Pattern Review: Attic 24 Neat Ripple

I really enjoy doing a lot of different makery things, and crochet is one of my favorites.  I like being able to sit in a nice, comfy chair and work on something while I hang out with my kids or watch a show or whatever, instead of being confined to my sewing machine or work table.  It's also great for when I'm on bedrest.  I especially like crocheting baby gifts, because they're pretty quick to complete and there are a bajillion adorable patterns out there.  I really do a lot more crocheting than I do sewing.  A lot more.  

The Website: Attic 24
The Pattern: Neat Ripple

So, a quick confession: I actually super hate making blankets/afghans.  They take forever and aren't very satisfying to me.  I don't like weaving in ends for all of the color changes.  Yuck.  I really prefer to make things that I can finish in a day, and even better are the things that can be completed in a few hours or less.  I just have a terrible attention span and my crafting time is pretty limited.  But I had seen this pattern on Instagram several times and really thought it was pretty adorable.  I figured, since I've got this baby on the way, and every baby needs a blanket, this would be a good pick.  As it turns out, I accidentally made it way too big for a baby, so that was a fail.  I have one happy teenager who considers it a success though!

This free pattern is written in British terms, as are all of Attic 24's patterns.  Because, you know, she's British. If you know how to convert from British to American terms, that's not a big deal.  Conversions are rough for me if it's a counted pattern, where you have to follow a lot of instructions, but this one is a simple, repeating pattern.  So it wasn't a problem for me.  

The designer (blog author? I don't know what title to use!) gave lots of photos in her tutorial, which I found helpful.  Especially the first photo, where she shows you which stitch to start your ripple in.  Her instructions in that part of the pattern were a little confusing to me, so that picture was helpful.  She suggests that you start out by making a sample size of the pattern before starting your full-sized project, and I strongly agree with her.  The thing is, that spot in the foundation chain where she has you start the ripple didn't make any sense to me at all.  So by making a sample first, I was able to see that I needed to adjust in that area, for my own sanity.  I didn't have any idea how big the blanket was actually becoming, which is just an unfortunate part of using this kind of pattern, since it's begun by using a stitch count instead of a measurement.  Meaning, "make a chain using multiples of 14, plus 3."  There's no way to know how many multiples of 14 you need to get to a certain width, without just trying it.

Once I caught the rhythm of it, this was a really relaxing pattern to work with, and didn't require much counting, since there are visual cues for where you need to increase or decrease your stitches.  (She explains those cues to you in the tutorial, too.)  On the designer's blog post, she starts with a full photo tutorial, then ends with a condensed pattern that you can print off.  I thought that was pretty great.  Since the pattern is made using double crochet, and it's not really technical, it works up fairly quickly.  And golly, it's cute!

I used a worsted weight yarn (Hobby Lobby "I Love This Yarn") in 6 different colors.  I also decided to make this blanket with totally random striping.  That took a lot more thinking than any part of the pattern.  The designer doesn't making any suggestions for finishing off the edging.  I decided I wanted a nice, uniform, straight edge on all sides, so I made a row of white stitches of varied sizes along the rippled ends to straighten it out.  I honestly couldn't tell you what pattern I used - I just did single crochets in the high spots, doubles in the low spots, and half doubles in between.  After that, I did a row of hdc all the way around the perimeter of the blanket, followed by several rows of camel stitch. (This is also known as hdc in the third loop.)

I've found that ripple or chevron patterns can be a little tricky, but I really did like how simple this one was to figure out.  I plan to make another blanket with it, for real for the baby this time, but with a lighter weight yarn (probably sport or baby) and I'll definitely make a much smaller one this next time.  Because I'm thinking it's a bad thing when the blanket is so big and heavy that it outweighs the actual baby.