Rainbow Ripple Blanket - Complete!

Finally, I have another update on my Rainbow Ripple and this time it's the final one!  It's finished!

 

Technically it's not quite finished in these pictures, the ends were still to be sew in but I wanted to get a picture while the light was good, the ends are all sewn in now.

 

I'm very proud of how it turned out, despite the battle I had trying to straighten the ripple edges, at the time I swore I was never going to do it again but seeing the finished product makes me think it was almost worth it!

 

 

It was a rather long process but I love the finished product, although I think if I was doing it again I would go back to a more random ripple colour pattern, like this one, or maybe use fewer colours.

 

Overall I am delighted with it though and looking forward to my next project.

 

Rainbow Ripple

I last posted about this project back in mid November, not a huge amount has changed since then, I've just added a few more rows.  I sort of lost my crochet mojo for a little while and did absolutely nothing over the Christmas break or most of January.  I've started to get back into it a bit now so hopefully it shouldn't be too long before this blanket is close to being finished.

 

 

I'd say it's about half way through now, I've done two full rainbow repeats and I'm on to the third.  I think 4 full repeats might be enough for this blanket, although I might squeeze on a fifth depending on how much yarn I have left and how much I think it needs the extra length.

 

I'm pretty pleased with how it's looking although I'm still not sure about the colours, the dark stripes seem a bit out of place, I think I might have liked it better without them, although they do add a definite contrast.  I guess I'll just need to wait and see how I feel when it's finished!

Rainbow Ripple Progress

A few quick photos of my progress with the rainbow ripple blanket.

 

 

I'm pleased with how this is coming along, I've crocheted 25 rows so far which means I am on to my second run through the rainbow. 

 

It's hard to tell at the moment but I think the balance of colours is pretty good, roughly even hot and cool shades which is what I was aiming for - it's definitely bright enough...

 

The one thing I am not 100% happy with is how many colours I have used, I wonder if it might have looked better with fewer shades and more rainbow repeats?

 

I think it's the sort of blanket which needs to be worked up fully before I can decide, it's hard to get an idea of how it will look with the repeating rainbow pattern until I have worked a good few more rows.



Rainbow Ripple Progress

I finally decided on a definite order for my rainbow and started work on the blanket.

 

 

I've had some assistance and supervision...

 

...and so far it's going well, I think having previously done a smaller version of the ripple blanket I have a good grasp of the pattern so I find it quite therapeutic to work away at it without having to think too much, it's working up fairly quickly and I'm pretty pleased with the size of it - it's wide enough to cover my lap but not so wide that there's loads of extra to scrunch up and get in the way.

 

I'm still not 100% on the colours, I am beginning to wonder if less might have been more and I've tried to cram too many different shades in but I'm fairly determined to carry on and see how it goes, it's certainly very bright!

Rainbow Ripple Yarn Haul

Since winter is properly drawing in I thought I should have a nice big blanket project on the go to cosy up under when I'm sitting on the sofa watching TV of an evening.  I really liked the way my small ripple blanket turned out so I decided to use the same pattern and this time go for a slightly larger sized blanket.  I'm aiming for around single bed sized when it's done and this time I wanted to do a proper rainbow sort of colourway.

 

Time to order some yarn...

 

 

I went for more Stylecraft Special DK, 17 colours for the main body of the blanket and two greys which may or may not end up as a border, I'm not totally decided on that yet.

 

Here are the colour swatches and names to show you exactly what yarn I chose:

 

I ordered from Wool Warehouse again, I really love this website, they have a great selection of wool and yarn and their prices are very reasonable.  They also have free P&P if you spend over £25 and unlike some free P&P deals it still arrives really fast.  I've never waited more than about 36 hours from ordering to having the yarn in my hands, brilliant service.

 

I've completed the first few rows so stand by for another post with some pictures of the beginning of my rainbow coming very soon.

Ripple Progress

My ripple blanket progress is going well, in fact I am pretty much finished, I was just heading towards the end of the very last ripple and this happened...

 

 

Is there anything more annoying?  I was literally just a few inches short of finishing and of course I had no more grey yarn.  I could have ripped out the grey and ended on the purple but I was determined to start and finish on the same colour so instead I decided to just go out and buy another ball of it so I could finish off.

 

Other than that minor set back I am pretty delighted with how this has turned out, I love the pattern and the colours, although I do wish it was a bit more of an exact rainbow than just sort of in rainbow colours.  Next time I am going to be much more strict about my rainbow order.

 

It's definitely a pattern I will be following again as it's not too complicated once you get into the way of it and I think it looks really effective.

 

Rainbow Ripple Progress

Just a few quick progress pictures of my current rainbow ripple blanket.

 

I'm really enjoying this pattern and I love the way it's turning out, I'm not 100% sure of the colour combinations but since it was mainly started as a way to use up my leftover yarn I think it's looking not too bad, although I should probably have thought out my rainbow effect a bit better. 

 

The grey strip near the bottom on the picture above is probably going to be the half way point so when it's finished I think it'll be a nice cot sized blanket or suitable for a small person in some form.

New Project - Ripple Blanket

 

I have some yarn left over from my giant granny afghan which needed using up (so I can buy more, obviously) so I decided to try out a slightly different pattern and make another smaller blanket.  I have no real idea what purpose it will serve once it's done though, maybe as a gift for someone, or maybe to throw over the back of one of the chairs on my living room.

 

I decided to use Attic 24: Neat Ripple Pattern.  I've tried a ripple pattern before and didn't like how it was turning out, it was slightly different in that it made deeper mountains and valleys and for some reason I just wasn't keen on it.  In hindsight I think a lot of that was to do with my tension but anyway I abandoned that effort and started a new version with Lucy's guidance.

 

The pattern isn't dead simple but it is pretty easy to follow and as long as I count my stitches and keep an eye on what I am doing it seems to work up pretty well...

 

 

There's been no real thought put into the colours, I am just planning on doing one stripe (2 rows) of each colour I have and seeing what size it ends up, if I have enough yarn and it's still small I will add on more stripes.  It's very much a work in progress with no real plan.

 

I do however love how it's turning out, the waves really are gorgeous so I think once I have mastered the technique I might buy yarn in specific colours to make a properly planned version of this blanket, for now I am quite happy to see where this one ends up. :)

 

I found the initial row pretty hard to do, I HATE crocheting into the starting chain, it's so fiddly and I never seem to have the right number of stitches (I had to squeeze the last two stitches in on this blanket as I was one stitch short to work into when I got to the end, it doesn't seem to have caused any major problems though).  I've also found that I need to keep an eye on my tension with this pattern too, if I'm not careful and let the stitches get too loose (as I am prone to doing) I end up with holes in the work so I'm having to be mindful to keep my tension nice and even all the way through, so far it seems to be going ok but time will tell!

 

 

 

My favourite thing about this pattern?  How easy it is to sew in your ends as you go!  No need for doing them all afterwards you can easily tuck them in and crochet right over the top of them.

 

I'll be back with more pictures and some progress news in a little while, I'm hoping this blanket works up quite fast as I have other ideas for my next project which I really want to get started on too.