Sunday, December 30, 2007

my ripple update :)

OK. It has been extremely too long since I gave a ripple update! :) So here are some images for your viewing pleasure:)

KNS_9603

This is how my ripple is coming along......slowly! :) But, it's so much fun and my cat, Earl Gray adores it. I think he's already claimed it as his own! I sit on the bed or couch and work on it while watching tv with hubby, and Earl promptly plops into the middle of it and gets all comfy and falls asleep. He's so freakin adorable. :)

KNS_9644

I'm loving everyone else's afghans. :) Love the ripples. :)

More pictures and info on my regular blog :)

Wednesday, December 26, 2007

Sister's Ripple completed!

I managed to get my sister's Soft Waves Ripple completed in time for Christmas!! Her and the hubby loved it! You can read more about it on my blog.

Stefania's Soft Waves Ripple afghan

Yarn: Lion Brand Lion Suede
Hook: Size H

More details on Ravelry.

Wednesday, December 19, 2007

Two Ripples Finished


This one is for my DD for Christmas - she loves all colours and had at one time asked me for a multi coloured blanket so this is what I came up with. Weaving in the ends was the only annoying part. I loved switching colours regularly it kept me from growing boredd.

This one is for my DS for Christmas - I knew he wouldn't appreciate a multi-colour one and these look like manly enough colours. I am sure he'll enjoy snuggling up with it on a cold winter's night.

Merry Christmas

TeaMouse

Sunday, December 9, 2007

Finally got around to posting pics!

Hi friends!

Finally, WE HAVE PICTURES OF MY NEW RIPPLE. I'm making this one for a charity group - a lady at my church collects knitted and crocheted blankets and donates them to a nursing home for the old dears to use. They're for use as knee-rugs, so it's not going to be nearly as huge as my last one.



Purple and blue "camouflage" acrylic.

I love this blog :-)

Monday, December 3, 2007

Lookee Lookee!


I told you all long ago that I finished the hubby ripple. Well, here it is. Pleasantville in crochet.

Saturday, December 1, 2007

Bad Ripple Mistress, no cookies for me.

Excuses, heartfelt excuses to you all. I've been negligent. I've been bad. I promise to do better.

However...I do have a finished ripple to show off, so I guess I'm not all that bad...the round ripple is no longer languishing:
And it's even getting a little pre-gifting love:
If I can tear it away from the old dog, it shall be a Christmas giftie for my littlest. Love how it turned out,and the Fantasy Naturale was a treat to work with...truly light and lofty cotton.

Promise to get to the languishing "please let me join the blog" requests asap. Of course asap is sort of not so asap when there are puking small people in the house, but you know, it's on my radar. Keep gently nudging me and I shall catch you all eventually! Thanks for your patience.

Thursday, November 29, 2007

Friends

Look at my new Christmas friends, complete with ripple scarves and hats!

Monday, November 26, 2007

Twin rainbow ripples


Both blankets together
Originally uploaded by charlottenarunsky
I posted the bright rainbow ripple a few weeks ago, and now have finally finished the pastel version. These are for a friend of mine who had boy/girls twins last week (ok, so I'm a little late!). I wanted to give her a gift that would reflect the non identical, and yet twin, nature of her babies. I hope she loves them!

Sunday, November 25, 2007

My Sister's Rippler

I'm at the halfway mark with my sister's ripple! I better get my butt in gear since this is a Christmas present for her and the hubby!!


Sister's afghan

Saturday, November 24, 2007

vintage ripples

Hi everyone. Been a while since I posted, or even read this blog, but I thought I'd post this pic:


It is from a vintage crochet magazine I just got from Ebay. Cracks me up, that lady in her ripple skirt (isn't she elegant standing like that?!) Oh, actually, I think these ripples are knit.


This other pic is the cover of a knitting book I bought on Ebay. Made with Noro yarn, it makes an incredibly gorgeous coat, doncha think?

Ciao!

Thursday, November 22, 2007

the ripple scarf - extended!


I finally admitted to myself that the grey ripple scarf was too short and i wasn't going to enjoy wearing it, so after some counting of waves and rows and weighing of leftover wool and some calculations I came to the conclusion that I could add 5 more waves in the opposite colours! Of course I never wrote down what size hook I used for the base chain and rest of scarf so I had to try out a few different sizes, it didn't help that i lent some of my hooks to friends who are starting on the granny squares! is it just me or is the 1st row into the chain a real pain!? in the end i got satisfactory gauge and from there it was a doddle. the seaming isn't perfect, but the way I wear the scarf you can't see the seam, you just see the pink end peeking out from underneath the grey and i have to say i love it! I even got a few compliments on it!

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Rippling on ...

Well, I've been out of the loop for a while. Helping a friend clean house (she's selling) (See more about it in my blog) and translating and working and ... well, there hasn't been a whole lot of time left for crocheting, let alone blogging about it. But lately I've made a bit of progress. It now measures: 140 x 160 cm (which is about 55" x 63")


But here's the progress of my ripple blanket. I'm not sure whether I'm going to keep it or give it away as a Christmas Gift. Still debating :)

I've also got a Secret Swap in progress over at Granny-Along. Anyone who would like to join are welcome to do so. Check for more info by clicking the links.

Monday, November 19, 2007

My Last Ripple

Here is my last ripple for 2007 - that I have planned, anyway. I finally purchased the yarn I needed to finish (another) brother's ripple for Christmas 2007. It didn't take too long to finish. Here it is:



This is from the Leisure Arts pamphlet, Rippling Effects. I used TLC Cotton-Plus yarn. This pamphlet has some materials errors. Email me if you need the details.

All I have do now is weave in the ends of this one and a few others, then wait to clean and wrap them for giving. I still have a granny square afghan to make for my sister, and other non-ripple gifts for family and friends.

It has been great sharing my creations with you all. 2007 will always be remembered by me as The Year of the Ripple.

Peace!
Susan (aka ZenKnit)

Monday, November 12, 2007

Sam's Afghan

The afghan that I was working on, that is for the fellow resident where my mom currently is, has been completed for several weeks. I've only recently been able to get back on the internet with a computer with the speed that could handle all the work I wanted to do. So now I can start posting pictures about such things as my completed crochet projects.

Here is Sam's Afghan, done in Blues and Yellow, a color included to honor the bananas over which this man and my 2 year old son bonded. :-)

Thursday, November 8, 2007

Green/orange/black zigzag done!




I finished my son's bright + black afghan a couple of weeks ago, and finally got around to taking a picture of it to post here. My son likes it, and it's just the right size for his twin bed. I loved working on this, and I even learned a new crochet stitch, reverse slipstitch, which I used on the second row of the edging. Now I'm going to plan a ripple in more subdued colors for the den. I'm getting lots of good ideas and inspiration from this site. Go ripplers!

Monday, November 5, 2007

Vanna-ghan Finished!

I finished the Vanna-ghan several weeks ago. Our son Phillip and his fiancee were here this weekend and I gave it to them to take back to Wyoming. It's probably too heavy for an Alabama winter but should help keep them toasty warm. It was fun to make, and the kids love it.

Head to Wal-Mart

Red Heart has a free project sheet available at Wal-Mart for a ripple bag. I'd scan it in and share it, but the computer with the scanner attached needs a new video card. It appears to be a messenger type bag. Pretty cool I have to say. If you need a copy, let me know!

Saturday, November 3, 2007

I finished my Storm Clouds ripple!

I need to get a pic of it today sometime and post it. It turned out great and I'd love to make another one with different colors. I loved these colors, but doing the same one 2 times is just not me. lol

HDing here!!

Here it is!

I kept forgetting to get batteries for my camera, so I snagged dh's camera and got a pic. Dd is holding it (being Kilroy) and she is just over 5' 9".

This is a wedding gift for a friend's dd.




Hubby ripple completed

I finished the hubby's black and grey ripple last night. I'll post a picture here as soon as I can get one. I'm pretty proud of it. It's just short (about an inch and a half) of seven feet. In order to get it to be at least seven feet, I would have had to repeat the grey and black one more time and that would have made it approximately 7' 4". I thought that was a little too long and unwieldly, so I stopped just short of seven feet.

I have to say that I think it looks great. I know that I wasn't really thrilled about working entirely in black and grey, but I think it really looks sharp. Be on the lookout for a picture!

Also, if you could all take a look at my blog http://squintsquad.blogspot.com and look at the post titled "Looking for help" I'd really appreciate it. I'd like to make a very special toy for my daughter and could use some opinions/help/advice. Thanks in advance.

Wednesday, October 31, 2007

My Ripple of Many Colors is Complete!


I'm so pumped.....I finally completed my cotton ripple after what seemed a very long time. It really wasn't all that long since I started this in early June, so 4 months, but it just seemed as though I was usually working on just this one project. I used Mission Falls 1824 cotton and an I hook and did the colors at random just choosing which ones I thought were complimentary to their neighbor. I used the pattern from the Family Circle Easy Crochet magazine, the Fall 2006 issue. I haven't blocked it yet so it's not completely widened or straightened yet but it will measure somewhere around 40"x 70" once it's blocked.

I did enjoy crocheting this very much, as it worked up light, airy, and yet still warm and toasty, which was a pleasant surprise for a cotton ghan. This would be the perfect afghan for those who are allergic to wools and perhaps don't care for acrylics. So, what do all of you wonderful fellow crocheters think?

Monday, October 29, 2007

Hubby ripple

Just a quick update. The hubby's grey and black ripple is about 5 1/2 feet now. It's got to be 6 to cover him, but I plan to keep working as long as the yarn holds out. Tonight is the night our group gets together, so maybe I can con someone into taking a picture for me. I still have two full skeins of the grey yarn that I haven't touched, so I should be good for at least 6 1/2 feet if not 7. 7 would be ideal because then he would have plenty to tuck under his feet.

The reason for my speed crocheting? The hubby is having total knee replacement on Thursday and would like to cuddle with this when he gets home. Think of me working hard!

Thursday, October 25, 2007

When You Least Expect It


The other night at Knit Knite, I was happily chugging away on my ripple afghan when I started to dawn on me that I had a very small amount of the yarn I was working with left. I crocheted a few more inches and then finally admitted that I would not have enough pink to finish out that row of the ripple. That's when it also dawned on me that as it was my fourth stripe of that color, I wouldn't have enough of any color to finish an entire stripe since they've all been used three times as well. That meant either buying 17 more balls of Cascade 220 Superwash, making this the most expensive blanket I've ever owned, or it meant that my blanket was done. Which do you think I chose?
I'M DONE, Y'ALL!!
Final dimensions are 67" long x 50" wide, when I originally was planning on 67" wide x 70" long. This, of course means that my ripples are rippling vertically instead of the typical horizontal ripplage. I have to say I am completely fine with this.

Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Log Cabin Fever

I did it. I took the jump. http://logcabinfever.blogspot.com/ is now up and running. Currently it has nothing. But if you want to sign up to post, the email address is listed there. Send me an email and I'll get your invitation sent out!

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Fishing for info

I spoke to Dawn about this already and got her permission to post here. I'd like to try and get a head count of people who might be interested in a log cabin along blog. I don't want to start up something that only Leah and I are interested in. But if the interest is there, I just might do it. Or maybe I can talk Leah into helping me out with it. Do I have any takers?

One More Down

Here is a another completed afghan for my Christmas 2007 project.

crocheted ripple afghan for my brother

This is the Golden Harvest design from the Leisure Arts pamplet, Rippling Effects. 4 colors of Red Heart Super Saver and a size I hook. I modified the pattern for a narrower width, and less rows in each dark brown section. It is a nice stitch, alternating rows of crocheted Vs and then a row of single crochet. It is nice and lacy, but still substantial.

I am down to really needing to order yarns to complete another brother's afghan, and then get back to the squares for my sister's. Since sister's afghan is too fiddly to do while I am with other people talking and such, I plan to take my completed afghans out for a spin - to stitch in ends and show them off.

I am also planning another afghan for myself - a chakra colored one (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet) done up using the new Vanna White yarn. The colors are nice - not clownish and the yarn is really soft. I am going to use it in my Reiki healing work. After that, who knows?

Peace! Susan (aka ZenKnit)

Monday, October 22, 2007

Storm Clouds update

I am working specifically on this as I want to finish it by this weekend. This was as of the 20th (Sat). It is a wedding gift for a friend's dd. She is getting married mid-November, so I want to mail it out next week latest.

It is about 2/3 done at this point. TFL!

*clickable pic*




Back in black...and grey

Wanted to update everyone on the progress of my ripple. I'm still without a photo, but I'm working like a maniac on the hubby's ripple. It's all done in black and grey, double crochet, working in the back of each stitch (not sure what to call it, but I know it's not the back of the post) to create texture and to ensure that I can easily work while watching TV and not have to count. I said it before in my comments, and it bears repeating, it's like crocheting in Pleasantville. I'm seriously waiting for Reece Witherspoon to come along!

The reason I'm working so frantically is that we got news the hubby would be having total knee replacement surgery in the next couple of weeks. He'd love to have it to curl up with when he gets home from the hospital. So, it's gained at least a foot in the last couple of days. I'm almost to 4 feet and I'm trying to get to 6, possibly 7 feet. We'll see how long the grey yarn holds out. I usually work with Red Heart and buy stuff that has no dye lot. But this grey does. So I bought Wal-Mart out of the grey in the dye lot I needed. Anyway, check back here for frequent updates. And hopefully a pic! And I'm so inspired by Leah's log cabin that I may try that one next. Leah, what do you say to a Log Cabin Along Blog?

Thursday, October 18, 2007

Post-Ripple Yarn Ends

I've been trying and trying to get a good shot of my ripple--it's so hard to capture all the colors, but here's a couple of shots:




It's got a really nice, heavy drape, like my grandmother's bedspreads of bygone days. Of course, those were more formal; she crocheted them in ivory thread with a teeny needle, and they had such stately presence on the beds. I think of the ripple as a more casual, modern version of my Bubbe's fancy 'ghans.

Now, the ripple ends. What to do? There is a treasure trove of beautiful leftover thread. I'd been working on a granny 'ghan, which was coming along nicely, but I began to realize how little I wanted to piece it together at the end. Then, looking through "Mason-Dixon Knitting," I noticed the gorgeous knit log cabin blankets. I decided to try one in crochet with leftover ripple. Check it out here at my blog. It is SO much fun!

Sunday, October 14, 2007

Feed the newbie

Hi all. I just wanted to make a quick introduction. I found this site while looking for a picture of a ripple afghan to post to my blog. No, I didn't steal anyone's work. I didn't think it was right when I found all of you.

I'm currently working on a black and grey ripple for my hubby. He loves it, but boy am I ready to move on to something with some more color! I'd post a pic, but my camera is currently on the fritz. I'm going to try and borrow one from someone. He'd like me to make the edges straight by somehow creating triangles of stitching to put in the valleys of the ripple. Anyone got any advice on this or any pictures they can lead me to?

Thanks for letting me join in. I look forward to hearing from anyone with advice!

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Apropos of Something!

Dig the word verification I got whilst commenting on someone else's blog:



I tried not to take it personally... what with me being a crocheter and all:)

Just thought I'd poke my head in here and say, "howdy," and that I haven't forgotten about my ripple 'ghan I started in varying colors of Lion Suede chenille. I'm now finishing up some scarves for the Red Scarf Project, and am also working on some holiday projects, so once I get those under control, I'll be picking up my 'ghan once ... "a-ghain."

By the way... does anyone in here know about Turkish Crochet aka "Oya?" (No, *not* Tunisian... Turkish!) If so, please check out my blog, as I have a post about my curiosity about it. I want to learn about it--and I'm hoping someone in this group might know some tidbit to point me in the right direction!

Tuesday, October 9, 2007

Cosy ripple blanket



I finally finished my ripple blanket this past weekend, it's perfect for my 2 seat sofa, especially when I'm curled up underneath it. I've enjoyed making it, even if it took a long time.

Friday, October 5, 2007

wip...almost done

It's been a while. But, I frogged an 3/4 complete blanket & I'm almost done again. Less than 20 rows (10 colors) .

(sorry for the bad pic)

I'm ready to be done.

Monday, October 1, 2007

chevron hat

Hey, look what I just found! This is a pattern for a knitted chevron hat, it looks really cool! Check it out here.

I seem to be really good at finding more patterns to make, but not so good at finishing my almost done ripple cotton blankie! Soon, my lovelies, soon.... :D

Sunday, September 30, 2007

My very first ripple afghan

I thought I would share a picture of my first ripple afghan I made recently. It took me a couple of months to finish. I worked on this mostly as a form of therapy. My Mom had passed away and I was having a hard time grieving, so I decided to make an afghan in memory of her. She was a gifted seamstress, knitter and crocheter. Doing this project got me back into crocheting and brought me closer to her. I think she would had liked this. It is sized for a lap quilt, but I am making another one the size of our king size bed. I love the multi colors because it makes it look cheerful. No special yarns, just the average Red Heart you find in Wal-Mart and Hobby Lobby.

Work in progress

This is my first post to the group, but not my first ripple afghan! I've been making ripples since the mid-1970's! I make a lot of Prayer Shawls and then have a lot of scraps left over. Ripple afghans are a good way to use up these "odd-balls" of yarn. I try to keep at least one afghan going at all times. I am using the Easy Ripple Pattern. It is a joy to work with.

Ripple Coat

Hey y'all! Been a long time since I could even look at this blog, but I found a pattern for a neat ripple coat I thought I'd share:


I got it in a book on Ebay. You can see what book it's from by checking out my blog. Cheers!

Thursday, September 27, 2007

New around here---but not to ripples!!!

Ripples are what got me interested in knowing how to read a pattern---up until I was 21, I was just freehanding along. But since I learned how to read a pattern, I can honestly say ripples make up the majority of my finished projects!!!

I have a favorite pattern, which is one of my current WIPs. I don't have a picture of that, as I'm presently restricted to using a smaller computer (our computer decided to kick the bucket just this weekend! UGH!!!!), but I've got a few close ups of the last one of the pattern I made. I finished that one just last week. I'm using the pattern's recommended weight this time, as it turns out I had a bunch of one color. I'm happy that I will definitely be able to make this version to the required length (the last was just a bit short), and maybe a matching bonnet or some booties.

This is another current project. It's the inspiration for my crochet group co-owner suggesting I try to join this blog! Little did she know ripples are a secret passion of mine! I'm making this afghan for a resident at the home my mom's at, who has befriended my 2 year old! Maybe I should add some stripes of yellow to this, to represent the bananas they bonded over! :-)

Rainbow baby ripple

It's been a while since I last posted, not because I haven't been rippling away, but because I have been unable to finish anything! I wanted to wait until this one was done because it is part of a set of two ripples for a friend who is having twins. The other is going to be a pastel version of the same thing - she is having one girl and one boy.

I'll show you that one when it is done too!

Wednesday, September 26, 2007

Knit Ripple

I've been getting just stunning sock yarn shipments from Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks that Rock Sock Club (okay, that's a mouthful). Each one more lovely than the last. But the sock thrill is gone just for the moment (I think it has something to do with Second Sock Syndrome), and I just had to begin something with last month's installment, called "Flower Power." So, I decided to try out the chevron scarf pattern I found in "Scarf Style" from Interweave. The Blue Moon is really luxe--wonderful to work with--and I'm pretty happy with the way it's striping along the pattern. Their color schemes are always an adventure--who could imagine pale blue, fuschia, cinammon, taupe, and grey? I guess they did, of course--and it definitely works:



I'm keeping it rather narrow, and hopefully will have enough length.

Tuesday, September 25, 2007

a general hello

I just wanted to say hi and tell everyone out there that I have been so inspired by wonderful projects I've seen on this site and hope to share my own with you soon.

Tami

Yay, I'm here!




This blog inspired me to start the first ripple I've made since I was a teenager (I'm 48 now), when I made one from a kit in graduated shades of avocado (it would have coordinated with the refrigerators of the time). I've been crocheting and knitting sporadically since I was a kid, and have made several grannyghans over the last couple of years, but had kind of forgotten about ripples. This site (and some others I found through this one) reminded me of how great these could look. That said, the one I'm making is not at all elegant, but has colors selected by my 13-year old son. He wanted neon green and black; I added orange and a bit of yellow to make the rippling more fun for me. Plus, we live in Miami, and green and orange are the school colors of the University of Miami. Go 'Canes! The pictures don't really capture the vividness of the colors, which are the Simply Soft Brites. These were taken about a week or more ago, I'm now starting the fourth repeat. I'll post again when it's done.

Monday, September 24, 2007

Started a new ripple

This is going to be a wedding gift for a friend's daughter. They are getting married 11-17-07, so I will be working on this a lot. It is from the 200 Ripples book and called Storm Clouds. I'm using the new Vanna's Choice yarn and love it!






Thanks for looking!

Still Rippling

I've been away from this blog for quite awhile, returned to look several days ago, and realized how much I've missed it! Everyone's doing such nice work. The funny thing is, I have been rippling, just not posting. I finally finished my Rowan Cotton Glace ripple, which I love very much. It's a little narrow, but still sweet. I've also just finished a baby ripple out of Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino (which gets fantastic drape, even tightly crocheted up). Here she is:



So many of my friends are pregnant, I'm not sure to whom this will ultimately go...

I'm also working on an autumnal sort of ripple, a little brash and made of Red Heart Soft Yarn, which is 100% acrylic. But whoever said a ripple had to break the bank? I'm not sure about this one, but my little girl loves it, so maybe she'll get it as a cuddle-up couch blanket for the coming winter...



So, that's my ripple story at the moment. If you like, come visit me at The Weather in the Streets, although I warn you that I've recently become a little Severus Snape-obsessed, which has been an impediment to my knitting and crochet musings. Still, if you like crocheting AND the potions master, then it's the place for you...

My Latest Ripple

Here is a photo of the latest:



The colors aren't quite right in the photo. It is a very nice blend in person. Here is a blurry shot with a better view of the colors:



Ack! That still isn't quite right. It really is very nice looking in person. I wasn't really thrilled with it at first, and ended up tearing a good chunk out and re-working the width (it was toooooooo biiiiiiiggggggg) and changing up the order of the colors, because the variegated was just blending too much into the dark brown. The dark brown is called coffee, the lighter brown is cafe, the variegated is earth and sky, and the white is either aran or soft white. I don't have them right here so I am just guessing.

Three repeats out of a total of 6. I thought I could get away with 5 repeats, but I think it will be just a bit short. I don't know if I will have enough yarn. I calculated it thinking that the instructions were right, and they aren't. The stitches are right, but I am wondering if there was just a silly person doing the yardage because this is the 2nd time that the 2nd color of 2 patterns was off. Thankfully, the 2nd color is one of those "no dye lot" sort, and I think I can get it local vs. having to order it online. I still haven't ordered more yarn for the red, white, blue and tan afghan. I need to do that!

Tomorrow starts a pretty busy week; I may not get a lot of time to crochet. It is also my birthday on Friday and I have celebrations planned on Friday and Saturday. I will tell you more about that when I can.

Have a great week! I know I will.

Peace,
Susan (aka ZenKnit)

Tuesday, September 18, 2007

Beach-ghan Progress




Rippling along on the afghan for the beach condo. I'm sort of regretting that I included the dark red (rust?) yarn. It seemed like a good idea at the time, but now I'm worried that it's distracting.