“What color do you want your blanket to be?” I asked my three year old niece, Kaycee.

“Can you make it pink?” She paused. “And purple?”

Kaycee leaned into her big sister Breeana and whispered something else. Breeana giggled, “She wants a Rainbow.”

“A rainbow?”

Kaycee nodded as she sucked on her red lollipop.

“Ok,” I said. “A rainbow it is.”

I wasn’t too sure how all the colors would look, but I agreed to make a rainbow. On Saturday, I went to Walmart and picked out the yarn.  Of course, I had to ask Richard what the colors in a rainbow were because I forgot my second grade science. He reminded me, ROYGBIV. There is no pink in rainbows, so when I traded the red yarn for pink, I didn’t think Mother Nature would mind too much.  I called dibs on Creative License.

I started making the blanket late Saturday afternoon.  I wanted to see what the colors looked like together and I fiddled with some of my favorite stitches. The stitches I don’t have to count or pay too much attention to. When it comes to crocheting, my fingers have muscle memory on simple patterns like X’s and Railroad Tracks and Popcorn Stitches.

I finished the first seven rows by 5PM.  This is the first time I’ve taken a picture of something before I finished with it…working with these colors made me happy…and I still had blue and purple to add!

On Sunday, I set my afternoon intention – to watch two Star Trek movies and work on Kaycee’s Rainbow. My fingers flew as Captain Kirk first battled his arch nemesis Kahn and then as he battled a new enemy – the Romulan Nero. By the end of the second movie I finished the blanket.  I had just enough yarn in each color to add fringe.

Kaycee’s Rainbow Blanket bursts with color that reminds me of juicy tart skittles surrounded by birthday party confetti. I followed no pattern except the ones my hands wanted to create. I counted no stitch except for the base row. I added the fringe as an after thought. Mostly, I had fun creating something from nothing.