Ripples in Autumn Prairie Colors

Hi!
I have been meaning to make a post to introduce myself for awhile and haven't had a chance until now.
I first saw this craft-along on my friend Teabird's blog and I knew it would be a lot of fun.
last week the '200 Ripple Stitch Patterns' book found its way into my mail box.
I wanted to knit the feather fan scarf that is on page 83 or a shawl of dimple waves but I am still a little fearful of lace just yet so I dusted off my crochet hook and
I have been having a lot of fun taking apart an old UFO chevron afghan I started many years ago that had some very bad uneven edges and lots of errors in it.

This simple wave pattern is so addicting and mesmerizing.
It is like a few moments of meditation each day as I crochet a few rows.
All the leftover wool yarn from my stash are colors that remind me of the tall grass prairie in the autumn time near our home in central Illinois.
















This is one of our family members.
His name is Little Joe Zander; also know as the random yarn color generator.

Ice cream with Ketchup on top!

Lovely title, isn't it? That's what my blanket looks like so far... neopolitan ice cream with a healthy scooping of ketchup for extra flavour.

I hate ketchup!

I'm trying to take a personal growth approach to this blanket - taking risks and letting go of control. You know... trusting my crafty instincts in selection of yarn colours, and believing that all will settle in and be okay. The most important part - trusting in the process and enjoying it. It's all a little something I learned while studying Expressive Arts this past summer.

Jen - Persephone's Awakening

Family Photo

Well, since we're sharing family photos...

That's my dog Assata lounging on my ripple so far. Whenever she's on the couch with me, she has to find the most comfortable spot. In this case, it's flattering.

Let me think a minute. I've been working on this 12 days. I'm still rippling and "waiting." Luckily, it's my Spring Break - I'm a public school teacher - and except for working a few hours at my part-time gig and running overdue errands, I have nothing better to do. Also, I've even been able to get some embroidery and sewing done. Maybe I'll add knitting to the "done" list by the end of the week.

I just added black to the mix and still have gray to add. I will probably try to randomly insert those into my already randomly generated stripe pattern. I don't want to think about it too hard. Luckily, the more I work on this pattern (from Jan Eaton's book), the less thinking is required.

Happy hooking, everyone!

Memories

This is the inspiration for my learning how to ripple. I grew up with this 'ghan my mom made way before i was born. It was always hanging on the top of the couch. I always loved the style. (not the color) it was the 70's lol i knew one day i was going to learn how to make something like this. hmmm maybe i could find some funky yarn like that and give to my kids. Notice that its on the couch in 79 and 83. probably tons more if i really looked. i just saw these in my book and had to scan them.

pretty colors = progress :)

Size K hook. Red Heart Acrylic Yarn. Roughly 80" wide I think...

Here is my new and improved ripple after 3 days of working on it. It now hangs about 5 inches off either side of my king size bed instead of feet. I kept the first 4 rows the same as before, but i'm improvising from here on out. When I finish that gray stripe, it'll be about 14 inches long. Due to my inability to do any kind of simple math... I have no idea how long it'll take me to finish... but it won't take months *dance*

I'm already fantasizing about future ripple projects. I want to do something in a nicer yarn, probably something wool. Who knows.

Anyone else find themselves sitting infront of the computer crocheting, and then refreshing this blog every half hour or so to see if someone else has posted something new? *raises her hand* I do!

Have a loverly day ripplers!

--Riss

Ripple in Still Water

Has anyone thought of the Grateful Dead? I often sing that song in my head as I ripple along--it really fits the mood!

Liane's gorgeous baby ripple reminded me that I too had made one for my little girl, when she was a baby six years ago. I unearthed it:



It saw a lot of action, and any number of washings and dryings, and held up surprisingly well. I used a single crochet for the border, which I think I'll do for this one. I'm progressing along on the new one:



And if you like, you can check out my blog for another entirely different sort of ripple afghan I'm knitting, "Lizard Ridge" in Noro Kureyon.

Your ripples are all looking so great! I love this blog!

Addicted to ripple

I'm also new and recently caught up in the ripple craze. Having seen the lovely creations that you talented people are turning out I decided to order some yarn (I used all my bits and pieces for projects for the school fete last year) and get started. I ordered a whole box of 100% merino yarn from a woolen mill in Tasmania and have been rippling steadily since it arrived (with just a brief pause to wind it into balls). It's about 2.4m wide (that's 8ft to those who work better in imperial measurements) and about 46cm long, which is 18 inches, or so my in-house converter [a.k.a. husband] tells me. I want it to fit my queen-sized bed when it's done and have figured out if I keep going at the same rate I should be done in about six weeks.

The pattern is one I learnt as a girl from an aunt but which I'd forgotten I knew until I saw all this. A bit of experimenting brought it all back and this is the result.

Not sure I've chosen the best colours but I think once it's all done it will work okay.

Still have yet to start?!

Have had too many projects to finish before I can start on the blanket but this is the yarn that I intend to use. All that remains is for me to learn how to crotchet. Bought this at the X'mas Liberty's sale where they were reduced to £2 a ball... which meant that I had to buy loads of it. Love the colours, earthy and natural. Oh what fun awaits, looking at everyone's posts on this blog just makes me itch to start!

The PAIN!

Is anyone experiencing pain in their arms from crocheting? I've got pain in both my elbows (the crook of my elbow... the inside bit... the concave bit... you know), and sometimes in my wrists.

What's with that?

No photo today... sorry.

Ripply goodness

These pictures are from a little booklet I picked up at Walmart. I wish I would post the instructions because Dawn was looking for a center ripple pattern, This first photo is of the back and the front of the booklet (reading from the left). I did the one that is photographed on the left quite a while ago, I haven't been able to find the photos I took of it so I haven't been able to share it yet. But from the book you can see how it looks. Mine was done in Dark Green, then Light Green, then Light blue, repeating. It is a very large blanket when done. 8 center points, then doubles to 16 points, then doubles again to 32 points. I made it as a baby blanket for a friends baby, I started it when I found out she was pregnant, and finished it when he was a year old. I was basically teaching myself how to crochet at the time and had to frog this thing out several times, sometimes from being over half way! NOT a beginners pattern! It did end up teaching me a lot about how to read an actual pattern. The one on the left is called Aztec Sun, the one on the right Vibrance.

This next one is called Royal Bargello, I think it would be fun to do in blues and maybe a green, like a waterfall.

This one on the left is another ripple I have sort of forgotten about. Mostly because to continue I need a lighter shade of orange in the Simply Soft brand, since that is what the rest of the blanket is made of. I found the color I need on the Caron site, it is called Light Country Peach, alas I have no way of purchasing things online, at least not yet. I have another project that would need 2 skeins of it as well, which is probably why it hasn't been started. It is photographed pinned up on the curtains in my living room, since that is the only place I could think of to take any kind of photo of it. I would use the bed as many have done but um the bed is on a bed frame my husband conceived of and built. Sitting on the bed his hair brushes the ceiling, and the top of the mattress hits about mid-chest on me while standing. So pictures on it not happening, at least if I am taking them. Each strip of color is one skein. Done on smaller needles than the previously posted knitted ripple, also with just one strand of yarn instead of two.
Ok, really long post today! Sorry!
One more thing, I need some input fellow ripplers, I am considering, and have been considering for some time frogging this afghan, and restarting it with JUST leftover yarn. At the moment it currently has yarn that I didn't have a plan for at the time, such as the yellow, orange, dark blue, the lighter pink and the multi purple. The gray at the end and the purple in the middle were frogged from something else, and are in small bits so they would be reworked into the new work if I were to restart it. I have a quandary, this has been in the works for years, but I am really not liking how it is turning out and want to restart it.
I shall post updates on my previously posted projects tomarrow.
Tina

i've been distracted

after several episodes of the sopranos season 4, i managed to complete about 40% of my blanket...

i've seemed to hit a roadblock, though. and this roadblock's name is the monkey sock from the 2006 winter knitty. damn you, monkey sock!!! i've finished the first one, so i'm going to put the second one on hold until i get a few more segment repeats done. my hunny is off to training for two weeks so i have a feeling this project will be keeping me warm during the time he's away...

progress and treasure

Okay, first 5 rows of queen size blanket. Yes it was 300 chains, plus 3 for 1st dc, I had made an error on first row, which I should have *known*, but was in denial until mid-3rd row. :-) so I had to frog and redo. :-( Green will be next row. I divided my colors up into creams/grays, pinks/oranges, and greens/browns, and will semi-randomly pick from those groups.

The treasure I found is in the Spring issue of knitsimple scroll down, picture on far right
and is a knit scarf ripple pattern. Very simple pattern. Lovely. I have just the yarn for it!

Happy Monday Ripple-Along Friends.

I took my ripples onto the New York subway with me this morning. The R train is my favorite place to crochet and knit. I made 4 rows of progress in 1 hour. I crochet slow. I still hope to have my ripple skirt finished before it gets too warm.

Day 6

Just a snapshot of my progress on the afghan thus far. It seems wider than last time I laid it across my bed...not sure how that happened, but I don't want to rip it out. It hits the floor on both sides of the Queen size now.

I haven't figured out what to do yet if I finish the last of a skein mid-row though - I might just start another new color (the next stripe maybe?) - has anyone else tried this? Does it look too messy? I just really want to use up the massive stash I already have. Maybe I should've gone with a throw size.

Here's what I've got so far. It's been cat-tested. I think it passed.

Second update... finally!

Gosh, it's been a while! I can only get onto Blogger at uni, for some reason. My home computer is all "no, you may not update the ripple-along."
So here's my latest photo. I've done 6 more rows since, and I'll post a photo as soon as I can. It's looking awesome.

The repeating has begun!

I have decided that these are the only colors that I want on this ghan. YES, that means I'll have to go out and buy more yarn to do this big momma of a ghan. Darnit...hehehe It is just RH so no problem getting it I hope.






The black and brown don't look too different in this pic, but the black is on the bottom of the brown. My hubby said this pic just doesn't do the ghan justice and he's right. It is simply gorgeous in real life and very deep, vibrant colors.

I also just noticed that the soft white looks different on each strip. It's the same yarn from the same skein. lol

I have enjoyed seeing everyone's progress reports, keep them coming!

Until next time...a rippling I will go!!

Moccasin Ripple- Week 1

This week I've been productive with my knitting and my crocheting (the ripple). It's been 7 days and I have 19 rows of DC.

Seeing all the fabo pictures of your ripple, I decided to actually make an effort to take a pretty picture of my ripple. It's is a work of art? I've very proud of my photos, it required a little crawling on the floor and odd placement of feet but I've got a darn good photo on my hands (not like some of my prior photos). As you can see there are my Navajo Moccasins, Kinstaa (Navajo word for tall shoe) on top of my ripple. Those shoes were the inspiration for my ripple.

I told my husband to take a "nice picture" of my ripple with my moccasins while I took a shower and this is what he came up with, my ripple on the floor with the men's moccasin, I told him that I would use that picture for scale (he's an engineer). It's pretty big, enough to fully cover a queen size bed. The ripple is actually a blanket for the new LaZ Boy we are getting on the 28th.

I used the random striper for random maroon and cream stripes. Up next is 7 rows of cream, 1 maroon and 4 cream. Week 2 should be complete by then.

My blog has my other weekly knitting accomplishments.

Keep rippling!

Riss' Ripple... Froggededed

I've just frogged my afghan. I decided that it was just too wide. I had like 7 and a half stripes done.

Feelin frustrated... until I look down at all of this beauty... :D


Sorry for the scary floor around it, but this is my new stash. In combination with the colors i've already used and are now in neat little balls on my bed, it'll be enough to keep me going awhile. I went to AC Moore for their yarn sale. It's all red heart super saver acrylic... regular $2.29, I got it for $1.79 per scain. I think I'm gonna go back later this week :D

Quick question... What do you guys do when you can't find the end that pulls from the inside? I dig... and look... and get frustrated. Then eventually either ball it, or just work from the outside, which takes twice as long. Is there a trick to finding it when it isn't already sticking out? Or is there just no hope...

Anyway, I'm off to figure out how many chains equals roughly 78inches and then how close of a multiple of 16 it is to match my pattern...

my millionth attempt

I'm still so new at crochet'n and this is my first try at pattern. lol i've tried and failed over and over again. but i like it so its ok. i think i have the gist now. but for some reason, i think its my type of yarn i started with. when laying down flat it turns into a bit of curve like a tiny rainbow. lol oh well.

Its going to be my 6 year olds blanket so he's been picking out the colors and order. ::note to self:: he is color blind (not joke) so deffinatly not the colors i would've picked, but he has his mind set on certain way. as long as he loves it thats all that matters

Oh dear...Addiction rising.

Hi everyone! This is my second update, and I am still newly in love with crochet and rippling =)

At the moment I’m on my 14th colour or 27th row. I’m absolutely loving working with these lovely yarns, and I’m trying to ignore that red row which is just screaming at me to remove it (which I will not!), lol. I’m trying to average out one colour a day which is going well.

I also managed to snap up some nice yarns at the Knit Happens sale (not much left at all!) which will arrive soonish I hope. I’m already having fun thinking about what to do with my leftovers, I can’t wait to try granny squares and maybe some ripple cushions and etc. They didn’t have any Baby Cashmerino or Rowan left but I did get some others that will fit in well hopefully!

Project Specs –
Pattern: Soft Waves from 200 Ripple Stitch Patterns
Yarn – Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino, Jo Sharp Alpaca Silk Georgette, Rowan Cotton Glace
Hook – 4mm
Chains – 219 (double bed size)

PS. And a gratuitous cat shot =P She is loving the rippling action too, just sleeping and hanging out next to me.

On the treasure hunt front, I got my mum rippling too, but she will not post to the blog no matter how much I coax, she’s too shy =P So here’s the start of her ripple cushion (pic taken with permission from her blog) in blues, greens and purples. She also bought a ton of yarn in the sale too so we’ll see what she starts next…neither of us crocheted or knitted much at all before all this madness so it’s funny that we have become so addicted in such a short period of time! I’m sure you know how it is, hehe.

Loving gazing at all your works all day!
Meshell x
http://www.littlemissmeshell.typepad.com

Por Favor?

My first attempt at the ripple along isn't turning out so well.

Pictures to be forth coming.

Anyone want to take this off my hands to frog and recycle the yarn? I don't have the heart to do so.

I'll gladly ship it within the US.

Time to start again, this time with all yarn of the same weight/gauge. I got too creative with too many different yarns, despite using the same diameter hook for all of them...

1/4th of the way & Treasure

I think this is coming along very nicely - I am now over 1/4th of the way and I just love how the colours are going together. This is such a relaxing pattern - I'm using Susan B's ripple that is posted here at the site.!

Here is the link to the first ripple I made - it's all sc but has beautiful peaks

two more treasures and #3 started

No pictures I'm sorry, but soon! I started with brown, then am going to do cream. I'm using the gentle ripple that I figured out by counting stitches in Jane and Alicia's pictures! I have also ordered the 200 ripple pattern book.

Here's a couple more links I found for patterns:
Chevron
and
Crochet Zig Zag

first ripples

Hi! I just joined this group--this is my first real crochet project, I'm more of a knitter. I got the pattern for this ripple from a book from the library--simple crochet, I think? I used some dishcloth cotton, mostly sugar and cream and peaches and creme. It's great looking at all the inspiring projects! I'll have to start a bigger one immediately.

I'm naming her Peggle

I am naming my ghan-child Peggle. You know about Peggle, don't you?



Peggle (the game) is very addicting and as you can see, colorful. Just like my baby girl ghan child.

Here is my baby so far:



I may be done after this weekend. If the weather stays like this (cold and wet) I am pretty sure there will nothing much better to do than to keep crocheting on it her Peggle until she is done.

I did the best I could to get a crane shot by laying her on the floor next to the stairs. But then I had to crop the photo so that it wouldn't take up the entire screen.

Not sure if the colors are appearing quite right, because frankly after you look at something so wildly colorful, everything looks kind of odd.

Peace,
Susan (aka ZenKnit)

Another Baby Ripple

While we're saving up for our wedding, I'm trying not to buy new yarn. The No-End-In-Sight Ripple-Along is the perfect thing! I had no idea what to do with a ton of leftovers from another project that I over purchased for. There's not a lot that can be done with pale pink and blue, so a BABY ripple blanket it is! A friend's baby is due in about six months, so this is the perfect thing to do.

This is a shot from shortly after I started:



And this is from today:



(click for big)
I'm glad to see everyone's color and pattern choices - there are some great ideas out there!

two pretty patterns!

really interesting wave pattern
and another
ripple romance

edited to add: i had print outs of these and thought to find them and post links *before* dawn's treasure hunt post! ha! great rippling minds . . .

Nisa's Happy Ripples - Day 5

specs: H (US5) hook, 2-ply worsted weight wool,
New England Highland by Harrisville Designs

I'm on day 5 of rippling now. I haven't been able to work on the blanket as much as I'd like to. I had to run out today and get 4 more hanks of wool in the colours I'll be using most. I've decided to use only 1 shade of green in the blanket because the other greens were either too dark or too olive-y for the girls' room. The blanket is wider than I had estimated it to be for a twin-sized bed - it's 60" long (I'll edit this post later after I count how many stitches I made the chain). It could probably have been a couple inches narrower and still had some room to drape over the sides of the bed.

I thought everyone was nuts when they waxed all poetic over rippling, but now I'm a believer. I love this project.

Yarn Porn

Sorry everyone. I've been a naughty rippler. I haven't posted any progress pics of my 'ghan, yet I've been working on it, on and off for little over a week now. Hopefully I'll slap a pic of it this weekend. It's about halfway where I want to be... so I've got a ways to go.

Okay... so the title of this post? Yarn Porn? Well everyone... salivate over my "find." The local dollar store has Lion Suede on sale for a buck a skein, when you and I both know it retails at around $5.99 a skein elsewhere. Yesterday I bought up about 15 skeins, and today I bought 30 more. I might just go back there this weekend and finish up gobbling up the remainder in the bin (I tried some restraint today). My total savings (so far): $225.

What on earth could I possibly use all this Lion Suede for?

FOR MY NEXT RIPPLE 'GHAN, OF COURSE!

Advice please

Okay, I mentioned 300 chains to start my queen size blanket, projectedn size 90" x 90". Those of you making blankets this size - how many chains did you start with (thinking width of bed/blanket here). TIA!

I had my gray, pink, green, orange, cream wools ready, but adding it up needed more yarn, so I dug out ecru, brown, a little tan, and some more gray to add to it. It will have a lot more neutral color now, but dh will like it better I think. There are 4 more ecru and 2 more gray not shown here. I think it's going to be pretty, but huge! :-)

ripple scarve

my ripple scarve is finished!

well... it's not blocked yet, and actually, it is a bit short and i am quite tempted to unravel and start again... but still, my first finished crochet project in the last 8 years or so! (the last one was a coin purse made from parcel string, lined with a scrap of checked cotton, i was a student on work experience in ireland at the time and had a sunday with no plans and a little bit of homesickness)

i used a 3.5mm hook, and i think i crochet relatively tightly. like some others, i had problems because i didn't know there was a difference between US and UK crochet, unravelling perfect US dc's because i saw an instruction for UK dc's, then unravelling again when i realised that it just didn't look right!

i still have two 50g balls of the cashmerinosilk and one merino, in a sage green, plus half a ball of the fuchsia merino. maybe i'll start another one and make it longer this time.? I only got 8 rows out of the 100g of grey at this length, so the next scarve would have to be narrower again...

maybe somebody out there can tell me, the chain that you begin a crochet piece with, is there an equivalent (i.e. same width) for finishing? the two edges on the scarve aren't quite the same width because of the base chain, but a single crochet row at the end of the project is too wide.

New Rippler

Hey, everyone!!! I'm Missy, and I am a new rippler. This is my first successful crochet afghan. I am using a single crochet ripple pattern, and although it's quite tight I am really liking it. It was going to be a bedspread but it really shrunk up so now it's going to be a throw. Nice work every one. Thanks for letting me join in the fun!

Riss' Ripple - Start of day 3

Good morning ripplers :)

Today starts day 3, and a much smaller yarn stash. I've raided my Mom's stash too for different colors. I'm in serious need of some reds or pinks. I found a small ball of this beautiful mauve color, but its probably only enough to go once across instead of twice. Bummer.

Anywho, here are some new pictures. I've added the white, black and camo yesterday. This morning, I do believe i'll be adding a different shade of green from an afghan that i'm never going to finish. It was all shells of treble stitches and those are completely evil. EEEEVIL. :D After that, i'm probably going to add a beautiful light blue and browns verigated. Not sure what'll go after that. I'm a designer, so I can't just pick randomly. I'd only end up changing my mind afterwards. :D

As requested, I'm using a size K hook, and various yarns. Red Heart super savers and One pounders of pretty colored acrylics. I can't afford something nicer :\ It's going to be large enough to fit my king size bed in the long run, and measures about 9in so far.



Do you ever get going along... counting 6 and then 3 and then 6 and then 3... get into a nice groove... and then look back and realize you've forgotten to increase or decrease? I hate that...

I couldn't resist sharing this photo with you guys. I have to take my pics in the window because my room has like no good light. My cat jumped up there to sniff the outside. Pushed me right out of the way.

Happy rippling everyone!

--Riss

I'm going away for a bit, but here's a game for you!

Howdy Ripplers!

In the name of the almighty family vacation, I head off to parts warmer than Minnesota today. That means things from my end are going to be a tad slow. I will make note of that in the sidebar, asking anyone that needs something to leave a comment with their email address. I won't be able to get my home email while I'm frolicking in the south, but will be able to hopefully pop into the blog a few times.

So. That's that.

But I have an idea.

I was popping about some blogs like I haven't had the chance to since all this ripplyness started. And guess what? Ripples are EVERYWHERE. Really. There are stories all over of crafters picking up the hooks and kicking back with the ripples. My heart went pitter pat, as it usually does, when I clicked into the Yarn Pirate's blog to oggle me some yarn...and found her rippling!!! **GASP** Turns out she crocheted as a child and all the ripply goodness has brought her back to it now. HOW FUN IS THAT?!?!?!

FUN.

And it got me thinking. And sometimes that's good, and sometimes that's bad, but hey I think this is one of the former. What say you to a RIPPLE TREASURE HUNT? Venture out to find the ripple, wherever it might be living on the web. And bring your treasures back here to share with all. Label your posts with "treasure hunt" pretty please, and most likely toss that into the title somehow too. Don't go stealing pictures now, but give us links to blogs or Flickrs or whatever. THIS IS GOING TO BE SO FUN!!!

And one more request from the ether...when you give updates about your projects, can you include your yarn choices and hook/needle sizes? Inquiring ripplers want to know!

So, I'm off my dears. Will check in when I can. Happy Rippling!

Dawn

I'm New Too!

Hmmmm. I have no idea what just happened to my post. It came up all funky and numbers and ampersands and stuff. That'll teach me to go foolin with the html code.

Anyway, what I said was, Hi, I'm new, I'm naughtydebbers' sister, I'm jealous cuz she's here and I'm not, yada yada yada.

Cut to the chase, here's the pseudo-ripple I finished most recently:
And here's the Salvation Army Store mystery yarn special I started yesterday.

I'm just happy to be here.