Star Blanket Crochet Pattern: The Free 6 Day Star Guide
The most searched star blanket crochet pattern is the 6 Day Star Blanket by Beth McKee Elliott, and almost every roundup that features it repeats the same mistake. It is a seven pointed star. The six in the name is the number of days, not the number of points.
Key takeaways
The 6 Day Star Blanket has seven points, not six. The name refers to how fast it works up.
A 40 inch baby size needs about 1,500 yards in worsted weight, or about 1,600 yards in DK.
A 60 inch throw needs about 2,500 yards in worsted, or about 2,800 yards in DK.
The pattern calls for two hooks, both larger than the yarn label suggests, because star points curl when the tension is tight.
Nine setup rounds, then a six round sequence repeated until the blanket is the size you want.
Stop at round 12 for a lovey. There is no fixed finish, which is why this pattern fits any yarn amount.
Seven points, not six
Search for a star blanket crochet pattern and the same design comes back again and again. It is the 6 Day Star Blanket, published by Beth McKee Elliott under the name Betty McKnit, and it has been copied into hundreds of roundups. A large share of those roundups describe it as a six pointed star, presumably because of the name.
It is not. Working it as six points produces a different shape with different increase maths, and if you have been counting to six while the pattern counts to seven, that is why your rounds have not been closing. The designer’s own page states seven points plainly. This is the first thing to get right, and it costs nothing to get right.
What the pattern actually is
A star blanket is worked in the round from a small centre outward. Instead of increasing evenly the way a circle does, it increases at fixed positions, and those positions are what push the fabric out into points. Everything between the points is worked flat, so the blanket grows as a star rather than as a disc.
The 6 Day Star runs nine setup rounds to establish the seven points, then repeats a six round sequence for as long as you keep going. The increases sit in the valleys between the points and use cluster stitches, dc2tog and dc3tog, which is what keeps the valleys sharp instead of rounded.
Because the repeat never changes, this is an unusually memorable pattern. After two or three repeats most people stop reading the page. That is the real reason it finishes in under a week, and it is the same quality that makes one row repeat blankets so popular.
How much yarn a star blanket takes
This is the figure that decides whether you can start today, and the designer publishes it, which many pattern pages do not. The numbers below come from her own pattern notes.
| Finished size | DK, yarn weight 3 | Worsted, yarn weight 4 |
|---|---|---|
| 40 in baby blanket | about 1,600 yd | about 1,500 yd |
| 60 in throw | about 2,800 yd | about 2,500 yd |
Note the direction of the difference. DK is the thinner yarn and needs more yardage, not less, because thinner yarn covers less ground per stitch. That trips people up constantly when substituting.
In practical terms, a 60 inch throw in worsted at 2,500 yards is roughly thirteen 200 yard skeins. Buy them together, in one dye lot, and buy one more than the maths says. A star blanket shows a dye lot change as a full ring around the blanket, which is far more visible than a stripe on a rectangular throw.
Why the pattern asks for two hooks
Most blanket patterns name one hook. This one names two, and both are larger than the yarn label recommends: one half a millimetre up from the label, and a second half a millimetre larger again.
The reason is structural. A shape worked in the round with fixed increase points has to lie flat, and flatness depends entirely on whether the increases add enough fabric to keep pace with the growing circumference. If your tension is tight, the points curl upward. Going up in hook size adds the slack the geometry needs. If your points still curl after the first few repeats, go up again before you assume you miscounted.
Where star blankets go wrong
Two failures account for almost all of them, and both are visible early.
Points that curl or cup
The blanket does not lie flat and the tips lift off the table. This is tension, not counting. Size up your hook and keep going. Blocking helps at the end but it will not rescue fabric that is fundamentally too tight.
Points that ruffle
The opposite problem. The edges wave and the blanket will not sit still. This means too many stitches, usually one extra increase worked somewhere in a valley. Count the stitches between two adjacent points and compare them to the round before. The mismatch is almost always in one valley, not spread across the whole round.
Both faults compound with every round, so check after the first full repeat rather than after ten. A star blanket is unusually honest that way: it tells you early if you will look.
Sizes and where to stop
This pattern has no fixed ending. You repeat the six round sequence until the blanket is as big as you want, which makes it the rare pattern you can start without knowing how much yarn you have.
Stop at round 12 for a lovey, roughly the size of a security blanket. Keep going to about 40 inches across for a baby blanket, or to about 60 inches for a throw. Because it is a star rather than a rectangle, measure point to opposite point, not edge to edge, or your blanket will finish considerably larger than you planned.
Where to get the pattern
The pattern is published free, supported by advertising, on the designer’s site. An advertisement free PDF is available to buy if you would rather work from a clean page or print it. We link to her rather than reproducing her instructions here, because the written pattern is her work.
If you want to see the range of star blankets before you choose, Wool Patterns keeps a large collection and Pattern Center focuses on baby sizes. Both are roundups rather than original designs, so follow through to the designer in each case.
A note on stitch names
Crochet runs on two naming conventions and they clash: what one calls a double crochet, the other calls a treble. Same stitch, different name. The cluster stitches in this pattern, dc2tog and dc3tog, are double crochet decreases. If your source uses the other convention, convert before you begin rather than three rows in.
Frequently asked questions
How many points does the 6 Day Star Blanket have?
Seven. The six in the name refers to how many days it takes to work up, not the number of points. A large number of roundups repeat this error, so check the point count against the designer’s own page before you start counting increases.
How much yarn do I need for a star blanket?
For the 6 Day Star Blanket the designer publishes about 1,500 yards of worsted weight for a 40 inch baby size and about 2,500 yards for a 60 inch throw. In DK it is about 1,600 and 2,800 yards for the same two sizes, because thinner yarn covers less area per stitch.
Why is my star blanket curling at the points?
Tension, not counting. The increases are not adding enough fabric to keep pace with the growing circumference. Move up a hook size and keep working. This pattern already asks for a hook larger than the yarn label recommends for exactly this reason.
Why is my star blanket ruffling?
Too many stitches, usually one extra increase worked into a single valley. Count the stitches between two neighbouring points and compare against the previous round. The error is nearly always in one valley rather than spread across the round.
Is the 6 Day Star Blanket pattern free?
Yes. It is published free on the designer’s website, supported by advertising. An advertisement free PDF can be bought separately if you prefer to print it or work without ads.
What size should I stop at?
Round 12 gives a lovey. Around 40 inches across gives a baby blanket and around 60 inches gives a throw. Measure from one point to the opposite point rather than edge to edge, or the finished blanket will be larger than you intended.
Sources
Point count, yardage, hook guidance and round structure are taken from the 6 Day Star Blanket pattern page by Beth McKee Elliott. Yarn weight categories and hook conversions follow Craft Yarn Council standards.
