Everything is tied up.

I don't quite know what to say. The ripple, my ripple, is done. And I think it may just be the best thing I have ever laid my eyes on. I think I love it. I made the little girl, too, and she's definitely a keeper. ;-)

Photos can not do this thing justice. They never, ever can. Not when taken by a Kodak EasyShare CD40, at any rate. Alas. But, take photos I must, and take photos I do. They are sort of a tribute (inadequate as it may be) to my ripple afghan which, with appreciation to a new friend of mine who sort of gave it this name, I shall forevermore think of as Tsunami.

I am going to point out the glaringly obvious (at least, to my eyes). I use a substandard, Photoshop rip-off of a photo editing program. Hey, it was $20. You know? Anyway, I like the blurry-around-the-edges look, but sometimes it doesn't come across so subtley. Forgive me. ;-)

I haven't measured Tsunami yet, but it is BIG. Due to the fact that it seems to be wider than it is long, though, I decided to put it on my bed with the stripes going vertically. Hey, it works for me. It reaches the floor on all three relevant sides, and comes up to the top of the bed quite nicely. It's almost as though I planned it that way. ;-)

I suppose this is me signing off for now. I have other projects waiting for me, so ripple afghans are taking a back seat for a while. Not that it isn't addictive, and lovely, and so right in so many ways. Maybe I'll be back. :-) Happy rippling in the mean time, everyone.

--Love, Deb

Yarn spew.

I'm not sure of the correct term for the tangle of yarn ends you have left to darn in, but that's what I call it. Yarn spew. :-)

So, I am at the point (unbelievably) of sewing in my loose ends! I am going to be in serious shock when I have fastened off the last of them. I can't even think of starting anything else yet. I will need a moment just to breathe. Done. Done. DONE!

I guess I'd better not get ahead of myself, though. After all, I still do have a mess of yarn spew to clean up. ;-)

Nearly there...

In an effort to spur myself on to more rippling action, and to finish this beast of a blanket, I am posting here today! I have been such a bad little rippler lately. I have about 20 color bands to work, and then I'll be done...so why can't I seem to get this thing finished? It's not the seemingly daunting task of tying ends in, because I actually enjoy that. It's not the fear of the anticlimax of completion. It's just plain and simple distraction, folks. That's it. I am one majorly sidetracked girl right now!

I'm really not sure about the whole, women-are-good-at-multitasking thing. I certainly don't seem to be able to pull it off. Maybe it's just too many tasks. I mean, everyone has limits, right? But hey, right here and now I'm going to recommit myself to finishing this blanket! I will finish this afghan, if it's the last thing I do!

Happy Mothers' Day!

Blessings to all of you ripplers who also share the honorable title of Mother. :) What a tricky, difficult, wonderful job it can be! I have four children between the ages of five years, and nine months, of age. Two girls and two boys. They are awesome, and I am so overjoyed to be their mother!

Because my afghan looks different from every angle, I took another couple of shots to help round things out. I want you to have a somewhat accurate understanding of what it looks like, after all! ;)

Why are they so hard to photograph? LOL

Please don't look under the chair!!! LOL

I took several photos of my afghan, trying to get the colors and the "feel" of it in picture form, but D A N G !! I just couldn't quite capture it. waaaaaaaaaah! That's okay, though...wouldn't want you all to be too jealous, anyway. ;) heehee

My collection of yarns has slowly been evolving, or devolving, depending on how you look at it. I have added several colors that I have either seen somewhere and liked, or have dyed myself. I am trying to keep a good stock of my favorites, my staples, being a grassy green, a lighter shade of that same green, a lavender, and that one variegated yarn that keeps showing up. I am hoping that by using those regularly throughout the afghan, plus adding in the other various colors as my heart desires, I will end up with an exciting, yet not all-over-the-place color scheme.

I did say I am hoping. LOL

--Deb

My new baby

I don't have much time to post, as I have to start dinner! :0) I just wanted to post a pic of my new ripple afghan. The yarns are an eclectic bunch in various fibers and weights, and are being chosen according to my mood at that moment. The orange I am currently working in was chosen by my husband. It is a kool-aid dyed wool (orange flavor, naturally...). It follows after a black cotton/nylon with questionable color fastness. *sigh* Oh well. Anyway, here it is. Maybe I'll have time later to edit this post a bit.

Out with the old, in with the new!

We have been blessed with a wonderful visit with my mother-, father- and brother-in-law (from overseas), so I have been very busy. However, I have managed to finish my first ripple afghan, which now happily resides at the end of my three-year-old-girl's bed. She is very pleased with her aquisition. :o)

I have begun a new, much larger afghan, using the soft waves pattern in the correct version (as opposed to working it in single crochet, as I mistakenly did with the first one). I haven't taken any photos of it yet, but I will...once all the visiting madness has settled down.

Oh, I am excited about this new afghan! Perhaps I am being a less attentive hostess than I could be, but I confess, I think I am addicted anew. The afghan calls me constantly. Even when I have had a solid slog at it, and just have to take a break, I find it calling me again before long.

When it is done, it will be large enough to cover my double bed with the three relevant sides touching the floor. It will be beautiful, I know it will. I am choosing the colors however I feel like choosing them at that moment. Sometimes I ask my children what color I should use next. Sometimes I just feel that it needs a touch of a certain hue. Sometimes, I use a color I have just been dying to use (such as one of the three hanks I dyed with Kool-aid -- I recommend this highly!!). As many of you have noticed with your own afghans, every new color changes the whole afghan just a little.

Anyway, before I get too excited about blogging the new afghan, let me tie up the loose ends of the old one. Here's a photo of the finished product for you to enjoy. :o)

afghanupdate

afghanupdate, originally uploaded by naughtydebbers.

Well, slowly but surely, my afghan is getting there. Where? Somewhere. :)

I have a confession to make. This afghan was SUPPOSED to be made using the soft waves pattern we all know and love. Only, well, it's my first crochet project and all...and I didn't know what double crochet was...and I looked it up in an outdated book...and was given a definition that does NOT match the popular definition for double crochet...and started merrily crocheting along in what I later found out is actually, no kidding, SINGLE crochet.

So for anyone who has ever wondered what the soft waves pattern would look like in single crochet (with just a couple of adjustments I made to make it work -- and here was I thinking the PATTERN was wrong!), well, wonder no more. Behold; Single Soft Waves.

Next on my agenda after finishing this (because yes, I am a stubborn kind of girl and yes, I will finish what I started, DANG IT) is another soft waves afghan -- this time, in colours more to my liking, and following the original pattern, and much, much bigger.

But, to add a little perspective to this whole afghan ordeal, I have included in this photo a reminder of one of the best things of which I have ever participated in the making, and in which there is no flaw -- my perfect firstborn son, Jonathan! This boy always appreciates mama's handiwork, too, be it perfect or no. :o)

God bless!

--Deb

Well, howdy!

My name is Deb. I post mainly on my homemaking blog, Try-Hard Homemaker, but I am just about tickled purple to have been invited (invited myself ;) ) to participate here! I am a knitter from way back, converted to a quilter, and now, well dang it, I'm addicted to crochet. Okay, I admit it, I am a hardcore craft addict. :D

This is my first crochet effort. I have dabbled a little, here and there, but this will be the first time I have actually *crocheted something*. It is going swimmingly, but I attribute that mainly to a high level of general craft literacy.

Am I the only person here who is using yarn purchased from their local grocery store? :D Honestly, I have four small children; I'd probably have to sell one of them to be able to buy the yarns that some of you are using! My yarn is a *lovely*, cheap, acrylic 8-ply...I cut the grocery budget short to be able to buy it (just kidding...). But, it works.

Here is my afghan-in-progress. :D