Susie’s Rainbow was designed for a friend’s baby; I wanted a striking knit that wouldn’t take too long to complete, but that had more interest than a basic patterned baby blanket. The blanket measures 90 x 90 cm, sized to fit a pram, stroller, Moses basket or crib, and can also be rolled out on the floor and used as a playmat.

The blanket features a moss stitch border to prevent curling, and is knitted in chunky weight yarn, making it a relatively quick knit. The rainbow motif is incorporated using intarsia, and while the motif looks impressive the colour blocks are large, which makes the blanket a good beginner-level intarsia project.

Tools: 6 mm (US 10) circular needle at least 80 cm (31 in) in length (the blanket is knitted flat, but a circular needle is used to accommodate the number of stitches needed); 3 × stitch markers; darning needle; bobbins for holding the different yarn colours during colourwork; chart row marker

Materials: Chunky weight yarn in the following colours: White (MC): 325 m (350 yds); Red (A): 70 m (75 yds); Orange (B): 65 m (70 yds); Yellow (C): 55 m (60 yds); Green (D): 50 m (55 yds); Blue (E): 45 m (50 yds); Indigo (F): 45 m (50 yds); Violet (G): 35 m (40 yds). Alternatively double knitting weight yarn held double may be used; if you do this all yardages should be doubled.

Difficulty: Intermediate (knit, purl, simple intarsia)

Pattern Style: Blanket instructions are written out, while the colourwork sections are charted