Rainbow Heirloom Little Square Crochet Motif – Free Pattern

I bought two bundles of Solo Light Minis by Rainbow Heirloom, on a whim when I saw them on Ysolda Teague’s website at the end of 2017. Although I love bright and cheerful colours, I tend to shy away from them, especially if I have to work out colour combinations on my own. It’s something I don’t feel confident doing, so when I saw these gorgeous mini skeins, with colour combinations already put together, I just couldn’t resist!

Straight away, I knew I’d like to make a scarf or wrap, made with lots of little motifs. The result is this little crochet square. I had a few people ask about the pattern on my Instagram feed, so here it is! There is also a free video tutorial for making this little motif. Please scroll down to the end of the post.

Little Rainbow Square Crochet Motif – Pattern

(US Crochet Terminology)

Materials
2.5mm/C/2 hook (I love Clover Amour Hooks)
Sock / Fingering Weight Single Ply 100% Superwash Merino Wool (or comparable)

Key (US terminology)
beg – beginning
ch – chain
cl – cluster
dc – double crochet
esc – extended single crochet
prev – previous
rem – remaining
rnd – round
sk – skip
sp – space
st(s) – stitch(es)
sl st – slip stitch

Special Stitches
esc (extended single crochet) – insert hook into stitch, pull up a loop, chain one, yarn over, draw off both loops on hook (to see how to make an esc, see video at 2:07).
ch3 picot – ch3, slip stitch into the single crochet previously made as follows – hold the ch3 to the back, out of the way, insert hook through both loops of the stitch from back to front, draw up a loop through the single crochet and the loop on the hook, gently pull tight to make a neat picot (to see how to make an ch3 picot, see video at 11:38).
ch4 picot – ch4, slip stitch, from front to back into the back ridge of the first chain made which is easy to find as it looks like a hole at the top of the cluster (to see how to make an ch4 picot, see video at 11:00).
6dc cl (6 double crochet cluster) – yarn over, insert hook into stitch, pull up a loop, yarn over and draw though 2 loops) 6 times, yarn over and draw off all 7 loops on hook (to see how to make an 6dc cl, see video at 10:00).

Crochet Instructions

Note:
This pattern incorporates two slightly different picot stitches – both are described in the special stitch section and in the pattern.

With colour A, ch4 and join to form a ring.
Row 1 : ch1, into the ring, 8esc, finish round, skip 1st esc & sew round closed with an invisible join in 2nd esc. (8 sts)
Note – if this way doesn’t look neat, you can try it this way:
Row 1 : ch1, into the ring, 7esc, finish round, make last “stitch” by sewing the round closed with an invisible join in 1st esc. (8 sts)
Row 2 : join colour B, ch3, dc in same st; 2dc in each of the next 7 sts ;join with sl st in 3rd ch of beg ch3. (16 sts)
Row 3 : ch1, sc in same st, make a ch3 picot as follows – ch3 and sl st, inserting hook from the back to the front of the sc just made); ch4, sk1dc; in next dc make a 6dc cluster stitch as follows – (yo, insert hook into st, pull up a loop, yo and draw though 2 loops) 6 times, yo and draw off all 7 loops on hook ; make a ch4 picot as follows – ch4, sl st, from front to back, into the back ridge of the 1st ch (this presents itself as the hole at the top of the cluster); (ch4, sk1dc; sc in next st and make a ch3 picot; ch4, sk1dc; in next dc make a 6dc bobble, make a ch4 picot in the top of the bobble st just made) 3 times; ch3 & join with sl st into 1st sc of rnd.

Supporting video tutorial here:

Crochet chart:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I’m currently working on a post and video which goes over how to join the motifs.