Astrophil Blanket
Quick Summary:
- Free!!!
- Beginner friendly – 4 row repeat, with cabling on only one of the rows.
- Wrong-side rows = “purl all”
- Instructions given for 3 different yarn weights – DK, Worsted, Bulky – with more to be added in the future.
- Sized for car seats and strollers with instructions on how to modify.
- Knit seamlessly as one piece – no picking up stitches at the end!
Last year my in-laws took a big family trip to the snow right after Christmas and to mark the occasion I designed the Astrophil Hat for all the girls. The result was so dense and cozy that it was natural to take the stitch pattern from that project and turn it into a matching baby blanket. I’ve been wanting to put a free pattern out for a long time and this seemed like the perfect fit!
Astrophil is a baby blanket pattern suitable for beginning knitters since 3 out of every 4 rows is simply stockinette. The 4th row uses two basic cables to create a very cushy, star-shaped texture, and is a variation of the traditional Aran Honeycomb motif. The instruction for all wrong-side rows is “purl all” which makes for an easy, relaxing project.
As with all of my blanket designs the body and borders are knit seamlessly as one piece – so there is no need to pick up stitches at the end or knit on a separate border (who’d want to do that?!). The pattern is written to fit strollers and car seats but it can easily be made into larger sizes and I give detailed information on how to do so.
Instructions are given for 3 different yarn weights (DK, Worsted, Bulky) and I’ll be adding Fingering, Sport and Super Bulky as soon as I have sample pieces to check. (The pattern for those weights is already finished so if you would like to receive it early and be a test knitter please reach out to me!)
I made several new tutorials to support this pattern as well. The biggest one being how I knit from 3 skeins of yarn to create a bulky edge and even out the color differences that can happen when you switch skeins of hand-dyed yarn.
Name
Here is the story behind the name that I mentioned before in the original post for the matching hat:
When not fully stretched out, this cable pattern resembles many interlinking stars and indeed some stitch dictionaries call it “Telescope Lattice” – so an astronomical theme seemed fitting.
The name ‘Astrophil’ comes from Sir Philip Sidney’s (1554-1586) sonnet sequence Astrophel and Stella. I can’t sing, so when my son was born I recited poetry to calm him down instead of lullabies. He responded particularly well to sonnets and I’d cycle through all the ones I knew in chronological order, which meant Sidney’s poems from the 1580’s came first. As you’re clever enough to deduce “Astrophil” breaks down into ‘star-lover’ (Greek ‘aster’ + ‘phil’) and “Stella” is the latin for ‘star’.
You can find this pattern and detailed information about each of the samples shown on Ravelry:
(Also available on LoveCrafts)
22 Comments
Patty Hoppe
Beautifully done. I’m rather dumbstruck by its beauty! Thank you for sharing with me.
Trevor Maddison
Hi
I am a knitting beginner and knitting the Astrophil Blanket. So far the Bottom Boarder has been straight forward. I am now going on to the Body section and it says begin with Row 4. Is that Row 4 in the body part? If yes, after Row 4 where do I go next?
a. Row 1
b. Row 5
or
c. Repeat Row 4 after the 2nd marker
I hope this is clear, I look forward to your reply
Thanks in advance
Skye
Hi Trevor,
Yes – Row 4 of the body section. After that work Rows 5-8 of the body section. From then on keep repeating Rows 1-8 of the body section until the blanket reaches a length you are happy with.
Sue Caronia
I am trying to do a sample of this blanket. I can’t figure out the pattern rows (4 and 8). If I count correctly – row 4: has 12 stitches so after the marker I would K3, then keep repeating LC,RC,K4, then K4 before the marker? For row 8: After the marker I would K1 then keep repeating RC, K4, LC and then do K1 before the marker? That would mean a multiple of 12 (LC,RC,K4) + 7(K3 and K4 after and before the markers) on row 4 and a multiple of 12 (RC, K4, LC) +2 (K1 and K1 after and before the markers) on row 8. That gives me a count of 19 on row 4 and 14 on row 8. What am I missing? Thanks for your help. I love this pattern but can’t figure out where I’m reading it wrong.
Skye
Hi Sue,
You are looking at Row 8 correctly: multiple of 12 (RC, K4, LC) + 2 (K1 after the first marker and K1 before the second marker). Which would give a row count of 14 for one repeat.
For Row 4 you are correct that as you knit you will be thinking of each repeat in your head as (LC, RC, K4). But for counting/planning you have to write the repeat as (K2, LC, RC, K2). This makes Row 4: multiple of 12 (K2, LC, RC, K2) + 2 (K1 after the first marker and K1 before the second marker) = 14 stitches for one repeat. The chart makes this easier to visualize – those extra 2 stitches are columns 4 and 17.
So working Row 4 looks like: Marker, K3, LC, RC, K4, repeat (LC, RC, K4) – but end with K3 on the last repeat instead of K4, Marker.
Misty
I’m looking for some assistance with the blanket pattern. I completed the first 9 rows of the bottom border but I’m having problems with the increase row. Instead of ending with 220 stitches, I end up with almost 300 stitches. Can you please explain the directions because it looks like there may be a typo.
[ Next row (RS, increase): Sl1kw wyib, [p1, k1] 3 times, PM, k1, [k5, M1] 34 (32, 26) times, k1, PM, [p1, k1] 3 times, k1. (220, 208, 172 st total).]
Also, can you confirm that after completing the border that I’m supposed to start on row 4?
Thanks in advance for answering my questions.
Skye
Hi Misty,
After the first 9 rows of the bottom border you should have 186 stitches (same as CO number). During the increase row you only add 34 stitches (186+34 = 220). Another way to read the row, after you place the marker:
…, K6, M1, then do (k5, M1) 33 more times, k1, place marker, …
After this increase row you do start with row 4 of the “body” section (the first cable row). Then work rows 5-8. After that repeat Rows 1-8 of the body section 23 more times or until your desired length.
Hope this helps!
Misty
Thanks, Skye, I’m almost done with the increase row and will be starting row 4. I appreciate the explanation.
Arlene
I cannot understand row 9 on top border of Astrophil blanket. Sl1pw wyif, purl to marker. The part I cannot get is the BO on RS in pattern. Row 9 would be a WS. Does that mean that I turn my work to the RS at the marker and the BO in pattern. ? What happens to the stitches that I purled to marker?
Skye
Hi Arlene,
Thank you for catching this – Row 9 (WS) should be “purl to end”, not “to marker”. It’s the same wrong side row as the rest of the blanket. Then you bind off on the following row (right side).
Arlene
Thank you Skye. I was racking my brain to try to figure it out. Now I can finish it
Kathryn Goss
Hello lovely!
I hope you are well and staying safe.
Thank you for posting such a beautiful pattern.
I am actually struggling with the first section “Bottom Border”. The pattern is written very straight forward; however, the pattern in the last 20 to 30 stitches forms a stockinette stitch which doesn’t match the rest of the border (This aoccurs after the 4th row is complete).
Am I doing something wrong? What is the stitch the borders are suppose to form?
Cheers,
Kat
Skye
Hi Kat,
I’m not quite sure how you are getting a stockinette stitch in the last 20-30 stitches. The border (section between the stitch marker and the end of the row) is in “Dot Stitch”. All wrong-side rows are purled and the right-side alternates between [k1, p1] on one row, and then [p1, k1] on the next right-side row.
Hope this might help a little!
Kathryn
Hi Skye,
Thanks for your prompt response.
If I am to a dot stitch, shouldn’t it therefore be Row 2: P1, K3 and Row 4: K3, P1.
Also, doesn’t a dot stitch run in multiples of 4 stitches + 3? So that would mean the CO 176 stitches should either be 175 or 179.
What are your thoughts?
Thanks,
Kathryn
Skye
Perhaps we are thinking of different “dot stitch” patterns. This one is written to be multiples of 2 stitches + 2 stitches for the the selvage. After the row with the M1 increases, the pattern is:
WS row: edge stitch (slipped), purl all.
First RS row: edge stitch (slipped), k1, p1, k1, p1, k1, p1, slip marker ….body pattern…. slip marker, k1, p1, k1, p1, k1, p1, k1.
WS row: edge stitch (slipped), purl all.
Second RS row: edge stitch (slipped), p1, k1, p1, k1, p1, k1, slip marker ….body pattern…. slip marker, p1, k1, p1, k1, p1, k1, k1.
Toni
Hi Skye,
I am an experienced knitter and love this Astrophil pattern as well as how you came about the name. Anyway I am a nurse manager and have a receptionist who is pregnant and due in July. My question is I want to double the size of the blanket to about 44″ by 64″ and was curious as to how you would come up with the number of stitches you would cast on so that I can make sure my numbers are accurate. My other option would be to go by the number of stitches for worsted weight but instead use a chunky or bulky yarn. I look forward to your response.
Thanks,
Toni
Skye
Hi Toni,
I would double the number of horizontal repeats used in the ‘body section’ – so it would be 32 repeats instead of 16 if you are using worsted weight yarn.
CO: 336 st
(# of body repeats x 10) + 16
(32 x 10) + 16 = 336
Then for the increase row in the ‘bottom border’ section:
Next row (RS, increase): Sl1kw wyib, [p1, k1] 3 times, PM, k1, [k5, M1] 64 times, k1, PM, [p1, k1] 3 times, k1. (400 st total)
Hope this helps!
-Skye
Becky
I absolulutely love this blankets pattern, after an age searching for just the right one) so thank you for sharing 🙂 However – when I knit the stated smallest number of sitches in DK and on size 3mm needles (which is just my preference for new baby) it’s coming up much bigger than 22″. Anyway after some brain thinking I worked out that if I cast on 140 and then increase every 3rd stitch through the middle 126 (leaving the 7 each side for the border) so +42 stitches to a total of 182 stitches overasll this gives me a much better size for a smaller ‘pram’ blanket. Might just help someone wanting the same results.
Thanks
Becky
June Robinette
I lost a grandson at 28 weeks. I am now making blankets for the parents who are in the same sad place. The blanket my son received was placed in a shadow box with Evans footprints and bracelet. The ones I’m making are maybe 12×12 square. Got any suggestions for a different pattern. These are quick but I find myself doing the same ones over using different yarns. Thanks
Jenn
Any tips for tackling this pattern as a left-handed knitter? I am still fairly new to the knitting craft and I’m not feeling confident enough to attempt to translate it so the cables end up going the right direction for me.
Kimberly K
I am a little confused by gauge on this pattern.
Using bulky yarn and a size 9 needle I am getting 14-15 stitches across. I feel like if I increase the needles to get the 22 St and 24 rows, I will be using much larger needles and my blanket won’t match
Can you explain this gauge?
KimK
Pingback: