Time Travel with Yarn: Vintage Space Comic Designs [with Free C2C / Tapestry Crochet Pattern Grid]

Today’s project is inspired by the amazing photos which continue to be released from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope. Launched on December 25, 2021 after decades of development, Webb is now the world’s largest and most powerful space-based telescope in operation. With its four onboard instruments, scientists will be able to study the very early days of our universe, the ways stars, planets, and galaxies form and evolve, and obtain spectroscopic data on the atmosphere compositions of exoplanets.

Webb’s first full-color scientific images and findings released on July 12, 2022 marked the official start of its formal science work. If you enjoyed the amazing images and space facts made possible by the Hubble Space Telescope, the James Webb Space Telescope is probably going to blow your mind. Personally, I can’t wait to see the exoplanet data that comes out. I love dreaming up life and landscapes on other planets, and I imagine I’ll have content in the future that’s inspired by the same (décor, stories…garden projects??!!).

“Galaxy M51 (MIRI image),” taken by NASA’s James Webb Telescope.
Credits: NASA, ESA, CSA, and STScI

“A Massive Cluster is Born (N79),” taken by NASA’s James Webb Telescope.
Credits: NASA, ESA, CSA, and STScI

“This image taken by Webb’s NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) shows a part of the Orion Nebula known as the Orion Bar,” taken by NASA’s James Webb Telescope.
Credits: NASA, ESA, CSA, and STScI

A quick review of history seems to show that space has always inspired humanity, thus the golden era of our rocket age is unsurprisingly ripe with all sorts of retro visions of what our future might look like. Perhaps one of the most recognizable images of a “vintage” or “retrofuture” rocket, in my opinion, is the one designed by Belgian artist Georges Remi for his famous cartoon adventurer named TinTin. Its missile shape combined with a red and white checkered coloring seems to be a classic reference point in popular culture whenever rocket history is being discussed.

A Brief History of TinTin

Remi, better known under his pen name of Hergé (a play on his initials “G.R.” said backwards with a French pronunciation of “R.G.”), completed twenty-four stories involving TinTin the reporter which comprised many historical events in its plots during its run from 1929 to 1986. However, the pictured space technology contained in his two moon adventures are likely some of the most recognizable images from the series and evoke a nostalgia for the era they represent even from those not familiar with the series more specifically. In other words, many people recognize the TinTin rocket without knowing anything else about it. It has become that iconic. SpaceX’s Starship rocket that’s hoping to ferry humans to the Moon and Mars in the coming decade is even possibly inspired by the TinTin rocket! (Elon Musk tweet-confirmed something to that effect, but I’m no good at searching on X/Twitter, sorry.)

Here’s a very early self-designed crochet project of mine. I had so many ideas for a retro-themed rocket inspired by TinTin, but in the end, I just made a giant applique of sorts.

The apron ties were a last-ditch effort to make something useful out of it after every other concept fell through. There are a bunch of little pockets in the back for dowel rods to tuck in and keep the rocket fins straight. I think I was going for a Halloween costume at one point? Who knows… It gets to stay in my collection for memory’s sake.

According to biographical accounts of his life, Hergé did an incredible amount of research and had many discussions with involved scientists to make sure the rocket trips in the Destination Moon (1950, 1953) and Explorers on the Moon (1954) stories were as accurate as possible to what was being designed for future space travel in the day. That said, reading and watching in modern times, where real trips to the Moon are decades old and astronauts regularly ferry to orbit for long stays on the International Space Station, TinTin’s adventure almost seems commonplace with all we take for granted now.

It further reminds me of how far humanity has progressed in the “final frontier” considering Hergé’s stories came out nearly two decades before Neil Armstrong first set foot on the Moon in 1969 and several years before the first satellite (Sputnik I) made it to space in 1957. While there are definitely details in TinTin’s adventure that turned out to be incorrect as far as space travel goes, I will say it’s quite a relief that astronauts don’t actually black out during launch and landing like the Destination Moon crew did.

Project Time! C2C Crochet Vintage Space Comic Rocket Pattern

What would a C2C or tapestry crochet tribute to the retro rocket age be without a nod to the classic comic book rockets from science fiction stories? I took to my pixel software and put something together that would capture its overall vibe in blanket format, but I ran into a hiccup: I didn’t have the right colors in my yarn stash!

Since I’d been on a neutrals kick for my house decorations, my options were limited to shades of tan, grey, and a bit of black, so that’s what my finished project looked like. My husband claimed it for his chair in our room – a success overall in my book.

For the pattern itself, though, I did do my best to use nostalgic and fun colors. I’ve also included a couple of bonus grids in case a whole blanket set is in mind based on the retro rocket age. It’s definitely on my gift list this holiday season for any rocket lovers in the family and friends circle!

Note on C2C / Tapestry Crochet Patterns
I have not included any instruction or tutorial directions on how to do C2C (corner-to-corner) or tapestry crochet in my pattern file. My abilities in this area are limited, and there are so many amazing crochet instructors out there that can lead you through these techniques much better than I could. The video that I used when originally learning was put out by The Crochet Crowd, so I can personally recommend it. However, a simple search on YouTube or your favorite search engine is sure to lead you to many excellent teachers all the same who I’ve learned other things from in crochet.