Long time, no post

Well, its been a long month, but I'm starting to again make progress on my blue-and green ripple. Between my grandfather's decline and passing away, taking care of him in his last days (spent at home, thank god) and the subsequent flurry of arrangements, and then the exhaustion, my own migraines, forgetting to order more yarn, exams, etc etc etc..... Well, lets just say I'm thrilled to be rippling again!

Heres the latest two stripes... enjoy.

okay, I've made a little progress

. . .found out my green and orange yarns are Perisan Paterna which is a tapestry yarn - I bought it from a lady who specializes in antique ribbon on eBay. One of the skeins was cut in half so I will either sew in A Lot of Ends, or ? I took another shot of the batch of colors/yarns I am planning on, it seems like too much off-white. What do you think?

Little Ripply Purse

Last night I took a break from my ripple afghan to experiment with silk ripples--but silk being as precious as it is, I didn't want to use too much, and so attempted a little bag:



I made the buttons by crocheting a thin tube, three stitches, coiling it, and then stitching the coil. I like the middle button, but am not sure about the purse--I think I'll use it as a makeup case and call it a day.

Ripple Update

I haven't touched my ripple blanket since Sunday. It's been a crazy busy week with meeting, family in town (yes again, but my DH's family this time) and my little boy's 7th Bday yesterday. Last week my internet was down and I got a lot done so I guess that makes up for it.
Anyway this is the newest picture of my sons ripple blanket. I am halfway through the 39th stripe now, and have plans for a rippely weekend!!!!
The picture is a close-up of what I did last week (from the Black-Dark Orange-Burgandy area to the white). I have a different picture of the whole blanket up on My Blog .

Do I still trust the process?

Oh this is such a challenge for me! I'm really struggling with giving control to the yarn Goddesses and trusting their choice in colours. I don't like it so far. I'm tempted to frog it all - which would also be a huge lesson in letting go of control (Can you imagine all that work - puff gone!?). Anyway, I've noticed a trend: this blanket is turning into something quite similar to my granny square afghan. The colours are the same! See? I don't want two blankets that are the same especially when my granny ghan is so pretty! (I think the ripple would pale in comparison). With that said, I've put out the next eight colours, and I think that my worries may blend in with the new shades.

I have to disclose something: I absolutely love decreasing! I attempt to reach that time anxiously... that time to not fully finish each stitch. Oh valleys!

Jen - Persephone's Awakening

Ripple progress

ripple progress
Originally uploaded by Fiber Star.

The colder weather, here in Kansas, has me snuggled under my ripple hookin' away. So I'm slowly making more progress.

Thanks for looking.

I'm still alive & slowly rippling

I really feel slow at this compared to everyone else, but what's a girl with too many projects gonna do.

I've used up one of my multi-coloured balls of yarn & I only have one left.

I should be able to get the blanket to about double the size, I hope.

If all else fails, I'll just buy some new yarn that matches & add a wide border around the whole thing. I'm off to ripple along now :)

Float Away Scarf

Float Away Scarf
Originally uploaded by kpwerker.

This scarf is one of the reasons I was so jacked up about making a ripple blanket. I designed it back in December as my staff project for the spring 2007 Interweave Crochet, and I absolutely loved making it. The yarn is delicious and I dig the ribbed ripple texture.

Here are the specs:

Pattern: My own staff project in the spring 2007 Interweave Crochet (it's in yarn stores now)

Yarn: Austermann Bambou Soft (65% wool, 35% bamboo; 110 yd [100 m]/1 3⁄4 oz [50 g]): #07 teal, 2 balls. Yarn distributed by Skacel.

Hooks: 6mm and 5mm

I'm still working on my ripple blanket, of course. But I travel a lot and it's way too big to take with me. In my travels, though, I do pick up odd balls to play with, and of course they'll end up in the ripple...

Riss' Ripple - Big 'n purdy

Well, here it is. I'd have to say that its about a quarter of the way finished. The big gray stripe is actually a silver and a lighter green. I'm kicking myself for that decision. I still have 5 more colors to add today, and then i'll have done a stripe of every color I have. Then its time to start repeating. Looking at it in these pics makes me regret using the verigated yarns... but it looks beautiful in real life. They don't call out as much attention.

I have all night to ripple too, as the bf is closing tonight. He's actually been suprisingly supportive of this endeavor.

Well... back to the ripplage.

Learning to Ripple

My stack of Lamb's Pride Worsted awaits myrippling. I am using it now for some other things that have inspired me, too, while I get better at crocheting. Have been INTENSELY inspired by Mason Dixon book
to begin a log cabin square, which I am working on and will post on my blog soon.
In the meantime, I am practicing learning to crochet-just doing lots of chain stitches and single crochets to try to get my wonky left had to hold the yarn correctly while I crochet with my right. For some reason (maybe because I am learning at a late age, it is hard for me to manipulate the yarn and get the tension, etc correct.
So I have Jan Eaton's Ripple book, and hope to begin soon! I love this blog and check it daily and am so inpsired by all the ripplers I see!

A mini ripple finished

I finished up a mini ripple blanket for the shop last week sometime. Its really a perfect size for car seat, stroller and as a woobie to drag around. Big enough to cover but not so big most of it ends up in the puddles.I also did a single crochet around the edge, matching the stripe pattern.Specs-
Yarn: Cascade Cherub Aran, Blue, Green, Yellow and Red
Pattern: 200 Ripple Stitch Patterns, "Smartie" pattern.
Hook: H
Finished size: 24" x 30"

Next up I started a ripple in knit to match "Smartie". Pics coming to a blog near you soon....

Bad pun alert

So I've done the second row of the bluey-green colour and am ready for the solid green. Long weekend coming up and there'll be lots of progress to photograph and post next week. Yippee.

But this post is to report a recent realisation. It occurred to me last night that this project is a terrible killer of time and therefore my blanket has a new name. Ready? It's Jack the Rippler.

Sorry, just had to do it. Jack made me.

Daisy.

Happy Rippley Wednesday!

I set my blanket aside on my desk and got this squiggle of color.

I am now about this far through second row of green. Then I will have, um, gray? and then a pale, pale, pink and then maybe a dark green. These wools are so interesting. The brown is Cascade 220, very soft and polished, the white and pink are fairly coarse and harsh, the white a little less so becuase I washed it. Now this green is some wool from the middle east that I bought on eBay and it has three plys, but they are not twisted together. I could separate it into a very fine yarn if I wanted. It has a glossy texture and is very nice to work with. I'll try for a close up next photo session. :-)

Ripplin' Machine...

I crocheted 6 stripes yesterday. Thats roughly 6 hours of work. When I posted yesterday morning, I'd already added yellow and red and was starting the gray. Then I added the green, multi and bright blue. I love the last two together.

Today starts the chocolate chip ice cream yarn. Its a beautiful creamy tan with flecks of different browns in it. Subtle, yet lovely.

My ghan now measures 17.5". I'm absolutely addicted to this thing.

Yesterday was such a great day for me. It's been kind of dark and rainy for the last few days (hence the dark muddy pics), but yesterday was productive. In addition to doing 6 stripes, I also had a riding lesson where I jumped my first course of 5 jumps! *does a little dance*

Well, I'm off to start todays rippley goodness.

--Riss

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!