Galaxy Afghan: A Free Crocheted Baby Blanket Pattern (for a big boy)
I found this pattern when I was first learning to crochet and looking for free patterns. I was originally looking for patterns for babies but realized that the dimensions of those blankets would be too small for a three year old. Since I learned to crochet after my son had already become a toddler, I never got the chance to make him a baby blanket. I decided that this afghan would be the equivalent.
I started this afghan for my now 5 year old- TWO YEARS AGO! I just completed it this past weekend. No, it’s not a complicated pattern. I just did the hexagons whenever I could over the course of a few months, which took longer than normal since I had just had my second child. When it came time to whipstitch the hexagons together, I had to wait until the kids were asleep or one would one try to throw them in the air like confetti and the other would be stuffing them in his mouth or even more disturbing- trying to pull them apart.
Because it took me so long to finish my son still refers to the afghan as my “yarns”. Today he told me that he liked my yarns and he felt proud. Another satisfied customer!
Project Details:
I used worsted weight Plymouth Encore, 75% acrylic, 25% wool.
A Light Yellow, 3.5 oz. = Plymouth Encore 215- Yellow
B Medium Yellow, 3.5 oz. = Plymouth Encore 1382- Bright Yellow
C Peach, 3.5 oz. = Plymouth Encore 597- Peach
D Salmon, 3.5 oz. = Plymouth Encore 1383- Orange
E Mauve, 7 oz. = Plymouth Encore 2340- Light Plum
F Violet, 7 oz. = Plymouth Encore 960- Plum Wine
G Light Pink, 7 oz. = Plymouth Encore 029- Pink
H Dark Pink, 7 oz. = Plymouth Encore 1385- Hot Pink (I ended up needing a little more than 7 oz.)
I Light Turquoise, 10.5 oz. = Plymouth Encore 793- Light Blue
J Dark Turquoise, 17.5 oz. = Plymouth Encore 4045- Serenity Blue
K Royal Blue, 17.5 oz. = Plymouth Encore 133- Bright Royal
L Purple, 17.5 oz = Plymouth Encore 1384- Purple
Notes: Once all of the hexagons are crocheted, the pattern asks that you sew motifs together according to the photograph. This must be new because my printed instructions (from two years ago) say to sew according to “the chart”, which does not exist. I searched Google and all I could come up with were posts on discussion boards asking if anyone had the chart to the Galaxy Afghan. Looking at the photograph helps until you get to the purple. From the photo you can’t make out what to do with the half-motifs.
After a few weeks of trying to stay up till after the kids were asleep so that I could lay the blanket flat and mess around with different placement, I decided to rip out two of the purple half motifs and make 6 more whole motifs. Now each side of the afghan had 8 purple motifs and 3 purple half-motifs. I put the 3 purple motifs in the middle and 4 whole motifs on either side of the half motifs and repeated this on the other end of the afghan.
The effect the whipstitching has on the wrong side looks really cool so I wove in the ends on the right side.
I’m noticing, just a day after the recipient took possession of the afghan, a couple of ends that I wove in have come out. My suggestion is to make sure that you try to have ends be at least 6 inches long and weave in as much of that as you can to avoid this issue.
