Rainbow Ridge Afghan

Free pattern! The Rainbow Ridge Afghan features the popular chevron stripe pattern with a textured twist. I chose to use 6 bright colors for my afghan, but this design would also be lovely as a baby blanket or in a neutral color palette.

Materials
US Size I (5.5 mm) crochet hook

Scissors

Ruler (for measuring gauge)

Yarn Needle or Blunt Tapestry Needle

Yarn

Knit Picks Brava Worsted Yarn – 100% Premium Acrylic – 218 yds / 100 grams per ball:

3 balls Marina

2 balls Canary

2 balls Rouge

2 balls Mulberry

2 balls Peapod

2 balls Lady Slipper

Feel free to change the number of colors and / or number of rows per color as desired.

I had some partial balls of yarn leftover in Marina, Canary, Mulberry, and Lady Slipper. I also had some small amounts of yarn remaining in Rouge and Peapod.

Tip: One ball of Knit Picks Brava worked 9 rows for my afghan. My afghan had 177 sts per row. After the 9 rows, there was a small amount of yarn left from each ball.

Gauge: One chevron (from valley to peak to the next valley) should measure 3 1/2″ (8.9 cm) wide. Four Rows of dc in the BLO should measure 2″ (5 cm) tall. If your gauge is too small, try using a larger size hook. If your gauge is too large, try using a smaller size hook. Exact gauge is not critical for this project.

Finished Size: 40″ (101.6 cm) wide and 53″ (134.6 cm) long. Feel free to adjust size as much as you like, making sure that you purchase enough yarn to accommodate the larger / smaller size.

st: stitch
ch: chain stitch

sts: stitches

nxt: next

beg: beginning

ea: each

sp: space

sk: skip

sc: single crochet

dc: double crochet

beg dc2tog: beginning double crochet 2 stitches together*

dc2tog: double crochet 2 stitches together

dc3tog: double crochet 3 stitches together

BLO: back loop only

*Beg dc2tog: ch 2 (does not count as a stitch), dc in BLO of nxt st.

With your first color of yarn,
Ch 178 (or any multiple of 16 + 2).

Row 1: Sk 2 chs, dc in nxt ch (counts as 1 begdc2tog). *Dc in nxt 6 chs, 3dc in nxt st. Dc in nxt 6 chs, dc3tog.* Repeat between *and* until 15 sts remain. Dc in nxt 6 chs, 3dc in nxt st. Dc in nxt 6 chs, dc2tog. You should have 177 sts (or, if you are working a custom size, 1 st less than you chained for your foundation ch), not including chs that were skipped at beg of row.

Row 2: Turn. beg dc2tog in BLO. *Dc in BLO of nxt 6 sts, 3dc in BLO of nxt st. Dc in BLO of nxt 6 sts, dc3tog in BLO.* Repeat between *and* until 15 sts remain. Dc in BLO of nxt 6 sts, 3dc in BLO of nxt st. Dc in BLO of nxt 6 sts, dc2tog in BLO. You should have 177 sts (or, if you are working a custom size, 1 st less than you chained for your foundation ch).

Continue repeating Row 2, changing colors as desired, until you reach your desired finished length or your afghan measures 53″ (134.6 cm) long. Do not tie off. See instructions below to work the sc edging.

Tip: When you change colors, tie off old color, turn work, and join new color in BLO of the last st from previous row.

Tip: To greatly reduce the number of tails that you will have to weave in when you are finished, crochet over your tails each time you change colors.

For my afghan, I worked my stripe sequence as follows:

3 rows Marina (for first stripe sequence, the foundation ch, Row 1, and Rows 2 and 3 were worked with Marina. These 3 rows count as part of the first stripe sequence.)

2 rows Canary

3 rows Rouge

2 rows Mulberry

3 rows Peapod

2 rows Lady Slipper

At the end of my afghan, I finished with 3 more rows of Marina so the top and bottom edges would match.

For top edge: Continue working with current color. Ch 1, turn. Sc in both loops of each st across. You should have 177 sts (or, if you are working a custom size, 1 st less than you chained for your foundation ch). Tie off, weave in ends.

For bottom edge: Turn your afghan upside down so the foundation ch edge is at the top. Using the same yarn as your foundation ch, join yarn in the same st that your starting tail is attached to. Working into the bottom of the foundation chain, sc in ea st across (you should be working into the holes made in the foundation ch by the sts from row 1). You should have 177 sts (or, if you are working a custom size, 1 st less than you chained for your foundation ch). Tie off, weave in ends.