My new baby

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

Another newbie!

Hello! I'm another newbie to the Ripple-Along. I found the project from my SP9's blog, after she sent me a cute set of crochet hooks of my own, and I've been following you all avidly for weeks now -- everyone has such fantastic projects! I really want to crochet a ripple afghan of my own (maybe one like this eventually, though probably a pillow cover or baby blanket to start out with), and there's just one little glitch... I have no idea how to crochet! I'm a knitter but I have never seemed to be able to wrap my head around crocheting. You'd think it'd be in my blood since my mother crochets constantly and my late grandmother -- who is actually the inspiration for me to make a ripple afghan -- was never without her Red Heart Super Saver close to hand. I was wondering if any of you might happen to be in or around Chicago, and interested in helping get someone else off the ground?

I can't wait to have something charming and striped of my own to post! Have yarn, will travel!

Hi everyone!

My name is Lynne and I'm also new to this blog... well to blogging in general. Yes, I'm a newbie!

I have also been watching everyone's progress for a few weeks now and love all of the beautiful blankets. You have inspired me to start my very first ripple. :)

The only problem? I'm on a yarn diet. I was not going to buy more yarn until I complete some of my current projects (or those just waiting to be started!) but a friend invited me to go shopping in the States (I live in Canada, near the border) and I found the Caron Simply Soft I see so often on blogs. I haven't been able to find it here. Well, I just had to buy it :)

Specs :

Soft Waves pattern from Jan Eaton
yarn : Caron Simply Soft Brites in Berry, Blue Mint, Limelight, Grape, Mango, Lemonade as well as Iris and Rubine Red (Still Simply Soft but not Brites)
I'm making baby blanket size so I chained 111 (?) to start.

So here was my first go at it :











It looked good at first but then realized it wasn't rippling :





It took me many tries to get it right. I've been a knitter for years and learnt how to crochet, mostly on my own, 2 years ago. I guess I need more practice with reading patterns!





Finally I got it right and it now looks like this :





I've never made such a flashy colourful.. well... anything! I love it!

Oh, I just joined!

I'm very excited to be a member of this blog because I haven't been able to figure out how to do it.

Trying to decide which ripple to make. I have Jan's book and been devoring it.The ripple will be for my son. He wants one with those sharp up's and downs. Says it reminds him of a favorite shirt he had growing up. I have no idea which shirt he's talking about. So, he wants the sharp ripple and he wants Granny colors. Years ago my mother and I made a granny afghan together. We used acryllic yarn. Bad idea. The yarn is just not yummy feeling. I also just noticed that the way my mother put it togeter left lots of holes where air can come through. Our son lives in San Francisco so he needs a warm, soft, granny bright colored with black afghan. I'm also trying to decide whether to knit or crochet. So many decisions.

Most important thing is that I now can post and just noticed the little picture above the post. So that's where I can add a picture. I'm stoked!!!!!!!

As soon as I figure out which afghan to make I'll post a picture. Hope I'm not blabbling too much with out a picture and with out an afghan.

Sandy

Here are two more...

Ok, I promised more pictures.

Here are two others. The pink and purple one can be either a lapghan or a baby stroller blanket. I used some scraps. LOVE scrap yarns.

The other is my s'mores afghan. It'll end up being about toddler size. It's not quite done yet.

Resurrected!!

WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! I'm up and rippling again!

This is go #3 on the original, big ripple. Let's review:

Lattice chevron stitch pattern out of Donna Kooler's Encyclopedia of Crochet. (the hope is the openwork pattern will accommodate for the differing yarn weights)
Various yarns from my stash, including some heavenly hand-painted cotton, alpaca, some Encore in blue and brown and tweedy red, and cream sugar and cream cotton. Oh yeah, and the other bluish wool.
H or I hook, depending.
In the pattern, it's 60 inches wide. 300 stitches-ish.

And can I just say I am soooooooooooooooo happy now about all of the unfortunate frogging, because I l.o.v.e. how the colors are working out now. I'm actually a bit further than this, done with the tweedy red and almost done with a section of cream. Will try to get newer pics soon.

This is proving the perfect project for this week. I'm in crunch time planning a silent auction and the repetitiveness of this is soooooooooo soothingly wonderful.

Still have to frog back the rumpled round ripple. And I have thoughts of a felted "softwaves" bag that looks much like what many of you are doing. Local LYS with major sale, 20% off everything, so I may just have to go pick up some odd balls and make that happen...

Getting a big head start on Christmas

Remember that I mentioned that I planned on making afghans for my family for Christmas? I ordered enough for 3 because that is all my budget would allow at the time. Then I had to wait for the yarn to arrive, so I started up a knitted non-ripple afghan. If you want to check it out, visit my ZenKnit blog.

The yarn for the afghans arrived and I decided to do a crochet non-ripple that looked nice from a book I checked out from a library. It turned out that the yarn was just too stiff for that pattern. I ripped it out and started up a ripple. Which I secretly desired to do anyway. Red Heart Super Saver yarn in pale yellow, cornmeal and country blue. About 52 inches wide. I decided to do a repeat of 3 colors, so that I could evenly use the 3 skeins of each color. I wanted to switch it up a bit so that it wouldn't be boring for me to crochet.

I am going to just keep on going until I run out of yarn. So far that might mean a very big afghan because I haven't run out of yarn from the 1st of 3 skeins (in each color) yet.



Ripples in worsted weight sure go fast! I saw comments on another post that said that Red Heart softens up after washing. Knowing that makes me very happy. I think the colors are bright and cheery and I hope the family member who gets it is happy with it too. Or that they aren't but they keep it to themselves *grin*.

Peace,
Susan (aka ZenKnit)

Just Joined!

Of course, I have to go home and learn how to crochet first, then wait for my book and yarn to arrive. I'll be using the soft waves pattern from the Jan Eaton book that a lot of you are using as well. I've ordered Cascade 220 Superwash for this project-- have any of you used it before? Do you think I'll like it?

New Rippler

Thank you for the invitation. I happy to be crocheting again. It's been a long time since I tried a ripple. I'm glad I started it, and with daughter #3's (Paula) for now. I had acquired some balls of yarn from a relative and thought I'd just use the random colors. It will be a little boys first real bed blanket or a cat throw. I will end up having to buy some other colors to finish it, but I really like rippling now and have visions of dozens of other projects in fabulous colors.

This is the first time I've been able to handle a crochet project after my mastectomy without my chest, arms and hands cramping up. I even went to knitting for awhile (just some simple scarves) just to keep my hands going. I like crocheting and usually always had a project going.

It feels good.

They are multiplying like rabbits

Ok, I started with one ripple 'ghan, and now currently have five of them going at the same time! It's my little addiction at the moment. I only have a photo of this one, but I'll add more later on.

Who would have thunk that rippling would be so hot again?

Well, I am not *that* strange...

Sorry for the triple posts, I didn't do that, blogger must have!

Molly

I SO don't have a picture yet!

But that's because I haven't started yet! I just joined this afternoon(the 17th) and hopefully will get some rows done tonight so I can share later. What fun this is going to be!!!

Molly

I SO don't have a picture yet!

But that's because I haven't started yet! I just joined this afternoon(the 17th) and hopefully will get some rows done tonight so I can share later. What fun this is going to be!!!

Molly

I SO don't have a picture yet!

But that's because I haven't started yet! I just joined this afternoon(the 17th) and hopefully will get some rows done tonight so I can share later. What fun this is going to be!!!

Molly

Blanket=Love

I love knitting blankets! I've been working on this one off and on (mostly off) since right after Christmas. I'd say I've got about 75% finished. The pattern is a modified fan-and-feather stitch, it's the Project Linus Security Blanket from Betty Christiansen's Knitting for Peace. Pretty and ripply and I don't know if I can bear to part with it, but we'll cross that bridge when we get to it!

http://hurlypurly.blogspot.com

Out with the old, in with the new!

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

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

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

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

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

Ripple Cushion Progress

Hello Ripplers :-)
I'm puttering along slowly with my ripple cushion, here's my progress..

I'm using the Soft Waves pattern.

Me too:-)

I'm one of the new ones here. But ripple has reached out for me as well, so I think this is just a wonderful place. I almost never have seen so many beautiful blankets at the same place.
I began my ripple a few weeks ago. And had a lot of 'starting-problems' - even though I use to feel, that I'm ok at crocheting. But never the less - in the start it looked more like ripping than rippling.
Now it's ok - and this is my work so far:

I use a yarn called 'Bali' from GGH.
It's very soft and very nice to work with. This photo does not show the colors very well - but there are some blues, pink, purple, orange, green and brown. I choose to make a system - mostly because I have a lot of the light blue color. So to avoid a lot of blue in the end, I had to do it in a way, that is a little unusual. I mostly prefer a random colorway. But the result is ok so far, so I can live with it.
It's a funny thing to work with. Quite addictive. Almost like meditation. I love it, and I can't leave it, even though I have a lot of other project to finish :-))))
And I don't think this one will be the last one.

Cool Pattern Find

Hey Everyone, I just had to share a cool pattern I just found. It's the "Spiderman Ripple" This would be perfect for a lil boy who's a spiderman fan!

Guess who has a finished Baby Ripple?

Me!!!! That's right. That Nor'Easter that hit up the North east including my hometown of New York was very conducive to finishing up this bad boy. It is so pretty, I almost want to keep it for my future babies, but no I am giving it to my goddaughter who is such a cutie pie.



My coworker helped me out by holding up so I could get a full picture. The only reason I brought it to work was to show her (she's a crocheter).

Here is a close up of the edging and tassels I did:



and a picture of the true color:



Specs on the Ripple:

Pattern: SusanB's Easy Ripple Afghan
Hook size: Clover Size F
Yarn: Combinations of Red Heart Soft Yarn, Dark Horse Fantasy Yarn, Cleckheaton 8ply yarn and 1 other that I can't remember.

All I did was cast on was a 139 stitches and went from there. I did 3 color repeats ( I was supposed to do 4, but then I think it would of been to long)

For the edging I did a sc of the first color I used in the afghan. ( I was going to do a sc of each color used in the blanket, but by the time I finished the first color I was done. So I just added tassels using all the colors in the blanket)

So there you have it. My first ever Ripple afghan, my first ever crochet FO as an adult. Now I am off to plan for my second Ripple, pattern will be out of 200 Ripple Stitch book

Check out my blog sometime: Rooted in Knit-reality

My Weekly Update

So I've spent the week watching all 6 Star Wars movies (I had never seen them before) with my family and working on my sons ripple blanket.
I've reached a point where the blanket is so big it takes most of my crochet time to get it settled so I can work on it.
It's also getting frustrating that I can't see my progress as easily since it's gotten so large. So that's what the little blue stitch marker is for. It marks the place I was the last time I posted. So from it to dark orange is what I have accomplished this week.
My Blog with another picture.

Newbie

Hello everyone, This is my first post. It is so great to see all of the ripples and to see them grow. So many pretty afghans. Here is my blanket on day 10.



I think I will need to do 9 repeats of the four colours. So I am almost a third of the way done. I am using Red Heart Super Saver, a size I hook and the Soft Ripple pattern and while I love the colours and how it is turning out I really not in love with the yarn. So what is a knitter/crocheter to do? Buy more yarn right? So I have almost enough now for a second ripple in Caron Simply Soft. I'm going to add a few colours to it every time I go to the craft store so that when I'm done with the one I'm working on, I'll be set for a second. Is there anything that I can do when it's done that will soften this yarn? I was thinking that I would try to use softener on it but I've never used this yarn before so I didn't know if it would work?
Anyway, here it is on our bed last week(of course it has grown since then:)

It matches better in person.
Can't wait to see more ripples. Am I the only person that checks this blog a billion times a day?

My Ripple is finished :-)

The Ripple is finished! It’s been great fun! I didn’t have enough stash, so I bought yarn for this project. I decided to use the yarn Falk from Dale of Norway. This was based on wanting to crochet in wool, not use a hook smaller that 6.00 mm, and Falk had the colours I wanted. I made 196 chain stitches. I used crochet hook 6.00 mm, my crocheting is loose, which in turn gave a blanket that is approximately 1,20 meters wide. I used 27 skeins, and that gave a blanket that is approximately 1,60 meters long. This project was both faster and easier than I anticipated, so now I’m thinking of making one in cotton as well. Once in a while I ask my partner if he wants me to make something for him. His answer is always no. During this project, his interest in this afghan has grown, and he had a very clear opinion about how long it should be. Now, he has adopted it :-)



My blog

Baby Tiger Ripple

Hello, everyone! I've just joined, and this is my first post.

I am currently crocheting a soft waves (from 200 Ripple Stitch Patterns) ripple baby afgan for my brother's new baby using Blue Sky Alpacas Dyed Cotton. The orange (Poppy) and blue (Indigo) colors were selected becuase my brother is a basketball coach, and these are his team colors. I didn't think about it until later, but his team is the tigers, which makes the ripple stripes especially appropriate. More on my past rippling efforts can be found here.

Two ripple blankets at once - is it humanely possible?

So I've taken it to a new level - I am now working on two ripple blankets. Am I crazy? Perhaps. But I've promised my friend that I'll have a ripple for her for her bridal shower (May 26th), and gosh darnit, a blanket she'll have! I bought the yarn for said blanket yesterday (she picked out the colours last week, and I added an extra shade because I have spare yarn in that hue), and plotted out the blanket using the Random Stripe Generator. I even added the details to my artsy journal, as you'll notice from the following photo:

And since yesterday, I have accomplished an additional three colours: a total of six more stripes. Now, I'm off to snack, call boyfriend, and add to the ripple sensation.

MacKnitty is a slacker (Week 4)

I've spent almost no time this week on my ripple. I think I need a little motivation. Actually not really I CO more projects instead of actually working this.

I know I want to finish but I have a wedding present to work on so I had to pack up my little ripple and put it aside until the weddings are over.

Hopefully by next week I'll be in full ripple force but actually you know what I probably won't be because I present in my class next week so I have to push out a 16 page paper, if I'm smart I'll do at least 1.5 pages a day ( I already did 5 pages). I bet 10 bucks that I'm NOT smart.
Keep on rippling.

my NEIS afghan has graduated...

my afghan has gotten too big for the couch that i must place it on my bed to display! i guess that's a good thing bc that means there isn't that much left. its looking like two or 3 more color set repeats and a decorative border and i will be all done! how exciting, huh?

i was able to finish my monkey socks and have committed myself to finishing a few rows a night in order to keep myself on schedule. so i'm hoping (*crosses fingers* ) to complete this afghan before the end of this week. keep a look-out for the final product!

~ joy from http://www.circleplussix.com

Ninth Time's The Charm

I’m so glad to be joining the Ripple-Along. I’ve actually been rippling for a few weeks now and the fact is, I don’t have a lot of experience with crochet. I’ve never used a real pattern before. I have made a lot of mistakes.
1. 200 stitches, two rows, too short.
2. 349 stitches, two rows, too long.
3. Can’t remember how many stitches, realized I wasn’t doing a full double crochet. Oops!
4. 4 rows, double crochet, something is weird. It’s curling.
5. Trying again. Still curling.

6. Sought help from sister and mother-in-law. They are stumped. Finally realize I’m not going into the right part of the foundation row plus my foundation row is really tight. Eureka!
7. Chained with a larger hook for a looser foundation row and then went into the correct spot. This time it’s working! But it’s way too long.
8. Finally, 219 stitches, all is well. I’m about to start my 7th color. (this picture is from 2 rows ago!)



I’m working with Rowan Pure Wool DK and an F hook using Soft Waves from Jan Eaton’s 200 Ripple-Stitch Patterns. The yarn is heavenly and the pattern is so relaxing (after I finally got the hang of it).

Treasure Hunt - 3 beautiful ripple feather and fan shawls

I was noodling around looking for yarn and came across these links on the Elann.com site; 3 beautiful feather and fan shawls (knitted ripples) in a v-pattern:

Varigated Knit Ripple - Feather and Fan Shawl
Another
Solid Feather and Fan Shawl

I have started up a worsted weight ripple in 3 colors - pale yellow, cornmeal and country blue using Red Heart Super Saver yarn. Kind of stiff, but it sure goes fast.

I will post a photo soon.

Peace,
Susan (aka ZenKnit)

Kitty in a Blanket

I'm now eight and a half rows into the blanket, and guess what - still not feeling it. My cat, however, definately is!

"Mmmmm crochet and yarn." She says.
I am working on another pink stripe right now - same colour, different yarn. A bit wonky, I know. It's definately a different texture - this current one is kind of scratchy and every so often I find wood chips in it. Any idea what it might be?
I'm still worried that my blanket will be ugly. But still chuggin' away and letting Goddess Yarn take over. Next I'm putting in orange, then a white shade. I guess I'm not relinquishing all control to the Goddess.

In other news, I love how everyone's blankets are turning out. I'm itching to do a Babette, but must get some of these other blankets out of the way first!

xoxo Jen (persephonesawakening.wordpress.com)

hello, my name is

(yeah right, like i'm gonna post that here!) and i'm a lazy person.
yes. very lazy. i've been putting off blogging, for laziness purposes. thinking is exhausting. crafting as well.
but i'm back (i think), and i'm rippling, (can't show you pictures though).
i frogged some of my first rows, cause they were not looking good, and it required a lot of gymnastic abilities, but it's done, without having to frog all of it. i also took about 25 inches from the sides (also a manoeuvre deserving of Olympic medals - note the use of plural) cause it was too wide and sagging from the bed too much. it's good now, it looks good, it's good to ripple again, cause before it was so wide it was tiresome, and i got bored halfway through it. well, not anymore, i got a lot done. will try for some pictures in the near future.

Lotsa stripes...

So it's been a while since i've posted. I've started repeating my colors finally. I think I bought too many colors :D I believe the last time I posted, I was working on the country rose stripe next to the mustard color one. I"ve added a lot since then. I've been dog sitting the past week, and have been rippling like a mad woman.

I did some measuring with my tape measure, and the blanket measures 50 inches exactly. I measured how much of the bed was left and its about 28 inches. Then I measured 28 inches on the blanket, and its about 23 stripes. Not much left to go!

Still using a size K hook, and Red Heart Super Saver yarns.

Its getting too big to grab a picture of the whole thing.

I've been fantasizing about the next ripple i'm gonna do. It'll only have 3 or 4 colors this time... Throw sized... and I'm gonna do it in a soft yarn, probably the caron simply soft that you guys are all using... We'll see.

Obligatory kitty picture.

He's about ready to attack my hand and the camera. I was poking at him trying to get him to move. :D

Hi I'm Tawana

I'm new to ripple along, in the sense that this is my first time posting but I have been lurking and leaving comments. All the different Ripples are so beautiful. I have been patiently waiting to be able to post, but since then I had done alot with my Ripple.



This was it a couple of weeks ago.(Oops, this was it before I frogged it because the cast on edge was too tight, I changed the order of some of the colors.) This is it several days ago:



Currently I am into the 3rd set of 4 repeats of the repeating color. This is going to be a baby carriage blanket. Well I am off to ripple some more and plan my next afghan.

Dilemma

I just signed up for the ripple-along today, although I've been watching you all ripple for a while now.

This isn't the first time I've made ripples. Here's a blanket for our queen-size bed which I made 5 or 6 years ago now -- it took me a long time. It's been several years since I've had my crochet hook out. I've been doing more knitting and sewing in recent times.

I have some Red Heart Yarn that's been sitting waiting for me to be ready to make an afghan (cheap and easy to wash is good for an afghan in my book, especially now that I have a baby in the house). Depending on how big I decide to make this afghan I may have to get more, but I have supplies to get started.

Now for the dilemma. My problem is what stitch pattern to use. The ripples I've done before came from a pattern booklet called "Rippling Effects" by Carole Prior. I've been looking through and trying to decide whether I want to use one of those patterns this time. One thing I don't like is that they mostly seem more zig-zag than ripple to my eye. But I can't find my other crochet pattern book at the moment, and I don't want to risk getting sidetracked searching around the Internet...

So I made this swatch using the "rustic ripple" pattern from my booklet. I can't decide whether or not I like the way the colours transition. It's a bit like the back of plain knitting which can be great.

Any thoughts? Or recommendations for a ripple pattern online that's fluid not pointy?!

(I also posted about this at my own [new] blog - Commonplace Iris)

New to rippling, new to crochet!

Hi, I am Christina from Indiana. I am crocheting the "Soft Waves" pattern in Knitpicks Shine Sport on a 4 mm hook. I've never crochet before and never used Knitpicks yarn before, so I am excited to see how this works out! I am an experienced knitter and I mostly knit with wool, so the slipperiness of Shine takes some getting used to. My ripple is going to be a baby blanket for my boss, who is having a difficult second pregnancy. The blanket is 10 repeats wide (about 36") and I'm on the 4th row.

I have one question: how do you deal with your ends? Do you weave them in as you go, hold the tail with the working yarn as you crochet, or weave the ends in after the fact? I'd love to hear your input, and thanks for reading!

Now Look What You've Started...

Is it too much to say that rippling has changed my life?! I used to do things - y'know like sleeping, talking to people, laundry, dishes. Now all I do is crochet. This is me on March 27...

I had problems. I saw all the cool ripples everyone else was making. I can't tell you how badly I wanted to play too. It took three days and a ...um..huge amount of swearing before I got to here...

And you should see me now!!! My hands ache, I have pains in my forearms and my house is a mess but I am in love - look at this...
The only thing I seem to have kept up with is feeding my kids and writing my blog. Who cares? Now I'm planning my next ripple!

Hi Im Kat
Im new to Ripple along and have always wanted to make one well
here i am. Thank you for letting me join in the fun.
I started the ripple about a few weeks but have put it down because of
trying to learn to knit sock using the Ml omg i have ripped it out so many
times that i went back to crocheting..
So its the battle of both yarn projects Even tho im knitting my true passion is Crochet. I have made so many nice things thru the years. Check out my Blog as all kinds of Goodies. It also
reflects my Life.
Here is a pic of my Ripple the colors are much
prettier in person. Its greens browns and orange.
I enjoy working the ripple gets alittle tedious but
it beats ripping out a sock.
hugs kat

I'm Baaaaaaaaaaaack!

Whoo Hoo!

I just caught up on invites...gulp, I think so, truly I do! We've got 116 active members and another 30ish in the wings. What fun! With so many of us, please remember to put your name or handle in the label field of your posts so we can stalk project progress.

Am bracing myself to frog the round ripple this evening and restart. Need to pick up the big blanket again now that I've come to terms with NOT being random. That will mean buying more yarn of course...shhhhhhhhhhhhhh. No reason the hubby needs to know, right? Also have plans for a felted ripple bag bouncing about my head...lurking Lamb's Pride is begging to join in the fun. Not quite sure why, as I have yet to actually finish anything...but that's what starting a new project is for, right? Let's hear it for procrastination!

As I have no yarny ripple progress to share, thought I'd give you a peek of the "soft waves" I was dealing with last week....

Indian Rocks Beach just outside of Tampa...just loverly, yes? Now there's a thought...mutating those colors and proportions into a beach blanket....oh good yarn gods, somebody stop me!