Year of Color 2026 — Month 4 of 12

Welcome to Year of Color!

Carnival Wave brings all three April colors together in a ripple that feels as joyful as it looks. Each row is worked straight across, no shaping, no angling. The chevron patterning comes entirely from the stitch pattern itself, which pulls the fabric into waves without any extra effort from you. It’s a confident, celebratory square that’s more approachable than it appears.

Materials

• Yarn: Cascade Heritage Fingering in 5658 Herb 🟢 (A), 5611 Butter 🟡 (B), and 5737 Dusky Coral 🟠 (C)
• Hook: E/4 (3.5mm) or size needed to obtain gauge
• Gauge: 24 sts and 20 rows = 4″ in dc
• Notions: Tapestry needle, scissors
• Finished size: 8″ × 8″ blocked

Abbreviations

ch chain

dc double crochet

sl st slip stitch

sp space

Special Stitches

Spike dc: insert hook in stitch 2 rounds below, yarn over, pull up a loop to the height of the current round, yarn over and complete as a regular dc. 

Pattern

Color sequence: Herb 🟢 (A), Dusky Coral 🟠 (C), Butter 🟡 (B), and 5737 Dusky Coral 🟠 (C). Repeat throughout.

Note: It might seem weird that the sequence is A, C, B. But we kept the letters to be the same as the knit square. Many of you are working both, and it would be hard to retrain your mind. We didn’t want to cause you to make an error.

Row 2 (A 🟢): Ch 2. *Dc in ch-1 sp, spike dc (into the foundation chain), dc in same ch-1 sp. Ch 1.*

Repeat between *’s until you’ve worked all ch-1 sp’s.

Then, work 2 dc’s in the space between the first set of dc’s and the turning chain.

Get ready to work Dusky Coral 🟠 (C). Join C 🟠 by bringing it through the loop on the hook. Hold the yarn on the hook and take A 🟢 and pull it tight so that the final stitch in it disappears.

Future rnds: Repeat Row 3, alternating colors every second rows. So, you’ll start by working 2 rows of C 🟠, followed by 2 rows of B 🟡 and then A 🟢.

How many rounds: Work until your square measures approx 8″ long and you have worked 2 rows of a chevron.

Final row: This row is worked by continuing the color of the previous 2 rows. This will mean that the top of your square will have 3 rows of a single color. But it will mostly disappear when it’s seamed. Ch 2. Work a Spike dc in the Spike dc from 2 rows below.

* Work 1 dc in each of the next 3 sts (these will be a grouping of a [dc, spike, dc]).

In ch-1 sp, spike dc in the spike dc from 2 rows below. * until you have 3 sts rem.

Work 1 dc in each of the next 3 sts (these will be a grouping of a [dc, spike, dc]). You’re done! FO and clip yarn.

Blocking: Block to 8.5″ so that when you take it off the blocking wires and it compresses, it will be 8″.

Finishing: Weave in ends.

About Year of Color

This square is part of Year of Color 2026, a 12-month program that teaches you a new colorwork technique every month through two free square patterns (one crochet, one knit). Each month features a curated color palette, technique tutorials, and color inspiration articles. By December, you’ll have 12 squares to join together into whatever you’d like, and a whole year of new skills to show for it.