Welcome to the big Ripple Reveal everyone. Feast your eyes on those ripply, ripplesome, rippletastic ripples! Aren't they wonderful? Oh I'm so glad to be showing you this project in it's completed, finished state, after many months (has it been 4? 5?) of showing you bits of it. This blanket has spanned over two seasons, started in March/spring and finished in August/summer. It's been such a joy, a pleasure in every way. Soothing, rhythmic, creative, exciting, fulfilling, fun. Every one of the 85 ripples has a streak of pleasure and happiness running through it. Spring and summer memories. It's that kind of blanket.
It's a bedroom blanket this one. I just love seeing it spread out on my bed, love when I walk past the bedroom door I catch an unexpected glimpse of it laid out there, rippling softly.
Love that I can go to sleep with it and wake up with it. Love that the colours also go beautifully with the jar of flowers currently by my bed :: a gift from Lovley C, a hastily picked bunch of soft, pastely sweet peas, vivid orange calendula, and deep cornflowers and cosmos, presented to me as I was about to leave her wonderful house and garden on Tuesday. They are the happy colours of a summer garden, coffee and flapjack, crochet and natter. And my blanket.
The Little People really, really like this blanket, which makes me so happy. I catch them creeping onto my bed and crawling under it. And in the evenings they politely request permission to bring it downstairs for a spot of cuddling up on the sofa. Which is precisely what handmade blankets are for.
I'm sorry the colour is sometimes slightly "off" in these photos as the light in my bedroom is not great. Really these colours are beautiful in real life. There was a time when I wasn't sure about my colour choices for this blanket. I started out with nine colours of Rowan Cashsoft yarn, which were mainly pastely blues/lilac/pinks, with the lime green and orange thrown in to provide zing. Now you know me by now don't you? Know that my natural tendancy is towards bright, strong, vivid colours. But as I did really want this blanket to be for my bedroom, I thought I would try a soft colour palette for a change. But yes, the inevitable happened :: after about 15 or so stripes, I was getting bored with the softness. I was finding it too dull. And it's very hard to work on a project which is giving off dull vibes.
So that's when I added in the Raspberry stripes. Do you remember I bought a couple balls of this when I visited London in March? Its a Debbie Bliss Cashmerino yarn and the addition of that bright reddy-pink colour made a Big difference. As I only had two balls of it, I had to space these stripes out evenly making only five altogether. But what a huge difference those five stripes have made to the overall tone of the blanket, don't you think? The regular spacing of the raspberry stripes was the only colour choice I made that wasn't random :: all the other stripes were randomly chosen as I went along. And I'm really, really pleased with the way it all panned out.
There's a lot to be said for buying yarn locally, for handling it, for arranging it all over the shop floor, and Rowan is my local yarn suppliers choice. Which is why I decided to use the Rowan yarn in the first place. But I've since found another small independent yarn shop about 8 miles away in another town which sells Rowan and Debbie bliss yarns side by side. Now theres a destination for Retail Therapy if ever there was one. So if I was to embark on a second ripple (which is highly likely), I'll go more with my natural instinct and choose bold, vivid Debbie Bliss colours I think.
The pattern for the ripple came from Jan Eatons book, and to me, it was a dream to work, although I know I've had one or two emails from people asking for help/advice about this pattern. Its the first few rows which are the hardest, when you have this long, dangling chain of loops and you're frantically counting and hooking and hoping it's all going to come right by the end of the row. But once you get going, it's easy to see the stitches, to see the rhythmic counting thats involved ::
one dc, one dc, one dc, 2dctog, 2dctog, one dc, one dc, one dc, 2dc's, 2 dc's, one dc, one dc, one dc
And so on. On and on and on, its the Rhthym of the Ripple. Nothing complicated folks, just simple stitches and simple counting, row after row after row, ripple after ripple after ripple.
So would you like some riveting facts about this here project of mine?
Ok, here you have it ::
Measures :: 110cm x 170cm
Starting chain :: 219 stitches
Stripes :: 85
Rows :: 170
Time :: approx 50mins each stripe = 4,250 minutes = 70.83 hours
Balls :: 29
Weight :: 1450g / 3.19670 lb
Cost :: £4.35 per ball = ermmmmmmm a LOT, but its a family heirloom, don't question.
Mileage :: 29 balls @ 130m each ball = 3770metres = 2.34 miles of yarn (!)
Photo :: me sitting on the stairs in my pyjamas, taken by Little Man one morning
Blanket :: gorgeous
Me :: happy.
219 - 3 chain = 216 ...216 is not an increment of 14...and even if it's 219 + 3, the # of starting chains for the foundation doesn't add up ..
Posted by: JK | September 16, 2016 at 03:59 PM
I really want this pattern
Posted by: Emeline Perna | September 05, 2016 at 05:41 PM
What a delightful piece of work. I would be thrilled if I had made it. So clever. Your patience paid off. If possible I would love a pattern please.
Posted by: Lynn avery | June 19, 2016 at 04:55 PM
BEAUTIFUL WORK!! May I please please have the pattern??
Thanks
Posted by: Kathryn Gingell | May 30, 2016 at 02:04 PM
Hi Lucy,
I'm very excited at my first grandchild's arrival mid August and id love to crochet a baby ripple blanket in your coast or cup cake colours. Please could you let me know where I can buy your pattern and wool from.
Many thanks.
Posted by: Michelle Shaw | May 10, 2016 at 11:21 AM
Hello Lucy I would love this ripple pattern is there any way you could send me just the ripple pattern please Mrs Joyce sheppard @aol.co.uk
Posted by: Mrs Joyce.sheppard | February 28, 2016 at 06:19 PM
Hi Lucy
I would like to buy the pattern. Please send me the detail.
Thanks
Lindy
Posted by: Lindy | February 21, 2016 at 04:53 PM
Is the pattern available?
Posted by: Glo | January 25, 2016 at 06:35 PM
Can I get the pattern?
Posted by: Kim | January 14, 2016 at 12:46 PM
Hi Lucy, Love the ripple blanket in the Rowan colourway. Can you let me know what colours you used and the quantities.
Posted by: Sara | January 09, 2016 at 04:26 PM
how do I get the pattern ! ! ! ! !
Posted by: arlene | August 17, 2015 at 09:53 PM
Hi can you please tell me what ply wool to use with this pattern thanks Coralie
Posted by: Coralie | July 03, 2015 at 01:28 AM
Hii lucy...u look lovely...n yes ofcourse the ripple blanket is lovely too...
Posted by: Ankita Vj (India) | June 21, 2015 at 09:25 PM
Hi Lucy, is this colour pattern still available?
Mnay Thanks
Justine
Posted by: JUSTINE BERRY | June 17, 2015 at 08:20 PM
Hello Lucy,
I find your blanket so wonderful !
I say you : "bravo !" (I don't know the english word for say that !)
:)
Good week for you !
Posted by: Agnès | April 20, 2015 at 06:48 PM
Hi
I'm just learning to crochet and wondered what size hook do you do these blankets on. I can't decide between cosy, granny stripe or ripple :-)
I've managed squares and had a practise stripe on a 4mm hook and wondering whether it will be neater on a smaller hook.
Thank you for the great tutorials.
Kath
Posted by: Kath | March 13, 2015 at 01:42 PM
Dear Lucy, I love this blanket. I was wondering with the addition of the new stylecraft colors if you would consider putting together a Wool Warehouse pack with Stylecraft Special dk to match the colors of this blanket. I see how quickly your popular packs sell out. the new colors would match this blanket nicely.
Posted by: Michele | March 07, 2015 at 02:02 PM
lovely photo of you Lucy xx beautiful! x
Posted by: haylee | February 02, 2015 at 04:36 PM
Lucy i love the colours in this blanket you do have a great eye for colour for sure.
I would be ever so glad if you could spare two ticks to enlighten me as to what the 9 rowan & two cashmerino shade numbers were used for your ripple.
*~%?*#"* Many Thanks*:~^#>
Posted by: Molly Hennessy | January 16, 2015 at 08:47 PM
Is the pattern available online?
Posted by: Eileen Paton | January 11, 2015 at 05:48 PM
Hi, my daughter sent me your link and I want to make this beautiful blanket for her. Please tell me what size needle to use and how many colors. Thanks!
Posted by: Ani Humeniuk | December 23, 2014 at 01:09 AM
Lucy,
Your ripple blankets, which I love all of them,
are absolutely beautiful!
I have only made baby ripple blankets for my
grandchildren, nieces, nephew's children and now
for my recent birth of my great-grandson and my
great-granddaughter.
Now, I want to make one for my adult and only granddaughter and I want to make one like yours
but I think all in one color of yarn.
Thank you for your patterns and I will continue
to follow your website.
JRC
Posted by: Judith R. Cushman | October 26, 2014 at 02:55 PM
Hi Lucy, I love this blanket. Do you make them to sell by any chance? If so how much would one cost? Kind regards, Wendy, Western Australia.
Posted by: Wendy Sibly | October 19, 2014 at 05:25 PM
O beautiful what would you suggest for first blanket first try am a learner can do chains but not so even on my own without pattern. Thank you this is for my son in law he wants to crochet so bad
Posted by: Brendà Ward | September 26, 2014 at 04:14 PM
Well done Lucy. Your blanket is so gorgeous. I just wish you'd give us a chore roster as well. You seem so organized and I find that before I know it, I m way too tired to crochet. How do you manage your time so well?
Very Best Wishes and kind regards
Jenny in South Africa.
Posted by: Jenny Pretorius | January 13, 2014 at 10:34 AM