Blanket Mania Part 1: Ripples

My favorite thing to make, whether knit or crochet, is blankets. Lately, though, my love of blankets has reached a level of mania right under my mania of Harry Potter. Unfortunately, living in Arizona makes blanket-making an uncomfortable venture, but it doesn't seem to stop me from making blanket after blanket. I always have an afghan in progress, whatever else I may be working on. I like all kinds of blankets, all sizes, all colors, all patterns.

So as the first installment, I will discuss the Ripple. I have made other ripples before, as published on this post. I have also mentioned that the Ripple was one of my grandma's favorite things to crochet and has now become one of my favorites.

Using Jan Eaton's book 200 Ripple Stitches--the epitome of Ripple sources, in essence, the Rippler's Bible--I made an lapghan a couple of weeks ago that is now one of my all-time favorite blankets.

I used the Pink Ripple pattern and added a wavy edging all the way around. I never thought of the Ripple as being a edging sort of blanket, but this edging turned out to be perfect for the blanket. In fact, I'm not sure it would be my favorite if not for the edging.

The Pink Ripple pattern gives the afghan a nice, airy feeling. I can sleep with this afghan on my bed during the summertime without getting overheated.
I used a size K crochet hook for this ripple, which seems to be my favorite hook size for ripples lately. I like how fast the blankets make up when I use a larger hook.
I am also working on a ripple in a variegated yarn to donate to Project Linus. I didn't want to have to use another color, so I altered the Soft Waves pattern to give it texture. I crochet in the back loops only of each row to give it depth without altering the pattern significantly. It makes the rows stand out without taking away from the color of the yarn. For this blanket I am using a size I crochet hook, so a few smaller from my normal Ripple hook size. The yarn is so soft and lightweight that I can still stand to have it on my lap during the summer.

More blankets to come on my blog here.

Back to crocheting!