Here is my Outer Space Blanket! These friendly spacemen and aliens are sure to appeal to the future astronaut and/or sci-fi geek in your life!

Please note - this blanket was previously published under my first Ravelry account, Shoediva. No changes have been made to the pattern, it’s just in a new home!

A baby blanket for the unconventional parent; a throw for the den or an afghan to snuggle watching Battlestar Galactica under; this series of charts provides plenty of scope to make a blanket in your choice of yarn weight and gauge. The lighter the yarn, the smaller the blanket - or you can simply pick the blocks you want and set them in a sky full of stars. 17 charts provide plenty of scope and variation to create a totally unique blanket! The friendly characters can also be used to create sweaters, cushion covers, bags or washcloths - wherever your imagination takes you!

Usually for worsted weight yarn I would use between a 5mm and 6mm set of needles to get the drape I like (no surprise that I have way too many 5.5mm hooks and needles in my grab bag!) 5mm is great for a somewhat hardier material, perfect for a floor blanket (and I back mine with polar fleece, quilting along the edges of the squares once sewn together) while 6mm have more drape (but weave those ends in well if you tend to knit a little looser than the gauge on the ballband).

Basically, with the way these patterns work, you could use any weight of yarn; just work to the yarn gauge and needle size uniformly over the blanket and it will all be fine & dandy.

Thanks, as ever, are due to the incomparable rjhuggz, who knitted up the ‘show’ blanket, caught any errors - and did the photos! She is a wonder and deserves to be showered with kudos :) Thanks are also due to shuggaar, another test knitter with infinite patience. Thank you ladies!

My test knitter Rebecca has linked her project to it here:rjhuggz’ Outer Space Blanket

She did a great job and very conscientiously wrote down all the yarn used and the colours chosen. The specific yarn she used is discontinued but it’s a worsted weight. All my blankets are designed that you can use any weight yarn to create different sizes, but helpfully she’s listed all the colours she used in this project page, so I do recommend having a look at her work!

Here’s a general yarn guide though, for the DiVe Zenith (50g balls,110 metres):

15 black
1 red
3 white
4 ecru = 1/2 yellow and 3 green to dye
2 1/2 blue
1 grey
1/2 orange

Hope this has helped! Enjoy knitting it, and don’t forget to post pictures - I love seeing how the projects come together!