass; 3 balls
• Blue (B): 26335 Celestial; 1 ball
• Indigo (I): 26332 Columbine; 1 ball
• Violet (V): 26336 Fairy Tale; 1 ball
• Light Blue (LB): 26316 Fjord Heather; 5 balls
• Light Green (LG): 26324 Avocado; 1 ball

NOTE: The blanket could easily be modified to avoid intarsia, by leaving out the grass and making the background entirely blue. Substitute a 6th ball of Fjord Heather (LB) for Avocado (LG) to do this.