A rainbow blanket for a rainbow baby

In spring 2016 I found out one of my best friends was expecting her first baby.  Blanket knitting ensued - the first two were lost (I am still hurting over that) and I finished the third (a replacement for one of the AWOL ones) before I found out that the baby was stillborn just a few weeks before his due date.  The parents didn't want to receive gifts meant for their baby - they asked for the blanket to be donated somewhere, and I gave it to the local hospital charity.  

My fingers have always been tightly crossed that my friend and her husband would conceive again - I know how much they desperately want a child, a living child.  So I was utterly, utterly delighted to find out that B was pregnant again, with a much longed-for rainbow baby.

From Kicks Count: "A 'rainbow baby' is a baby that is born following a miscarriage, stillbirth, neonatal death or infant loss.  In the real world, a beautiful and bright rainbow follows a storm and gives hope of things getting better. The rainbow is more appreciated having just experienced the storm in comparison."

I'd already planned to make a rainbow-coloured blanket for a future baby, and B said that she'd specifically like one, so that worked out well.  Two of the three blankets I'd made for the first baby were rainbow coloured, just because I like bright colours.  But this blanket needed to specifically be just seven main rainbow colours.

I looked at Ravelry for blankets I liked - my original plan for B's children, before she had any, was to make her children blankets in the same style, but different colours.  B told me, when I knew that she was pregnant again, that she wanted different things, so I re-thought my plan slightly.

I saw this Colourful Wedges pattern from Purl Soho and knew that was the one.  It is really easy (all garter stitch) with short rows to make the wedges.  I needed to make it a bit bigger to incorporate all seven rainbow colours, and did some maths accordingly.  I cast on a cream wedge at Christmas and merrily knitted away.  Towards the end of the first wedge, my mum commented that it was looking rather big, and that I had 14 wedges in total to do, in seven blocks of two (a cream and a colour).  Was I sure my maths was right?  Of course I was.  I got a tape measure and measured the wedge - I would need six more of these blocks and  - oh, that's looking rather long.  Turns out my blanket was going to be roughly the size of a single bed, not a cot!  Thankfully, that isn't too much of an issue - a single bed sized blanket is a good size of blanket, at least it wasn't incredibly long and thin.  It's a good size for curling up under on a sofa.  

I do like this blanket - it's bold, the wedges provide some interest, and it looks more complicated to make than it actually was.

This blanket was finished back in February, and I'm drafting this post in March.  The baby is due in July and I so, so hope that s/he arrives safely. 

Edit: He has arrived safely!  I met him at the end of July and gave his parents this blanket (plus the rainbow ripple).  I told them the story of how my maths went wrong, and they laughed, before thanking me profusely.  Welcome to the world, rainbow baby!

For more information on stillbirth (and to make a donation) have a look at the Sands website.