This blanket is worked diagonally from one corner to the opposite corner. Starting with a small cast-on, and working flat in rows, increases are worked until the desired width is reached, then decreases are worked at one edge along with increases at the other edge until the desired length is reached, then decreases are worked at both edges until only a few stitches remain. The pattern is written for 6 colours, forming a rainbow. These are worked in a sequence of 18 stripes, which are repeated 10 times in all over the entire blanket, so that you use an equal quantity of each colour.

I have recently been learning natural dyeing with plants, and I wanted to prove to myself and anyone else who doesn’t run away quickly enough, that it is possible to get colours from all parts of the spectrum. Not just beige.

So I set to work and dyed six skeins, and although I haven’t yet mastered crimson red, I am pretty happy with my results.

Next question is to decide what to do with my six skeins of yarn. How big should a baby blanket be? An internet search made me more confused than ever – I found at least 12 different definitions of baby blankets with different sizes and proportions.

In the end I decided that I would knit the biggest size I could with the yarn I had available. I went for a rectangular shape based approximately on the Golden Ratio. This means that the long edge is about 1.6 times the length of the short edge. It’s a ratio that appears often in nature, and is considered by some to be the most aesthetically-pleasing rectangle.

I decided to work the blanket diagonally, which meant that I could calculate as I went to make sure I did not run out of yarn and could complete a full number of repeats of the sequence of my six colours.

The pattern is made in a series of stripes each of two rows, making a thick, light fabric with plenty of air pockets for warmth. Each stripe forms a line of little stars. Changing colours for each row of stars makes them show up beautifully. Unfortunately it also generates a lot of ends to sew in. If you like, you can console yourself by paying yourself 10 cents/10p/a krone - or whatever currency you are using - for each end you sew in, then at the end you might have enough for a gorgeous hand-dyed skein from your favourite indie dyer.

If you don’t want to sew so many ends in, you can use just two colours and carry the yarn up the side of the work, or work in blocks of colour or a single colour, but then your stars will not shine so brightly.

If you wish to make a larger or smaller blanket, or a scarf, this is no problem. Work the increase rows until the edges of your work measure the width you want, then work the straight rows until the long edge measures the length you want, then work the decreases. Just make sure that you keep enough yarn to work the decreases.