This adorable crochet rainbow appliqué will have you adding rainbow sweetness to all of your crochet projects!

“The greater your storm, the brighter your rainbow.”

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Everybody wants happiness, and no one wants pain, but you can’t have a rainbow without a little rain.

Rainbows are breathtakingly beautiful, aren’t they? They still cause me to stop what I’m doing and admire them. It’s such a remarkable concept that all of the individual water droplets are splitting light into all of the colors for the human eye to be able to take in. Just as the rainbow would cease to exist without the water droplets, the beautiful moments of our lives would not be so beautiful without the trying times!

Trying Times

Have you ever been working on a crochet project and just felt like you have frogged it more than you have crocheted? Every row just seems to end up with a mistake even after meticulously counting. You feel like screaming (or maybe you even do), and it eventually gets sent to timeout in a random bag in the closet to sit and think about the anger it has caused you. Just me? I think we’ve all been there. All the joy and fun has been sucked out of the creating process because of the frustration. What was supposed to be a relaxing and fun project turns into a source of stress and anxiety.

I feel like life gets this way at times. Bad times come, and there’s nothing we can do about it. It might be something major like a sickness or a financial burden. It could be just the daily grind of mindless tasks with every little thing going wrong all at once. All the joy of life tends to get sucked up by the circumstances that we face.

Beautiful Moments

Then, it happens. One day, you march yourself to the closet and grab that project. Determined, you plop down on the couch and tackle it head on. The crochet hook whips in and out of stitches, and the yarn seems to swirl around like cotton candy forming on a cone. Before you know it, you are staring down at a beautiful project running your hands lovingly over the stitches. You did it! Then comes the after-yarn glow. You proudly show it off to your friends and the social media world beaming at your accomplishment!

What changed? Did the project change? Did it magically morph into something easier to handle? No, of course not! Your attitude changed! It’s the same way with life circumstances. We can either crumble in anger and frustration when we are dealt a bad hand or take it head on with grit and resolve only to later watch…

…the most beautiful rainbow emerge!

Skill Level – Advanced Beginner

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links to the products used in this project. If you make a purchase through any of these links, we will get a small commission at no additional cost to you.

Materials

Abbreviations

  • YO – Yarn over
  • CH – Chain
  • SC – Single crochet
  • SC INC – Single crochet increase – work two SC in one stitch
  • Bobble – Bobble stitch
  • FO – Finish off

Notes

  • This crochet rainbow appliqué is worked from the center out.  It is begun by working across a beginning CH and then working around the opposite side in a U shape.
  • Gauge is not essential to this project.
  • The finished appliqué measures approximately 4” wide and 2.5” tall.
  • Beginning CHs do not count as a stitch.
  • This appliqué is a collaboration with The Everything Cozy by Kathy of Kathy’s Kozies!  You can find the pattern for her cozy in her Etsy shop along with her beautiful laser-cut wooden shamrock buttons!  Be sure to check out her beautiful feed on Instagram as well! 
  • If you have any difficulty completing this project and would like support, please email me at theplushpineappleshop@gmail.com

Special Stitches

Bobble Stitch

  • YO, insert hook into desired stitch and pull up a loop (3 loops on hook).
  • YO, pull through two loops (2 loops on hook).
  • YO, insert hook back into the same stitch and pull up a loop (4 loops on hook).
  • YO, pull through two loops (3 loops on hook).
  • YO, insert hook back into the same stitch and pull up a loop (5 loops on hook).
  • YO, pull through two loops (4 loops on hook).
  • YO, insert hook back into the same stitch and pull up a loop (6 loops on hook).
  • YO, pull through two loops (5 loops on hook).
  • YO, pull through all five loops.

Pattern

Rainbow

Row 1:  CH 5, SC in 2nd CH from hook and in next 2 CH, 3 SC in last CH, now working along the opposite side of the CH, SC 3, pull new color through on last SC.  (9)

Row 1

Row 2:  CH 1, turn, SC 3, SC INC, SC 1, SC INC, SC 3, pull new color through on last SC.  (11)

Row 2

Row 3:  CH 1, turn, SC 4, SC INC, SC 1, SC INC, SC 4, pull new color through on last SC.  (13)

Row 3

Row 4:  CH 1, turn, SC 4, SC INC, SC 3, SC INC, SC 4, pull new color through on last SC.  (15)

Row 4

Row 5:  CH 1, turn, SC in every stitch around, pull new color through on last SC.  (15)

Row 5

Row 6:  CH 1, turn, SC in each stitch around, pull new color through on last SC.  (15)

Row 6

Cut yarn, FO.

Cloud

Turn rainbow so that it is upside down with the first slip knot on your right.  Join white yarn to the right corner as show.

Row 1:  CH 1, work 13 SC, one in the end of each color, be sure to work one in the center of the purple section (3 sc total for the purple section).

Row 2:  CH 1, turn, [Bobble, HDC] 6x, Bobble.  (13)

Cut yarn, FO.

Finishing

You can use your new crochet rainbow appliqué to add some rainbow goodness to any of your makes!  Here the appliqué is shown attached to Kathy’s Everything Cozy!  You can find this pattern as well as matching shamrock buttons in her Etsy shop!

Fold the cozy into thirds and position the rainbow in the center.

Using the red yarn tail, stitch the appliqué onto the cozy.  Be sure to only grab the top layer of stitches on the cozy to ensure that the stitches don’t show on the other side.

Weave in all tails and cut yarn.

This project was a collaboration with Kathy of Kathy’s Kozies and her Everything Cozy!  It was designed to fit her Everything Cozy which you can find in her Etsy shop.  You can also find these adorable laser-cut wooden shamrock buttons on her website!

If you make this crochet rainbow appliqué, please share it! I would love to see your work! You can tag me on Instagram and Facebook @theplushpineapple. Use the tag #theplushpineapple.

Purchase the full PDF version of The Bobble Rainbow Appliqué on Etsy

Purchase the full PDF version of The Bobble Rainbow Appliqué on Ravelry

“Much love, sunshine, and pineapples”

Sarah

The photographs and pattern contained in this document are the property of A Plush Pineapple.  Unauthorized reproduction, in whole or in part, or distribution of this pattern or content is prohibited. ALL FINISHED PRODUCTS created using this pattern may be sold locally or online.  If selling finished products online, please give my blog credit for the pattern by posting a link to my website. 

Written by

Sarah

Sarah is the maker and designer behind A Plush Pineapple. She is a wife of thirteen years to her college sweetheart and momma to two awesome kiddos. When she is not crocheting, designing, or blogging, you can probably find her soaking up the sun or eating seafood. Her goal as a designer is that love, sunshine, and pineapples make their way into the hearts and homes of all who make her designs.