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well, it's my first crochet project and all...and I didn't know what double crochet was...and I looked it up in an outdated book...and was given a definition that does NOT match the popular definition for double crochet...and started merrily crocheting along in what I later found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

I tried to resist

I didn't want to join in. Not because I don't like the idea or the ripples but just because I had other things to crochet and I don't like not finishing what I start. I should have realised that I wouldn't be able to resist.

First I realised that we needed more blankets for the children. Then I noticed that I had more yarn in my stash than I thought so that was my excuse gone. I may even end up making two - one in wool/acrylic mix and one in cotton.

I've started with the wool/acrylic mix ripple. I'm trying to stick to masculine colours for my son because the cotton one will have a lot of pink.

This is Day One


This is Day Two.

Well, I'm hooked!

Hi everyone! I also saw this on Posy's blog and since I LOVE ripples I had to join in. I started mine this past Saturday (the 24th). I am making mine 7'5" wide and then around 8 feet long too. I want it to fit on any bed in my house. Plus, I have tall children and dh so it has to fit their height as well. LOL

These are the colors I'm using. The 2 darker colors on the left bottom are brown and black.





This is how much I got done the first day:




This is where I stopped this morning:





I just LOVE working on this so much. I also like coming here and seeing everyone's different ghans whether crocheted or knitted. Ain't no big thing to me which one!
Oh yea...and I am doing this pattern for my afghan. I am also doing the off white every 2 rows of color.

Ripple and Wait

Hi! I'm on day 4 of my ripple. It was a bumpy start. I frogged it a few times before I got the pattern right. Still, I don't know what happend with the 1st two rows... they're not as ripple-y as they were before. Hmmm. I've got some other nice jewel-toned colors and some lighter ones for a mix. Thank goodness for the random stripe generator. I would go crazy picking and worrying about color choice. Maybe I won't do that now!

I'm excited to start a big crochet project and also to make a blanket. We may be trying to get pregnant in the next few months, and this will project will keep me company while I'm waiting. Pregnancy is a long time, too. I'll just be rippling away.

Stop by my blog sometime - Mary's Madness. I knit sometimes, I talk about my job as a middle school teacher, and all the other stuff that has been happening to me this past year. It's been a rough one.

I can't wait to see how everyone's ripple comes along!

a late bloomer joining in

Hi everybody, I'm a little late to introduce myself but I didn't want to until I had actually started my ripple. This is my very first ripple even though I've been crocheting over twenty years. I was having a terrible time trying to decide what pattern to use since I didn't have the 200 ripple pattern book yet.

I was reading the reviews for it on amazon.com and there were several compliants of errors in many patterns in the book. Have any of you experienced problems in the patterns in the book?

A couple of days ago I started with Bevs Baby Ripple Afghan thinking the pattern was straight forward enough for this newbie, but after two days of working with frustrating progress I confirmed I still don't like single crochet for big projects. So I switched to Candi Jensen's "RippleEffect" from her book "Candy Crochet" using halfdouble crochet and I immediatley loved it. There is more of a wave effect in it which I love.

You can see the difference between the ripple and wave in the two. This ripple afghan going to be a gift for one of my daughter's newest mommy girlfriends. I'm already thinking about other ripples I want to do, this is addictive! I'm excited to be part of this great group. Happy Rippling everyone!

cross posted on my blog

Nisa's Ripple Blanket, Day 2

Is it supposed to ripple/wrinkle like this? The beginning of all the other blankets I've seen look flat. I'm no knitter or crocheter - this is my first big project of either kind. I had to crochet in Grade 6 as part of Home Economics or Crafts or whatever the heck that class was in the all-girls parochial school I attended when I lived overseas for a year. We had toglue samples of various stitches into a book. Our big project was to crochet a doily! What fun! Not. And so began my lifelong disdain for crochet until recently after seeing the colourful explosion of ripple blankets and grannies pop up all over the web.

I'm now on Day 2 of my blanket. I added the orange stripe with a bit of trepidation - my oldest didn't really want the colour in her blanket, but I loved it and I somehow convinced her it needed to be included. Then when I finished the stripe, I didn't like it at all. I soldiered on and now that I've tempered the deep orange with a bit of the lighter pink, all is right in my world again. However, my next 4 colour choices are some variation of blue or green and so I'm a bit worried how those particular colours will work with the existing ones and in my girls' room.

While taking the progress shots of my blanket, I noticed that the colours I've used so far match the colours of my girls' laundry hanging on the rack in the background. Funny, that.

Oh, before I forget, each 2-row stripe uses up about 1/3 of a 100 g hank of wool. Ouch.

Week 3 Update

Hi Everyone...here's my week 3 progress pic. Progress on the ripple is getting there, it's just starting to get big enough that I'm having a hard time to fit it all in one frame for a photo. I've been debating about how long it should be...how long do you like your blankets? Long enough to cover your toes?

~Keri of Knitty Gritty Thoughts

Beautiful Ripples

This one was made as a wedding gift from LB Woolspun from a pattern in LA Vanna's Favorite Crochet











I knit this on my way back to the midwest to visit for Christmas for my Aunt who is one of my favorite people. It is (roughly) the Misty Garden pattern from Scarf Style. And I have started another ripple baby blanket from some LB Wataercolors 'Bright Clouds' that I found too loopy to knit, but is going to work up beautiful in a crochet ripple.

Ripple-ly Challenged

On Sunday, I spent almost 8 hours trying to get my ripple to ripple. I've had this problem before and was the original reason why I stopped trying to ripple the last time. But this time I think I have it!!!

I'm only using two colors to mimic the colors of the Navajo moccasin.

I will chronicle my crochet journey on my blog as well. I love all of your colors. Beautiful!!

Subdued Ripple

Hi! This is the first big crochet project I've ever undertaken... after a few hours my wrists started getting sore. I took out an old crochet book to see if there was a more efficient way to hold a hook, and gosh! yes, I've held the hook the wrong way for most of my life.

I've had to restrict myself to only working on this on weekends, as there are far too many projects hanging, so there won't be too many updates. It's very difficult to keep my hands off it, though!

Let's Play Nice People!

Oh please! I have enough third party mediation happening with my kids, I surely don't need it here too. This is where I play. This is where we all play. Let's play nice.

There's a bit o' controversy stirred up by some one that has opted to leave nasty "anonymous" comments to a recent post by teabird, a loverly gal from down under whom Maven chose to invite to our ripple-along. The problem seems to be that she's a KNITTER. Not a crochet hook in sight. *GASP*

Would you be surprised to know she came clean to me when she asked for an invitation? "The more the merrier" I replied and happily invited her to bring her knitting on board. Which she did in the form of her beautifious scarf.

And then "Anonymous" gets all territorial. And snippy.

Come now. IT'S THE SAME THING JUST IN DIFFERENT STITCHES! Increasing for peaks, decreasing for valleys. I for one welcome the chance to learn something new and perhaps be inspired by it. Let's face it, not everyone's project suits everyone else's own personal style or taste. Skip over it, be supportive, be happy that they're making something they love. But don't be nasty.

Enough. I don't want to have to convince you. I SHOULDN"T have to do that.

So, I have made the decision to restrict comments to registered users. That way, if you're going to be mean, you're going to have to be accountable for your words. No hiding behind "anonymous".

...and I've changed the blog description too.

Comments? Feel free to leave them here and we'll discuss. Or pop me an email and we can do so without the whole blog watching.

ripple-y

Hi everybody! I'm Ryan I, like so many others, saw the ripples on Posy Gets Cozy and just fell in love. I hadn't crocheted much more than granny squares so I was a bit intimidated at first. Now I'm loving it! Can't wait to see my finished product. I only wish I had chained more... :o(

Beautiful work everyone! You all come up with the coolest color combinations.

Hello - teabird here

I started this feather-and-fan last year as my Knit the Classics project for Wuthering Heights.


It's now 31" long. Its destination: 60".

Feather-and-fan is one of my favorite knit stitches. It's incredob;u easy because there's only one pattern row, and it's perfect for variegated yarn. This is KnitPicks Memories in "fly fishing."

When I posted this on Tea Leaves, I asked where people thought the second skein began. WRONG! The second skein began about 3" into the pooling. I decided I liked the pooling, and it has since changed patterns again.

I'll keep you posted as the scarf grows... melanie a/k/a teabird

Hello, from Louisiana.

Count me in! I tuned in often for updates on Jane's progress, but, like so many others, it was Alicia's blanket that pushed me over the edge. Then I followed her link here, and oh my, the inspiration! Next thing I knew I was eagerly awaiting the UPS man to deliver my "stash". This will be my first time to have ever splurged for really good yarn. I decided on Rowan Pure Wool DK. I love the color variety and super softness was no real concern. The blanket is for my 2 year old son, Jack's twin bed, to be placed on top of his regular bedding in winter months. Which is about two weeks in January here, but they will be two cozy weeks!

Here are the colors I chose, minus a true red, light gray, and indigo that are back ordered.

And in the spirit of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" I am using Jan Eaton's Soft Waves pattern. I am drawing a random yarn from a bag to decide color order (the random stripe generator and I just didn't jive.). I had also planned to use the same method to decide the widths of the stripes, drawing a 1, 2, 3, or 4, But after I drew a 2 three times in a row I took the hint.

Getting started....

The nosy visitor is Jane, our little silver duck wing bantam hen. She can not resist my shiny, gold crochet needle. Working in the chain is not my favorite part, but I finally started to make some progress...

I chose the dark gray for the first 4 rows because it was my heaviest color. I will finish the other end this way, too. But it's the luck of the draw for everything in between!

a love-hate relationship . . .

. . . is what I have with this ripple blanket. I go between "gorgeous - can't wait to drape this over my bed" and "wow, what was I thinking??" But I am determined to see it through because 1) this is my first crochet project and 2) big UFO's like this are hard to hide. I find that I like it better in the photos than in real life -- who knows why?

Here's another shot of it next to my felted knitting bag. Guess these are my favorite colors, whether I know it or not.

Have a happy, ripply Monday!

Ann

50 of 84

50 stripes done out of a planned 84. I may need a crane to photo it next time as I won't be able to get far enough up to get all the stripes in after this. I guess I will cross that bridge when I come to it. My bag of yarn is very puny now.

Inching toward the finish line

I can tell that I'm going to go through a grieving period when my ripple is done. It'll be a sad, sad day.

Yummy Yarn

Yummy Yarn 3
Originally uploaded by tragically_unhip.

Hello, fellow ripplers!

I'm Nisa from New England and I've decided to jump onto this Rippling bandwagon! I'm hoping that blogging about it here will keep me going so I can actually finish what I've started. And not only that, I plan on making 2 of these - one for each of my girls!

Here's a shot of the wool I'm using - it's all New England Highland worsted weight wool from Harrisville Designs which I'm lucky enough to have practically in my backyard. They have some seriously gorgeous colours there. It was difficult not to walk away with all of them! I only wish the wool were a little softer! I'd like the blankets to be big enough to cover the girls' beds, but the cost may end up being prohibitive. I'm making it as least as wide as I need it and I'll see how far I get up, lol.

I've started with the dark berry colour and my plan is to let the ripples dictate the order of the colours. I'm also using the ever-popular Soft Waves pattern. I'll post more when I make a little more progress with my blanket. Right now I'm only 5 dc in on the first row, lol!

The first day...

Hi!

My name is Barbara, I live in Sweden, but am Dutch. I saw the ripple project on the possie-gets-cozy blog and really liked it. I am more into quilting and embroidering and I hadn't crochet since I was 13, but it is all coming back to me now! This is what it looked like after my first day yesterday and I am totally addicted. I used the first youtube version that was posted here as a pattern.



I bought new yarns for this project and chose Silk Alpaca. It was a bit more expensive then I had planned to spend, but I fell in love with the colors and softness of the yarn.

I showed the ripple to a very good friend of mine in Holland, so she is going to start one there, and I am going to start one in Sweden, so that makes the project even more special...

Bye!

Please visit my own blog: quiltbarbara.blogspot.com

Sunday Pleasure

Sunday Pleasure for a 30 something year old wife and mother is a good old pedicure and a little rippling along with it.

My fellow ripple friends, I'm still working on my skirt. I would have to say this is the most relaxing crochet project I've ever worked on, not that I have crochet a whole lot but there is something about the repetitive waves of bright color that makes it all very therapeutic.

Have a great week everyone! Cheers!

I've been rippling

It's coming along nicely. I think my ripple will be done by the time I return from my vacation. And I'm even thinking of making a ripple for a co-worker who's returning. And maybe a ripple scarf for my pal in the International Scarf Exchange.

Shout Out To Teabird 17!

I just wanted to nudge you along and encourage you!

Please post a pic of the rippler you're working on!

A dish of delish!

When I finished row 4 today, I was reminded of ice cream - it seems the colours I've chosen so far resemble cotton candy (one of th best ice cream flavours, I may add). I had a sudden brainstorm - take a photo of progress thus far that looks like an ice cream sundae!

Slight problem - I don't have an ice cream bowl. So I settled on a cloche that I received in a swap. Imagine the crochet hook is a big fat ice cream spoon!

I attempted to use the stripe generator to plan out my ripple afghan, but discovered that I wasn't content with the way things looked. With that said, I'm taking a more random approach, and using various yarns I have tucked away in my bin. I want to be a bit spontaneous, but at the same time cringe at the thought of having an ugly afghan! I will have to trust my power of choice at the time. And I'm using a blend between SusanB's pattern, and one I found on flickr (5 stitches instead of 6 mean more wave than peak).

I hear some interesting noises coming from the kitchen... must go check that out!

Jen - Ontario, Canada
Persephone's Awakening

My ripples

Well, my blanket is inching along, literally. Each row is an inch. I have too many projects going and this one is not easily portable, so I don't do it enough, but I plan on working on it tonight. But I found another ripple I have done.

Last year I participated in a One Skein exchange by Interweave Press and I recieved a skein of variegated cotton. You can't crochet a lot with only one skein, but I found a use for it.



It's a ripple purse. I crocheted a flat ripple and then folded the two ends into the center and sewed it up. The strap is an I-cord. I used every bit of this yarn, even the beads are strung with it, which is sort of cool because the colors show through the clear beads. Only problem with it htough is it is a little small for me, I carry around BAGS most of the time, but it is cute. Its also pink, maybe one day I'll actually have something to wear that matches it.

Blessings,
Agate

I think I'm finished!

I initially planned to make it longer but it fits this bed just right!
I've only added a couple rows since last week's post, but I've been putting all the rest of it together. I picked up the bed skirt and mattress at a consignment sale and Dh and I built the frame for the bed yesterday. The bed skirt was an impulse buy, but it made it possible for me to just build a quick frame instead of buying a whole bed. I also love how the ripples of the ric rac imitate the ripples of the blanket.

I think she likes it!

Progress report

Moving along and pleased with how it’s going. Working on it at night has it’s hazards as I had to frog two full rows when I realized I got a little too white happy and just kept going too far in one of the white areas. Hate those setbacks, but sort of have to laugh at myself at times like that.

Not sure how far along I am to being done yet as I'll be done when it just feels like it's right in length. Then I'll need to start another one!

New Rippler (and newly addicted to crochet)...

Hi everyone! I'm Meshell, and have just decided to finally join in the rippling blather. I've been lusting over ripple blankets for weeks (Alicia's just about made me faint!) and have been sad that I couldn't make one as I have never crocheted. BUT, then one day it hit me, I could, you know, LEARN to crochet. Dear me...a bit slow on the uptake there =P

So I did, I ordered some yummy yarn as I am a sewer and don't actually have a yarn stash (I can hear the gasps! But I do have much fabric, so I know how it is, ha =P). I also got myself a hook and some beginner crochet and the 200 Ripple Stitch Patterns books out from the library. And a few days worth of fun, frustration and tears neatly averted I can do as much as I need to do to be able to use the Soft Waves pattern that I'm using, yay! I'm so proud and absolutely loving crochet (and it is so easy to rip out when needed! hehe).

The yarns I'm using are Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino, some Jo Sharp Alpaca Silk Georgette and some Rowan Cotton Glace. I used the random stripe generator for my stripey-ness, although I found some ugly bits in my chosen pattern on closer inspection so ended up chopping up lots of generated patterns and sticking them all together to create the one I wanted...so not so random, lol =) Then I did the same with my yarns and fiddled around with them, so I'm pretty happy with it and hope it turns out ok!

So it is now day 2 of rippling and I'm half way into row six. I am in love with these colours so far, I started with the aqua, then some charcoal and now I'm in the middle of some plum. It's so exciting running to see what colour comes next in the chart...although I'm waiting for the time when I don't agree and change it and muddle myself up! =)

Anyway, that's about it for now. Must give a big shout out to the videos over here which helped newbie old me immensely as I'm such a visual learner. I am now thoroughly addicted to crochet and keep having to make myself stop so that I can get some work done! My wrists aren't quite accustomed yet so I've given them a little heat treatment in the form of a rice filled sock out of the microwave, which works a treat, lol.

So glad to have joined the fun, am loving looking through everyone's work and the flickr group, such lovely colours happening! I think I want to try granny squares with my leftovers (if there are any!).

Cheers,
Meshell in Perth, Australia

http://www.littlemissmeshell.typepad.com

Baby Ripple finished

now on to something more ambitious. I had a skein of rayon fluff from Walmart that I made into 3 rounds of seed stitch border. Great use for a bit of stash that has been buggin' me. The blanket is small, only 30" x 30", but I think it turned out pretty, and it's soft and, my favorite word, cozy. :-)

My Sunburn Ripple

The move is ending today, but that also means that I have to move into a hotel for at least a month. So, before the staff at the Courtyard starts seeing me as one of the locals, I thought I should post ripple progress. And somehow, amidst the mess that the new apartment still is, I have actually made progress.

I'll confess, though, that I'm surprised by how much I love the afghan. It's so soft and cuddly. And it reminds me of how my parents used to have their house painted, before oranges and yellows went out of style. That's actually a lie, the parents kept the orange and yellow paint up long after it went out of style, they just didn't do anything to change it until it was almost retro and cool again. (However, I still have my mom's Kitchenmaid mixer in avocado.)



One thing that fascinates me most is how obvious the yellow seems when I'm working on it, but it seems far less overpowering from a distance.

However, I think my sister might not be as big of a fan. She has a neverending hate of orange, and it is one-fourth orange.

(On the technical side...two strands of yarn at once [because I am madly in love with that sort of texture]...Red Heart Soft Yarn in Wine, Paprika, Tangerine, and Honey...a big, blue, plastic, size N hook.)

Moving right along

I'm on day 17 of my ripple and I'm 22 stripes into it (44 rows). I had family up to visit all weekend so I didn't work on it much.
I've made up for that since they left though. Crochet eases my stress and since my parents left mad at me, I've been pretty stressed. Ah my family we love the drama!! lol

I figure that I am 1/3 of the way through the blanket. Not too bad for 2 and 1/2 weeks. I've added 3 more stripes since I took this picture (Black, Darker Orange, Burgandy). I still have 3 colors that I haven't used yet (Grey, White and Purple). I am not really loving this darker segment of the blanket I seem to be stuck in right now, but the more I add the more I am loving it.

I think part of the addiction is the random nature of the colors thanks to the stripe maker. I am making it a point to not cheat and look ahead so that I am surprised at what color I get to use with each stripe.

My Blog

Who's in Sydney?

I've been trying to post for three days now, but I couldn't get my internet connection to work (I'm now at the in-laws'). So here's my progress up to day 13 of my ripple, Wednesday (it's now Saturday in Sydney). I have done about 3 more strips beyond this since then. But I was so excited to finally reach this spring green. It'll come up more after a few more rows, and I'm just about to reach my last of the nine colors I've got: lovely, soft cream, to give the whole thing a fuller range from darks to lights. This pic shows the waves-on-waves effect I'm getting, but there's one that shows it better on my blog.

To the title of my post, someone from here came in to Tapestry Craft (the LYS I work at) in Sydney yesterday. The staff member in the wool department called me to ask if I was part of the ripple-along, so of course I said yes. And she said there was a customer with her that was also participating and that she would send this person up, but they never came to see me! I was upstairs in the embroidery department yesterday. If you're reading this post, please let me know who you are! Stop back in the shop, or visit my blog. I'd love to see how your ripple is going.