Wednesday, April 18, 2007

one end in sight...

...but the rippling may continue! I finished the baby blankie I was working on near the beginning of this phenomenon, and I am happy with it. The first eight rows or so are sketchy on the ends, and then I finally figured out what I was doing wrong (and too lazy to rip out the mistakes! ah well, the imperfections show that I am a mere human). It's a cheerful little blankie, now awaiting washing and blocking, with a prayer that more softness will come into the thing. I used quite a bit of red heart acrylic, which isn't the best-feeling stuff around, but they do have a lot of fun colors. The rest is cotton of all sorts and a skoosh of cotton/wool blend--a delicious lemony color I couldn't resist. I can't really resist any color under the right circumstances, but you know what I mean.

In the middle of it all, I decided to make a little dishcloth a la ripple, and may continue to make a set of them for a friend who's getting married. Or I might keep the thing and make another, BIGGER, ripple blanket!! Ah, what should I do? It's obvious, isn't it?

It's been ever so lovely seeing everyone's progress, and comforting to know that people around the world are obsessing over a stitch pattern and cozy yarn. There is hope in the world.

Gotta Frog...

Well crum. I'm gonna have to frog but at least I only worked one day on it. I used a single crochet chain instead of a regular chain because the Crochet Stitch Bible told me that it was going to be more stretchy. It was but it was also too tight and made the points of the ripple curl. This time I'll do the chain on a larger hook. Here's my pattern, SusanB's Easy Ripple Afghan

See how the points are curled back on the work? Ugh.
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The garnet(curling row), magenta(last row), grape(third row), lavender, green, and a medium and light pink(second row) all go well together. My colors aren't showing well. In real life they aren't as dark and are more vibrant than shown here.
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Fantasy Dark Horse Yarns 50% Nylon, 50% Acrylic. YUMMY SOFT!!
I may not use the country blue or the cream, they just don't seem to go.

Nisa's Ripple Update, Day 24

Ripple, Day 24
Ripple Specs: size H (5mm) hook, worsted weight New England Highland wool by Harrisville Designs (rose, lady slipper, poppy, tundra, peacock, Bermuda blue, azure), 26 rows, ~60 inches wide (either 183 or 195 ch to start), Soft Waves pattern

I haven't been working much on my ripple until this week when we've been forced to spend more time indoors due to the Nor'easter. Nothing like a good storm to bring out the craftsy side! Anyway, sorry about the low-res pix. These were taken with a cameraphone because my 7 year old dropped my digital camera. *sob*

Ripple, Day 24 - side

I noticed that the sides were uneven, but I'm not going to do anything about it. I like to think it adds to the charm. (read: I'm too lazy and surprisingly not perfectionist enough to want to figure out where the problem spots are, frog it, and fix it)

Emma, Day 81/365 and Ripple, Day 24

I've grappled quite a bit with the whole design. At one point I didn't like that each stripe was a fixed 2 rows. Then I wished it weren't so wide. At another point, I thought it had too much blue. And at yet another I wished it had something more purple-y. But then I put it on my daughter's bed to try it on for size last night and it was perfect just the way it is. It really seemed to anchor the colours of the room well. Can't wait to have this one finished and the next one too!

back to ripping

oops, that's rippling!
yeah, my ripple and i made up, after i frogged a good bit of the start (possible due to one major mistake) and took a lot of the sides (feet deserving of Olympic medals).
now we're back on track, and it's coming out great. the colours are working, and i'm happy doing it, as opposed to miserable before.
i'll keep this short.
bye

(kinda trying to cut back my computer time)

(well, i can try!)

Bigger...


Some progress on my ripple. I'm enjoying the variation in the red stripes: there are 2 rows for each colour, but only 1 for the red, which means that it's done in a different direction each time I come to it and pops out on different sides of the blanket each time.

Specs: DK wool ( Elle, I think, and Sirdar for the green/brown) and 4mm hook.

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.