Rainbow Baby Wrap

Rainbow Baby Wrap

First off - yes, I bought this yarn last March and I have absolutely no excuse for why it took me so long to work it up - except for the fact that it was SO DANG PRETTY that I worried I wouldn't do it justice, of course! Luckily, I think the Rainbow Baby Wrap is a perfect vehicle for your own similarly pretty yarns - and to make it, all you'll need is roughly 100 grams of fingering/sock weight yarn of your main color and another 20 apiece of your accents (I used a set of minis for this purpose!). Oh, and yes - it is also named after a Kesha song, which I suggest listening to now, for mood (if you don't mind a little bit of swearing and a whole lotta [tasteful-ish] inner side boob, that is)...

Finished Dimensions: roughly 10.5" at widest point and 48" end to end, excluding i-cords

Yarn: Skein Queen Wriggle (100% Superwash Merino; 400 yards [366 meters]/100 grams); Pink - one skein (color A) and Skein Queen Little Wrigglers (100% Superwash Merino; 5 x {80 yards [73 meters]/20 grams}); Pink & White - one mini skein (color B), Yellow - one mini skein (color C), Pink & Yellow - one mini skein (color D), Pink & Purple - one mini skein (color E), and Pink & Orange - one mini skein (color F)

Don't you just wanna eat that
delicious yarn???

Needles: One 32" or longer circular needle in size US 4, two or three double pointed needles (dpns), preferably 2 in size US 3 and 1 in size US 5, although 2 dpns in size US 4 will also work instead

Notions: tapestry needle, 5' of scrap yarn (preferably cotton), 7 stitch markers

Gauge: 24 stitches = 4 inches on size US 4 needles

So let's make a wrap! Using your size US 3 dpns (or your 4s if you don't have 3s), then, cast on 4 stitches and work them in an i-cord until the i-cord measures roughly 12". Then, we'll start casting stitches on as we continue to work the i-cord, as follows:

I-cord Cast On: kfb, k3; then, when you go to begin your next row, use your tapestry needle to thread the first of kfb stitches onto your scrap yarn purlwise to hold for later

Work this i-cord cast on until you have 260 stitches held on your scrap yarn (sorry!). Stop casting on stitches, and work the i-cord regularly until the section measures roughly 12" (so it should be the same length as the i-cord at the beginning). Cast off your i-cord stitches and clip your yarn tail; it's time to move on to the body of the piece!

Now, then, transfer your held stitches to your size US 4 needle, and we'll begin working a striped pattern, as you'll find below. A few notes to begin with, however: first, I have numbered the rows both by row number and short row number, in parentheses after the row number, to help you keep track of where you are when you get to the short rows. And speaking of the short rows - I also agonized over the best way to help you keep track of where you are as you're working them (since I, for one, like to knit while I'm watching TV and resent any pattern that doesn't allow me that freedom!). My solution was to add and remove stitch markers as you work each row, so I have also included the number of stitch markers you should have present at the end of each row in parentheses following the instructions. I hope that helps as you go! Oh, and if you need to brush up on your short rows, I suggest checking here.

Row 1 (right side): using color A, k3, (yo) twice, knit until you have 3 stitches left in row, (yo) twice, k3 (+4 stitches)

Row 2: using color A, slip 3 stitches with yarn in front (sl3 wyif), (k1, p1) into double yo, and then knit until you have 5 stitches left in row; end (k1, p1) into double yo, sl3 wyif

Row 3: using color B, k3, (yo) twice, knit until you have 3 stitches left in row, (yo) twice, k3 (+4 stitches)

Row 4 (short row 1): using color B, sl3 wyif, (k1, p1) in double yo, purl until you have 20 stitches left in row, place marker, wrap & turn (w&t) (1 marker in place)

Row 5 (short row 2): using color B, slip marker, knit until you have 20 stitches left in row, place marker, w&t (2 markers in place)

Row 6 (short row 3): using color B, slip marker, purl until you're 10 stitches before marker, place marker, w&t (3 markers in place)

Row 7 (short row 4): using color B, knit until you have 10 stitches left before marker, place marker, w&t (4 markers in place)

Row 8 (short row 5): using color B, purl until you have 10 stitches left before first marker you reach, place marker, w&t (5 markers in place)

Row 9 (short row 6): using color B, knit until you have 10 stitches left before first marker you reach, place marker, w&t (6 markers in place)

Row 10 (short row 7): using color B, purl until you have 10 stitches left before first marker you reach, place marker, w&t (7 markers in place)

Row 11 (short row 8): using color B, knit until you have 5 stitches left before first marker you reach, w&t (7 markers in place)

Row 12 (short row 9): using color B, purl until you reach first marker, remove marker, p5, w&t (6 markers in place)

Row 13 (short row 10): using color B, knit until you reach first marker, remove marker, k5, w&t (5 markers in place)

Row 14 (short row 11): using color B, purl until you reach first marker, remove marker, p5, w&t (4 markers in place)

Row 15 (short row 12): using color B, knit until you reach first marker, remove marker, k5, w&t (3 markers in place)

Row 16 (short row 13): using color B, purl until you reach marker, remove marker, p5, w&t (2 markers in place)

Row 17 (short row 14): using color B, knit until you reach marker, remove marker, k5, w&t (1 marker in place)

Row 18 (short row 15): using color B: purl until you have 5 stitches before the end of the row, removing final marker when you reach it; (k1, p1) in double yo, sl3 wyif

Rows 19 - 36: repeat rows 1 - 18, substituting color C for color B

Rows 37 - 54: repeat rows 1 - 18, substituting color D for color B

Rows 55 - 72: repeat rows 1 - 18, substituting color E for color B

Rows 73 - 90: repeat rows 1 - 18, substituting color F for color B

Rows 91 - 108: repeat rows 1 - 18, substituting color A for color B (so yes, that means that you'll be knitting both the short row section and the purl row section in color A!)

Rows 109 & 110: repeat rows 1 & 2

Complete rows 1 - 110 and then, using color A, knit one more row across, clip yarn tail, and, leaving work on your needle, put it aside. Now, using your size US 3 dpns again, cast on another 4-stitch i-cord and work it until cord measures roughly 12". Then, leaving your yarn ball attached to your cord, slip the four stitches of your i-cord purlwise onto the circular needle that holds the main portion of your work, such that the fourth stitch of the i-cord is next to the first stitch on the right side of the wrap (this means that, at current, your running yarn will be coming from the stitch 4 stitches from the beginning of a right side row). 

Then, we'll work an i-cord bind off, as follows, ideally with your size US 5 dpn, although if you don't have one you can work with a size US 4 needle instead (yes, I would typically gauge down for this; I'm gauging up because you're going to want a little extra stretch to go around the curves you've just created with your short rows). Note that you can find a video demonstrating this technique below as well, although you need to be aware of a few differences. First off; in the video, I cable cast on 3 stitches to begin the i-cord, but we already have an i-cord going so we don't need to cast on anything extra. And secondly, as mentioned, in the video I'm binding off with a 3-stitch i-cord instead of a 4-stitch i-cord (as we're using now), so instead of doing a k2, k2tog pattern as I do in the video, you will be following a k3, k2tog pattern, as I've written out below.

I-cord Bind-off Row: * k3, k2tog (this k2tog will include the last three of your i-cord stitches and one stitch from the body of your shawl); slip stitches purlwise back from your right-hand needle to your left hand needle; rep from *

Work i-cord bind off row until you've decreased all of your shawl stitches; continue to work an i-cord until i-cord measures 12", to match the i-cord at the beginning of the bind off. Bind off loosely, tuck in ends, and block. Then put those colors on, girl, and paint the world with them tonight!