Sunday, November 22, 2015

Round Ripple Baby Blanket Finished!

I finished the latest Round Ripple Baby Blanket late last night - and good thing, too, as it was a gift for a baby shower this afternoon.


For anyone interested in making one of these, I strongly encourage checking out samples that Ravelry member, AFwifeCrochetNut, has come up.  Note:  AFwifeCrochetNut isn't the designer of the pattern, but rather she came up with the way to make a "ripple effect" in this blanket.  The link I provided takes you to one of these blankets she made, and in her project notes she gives instructions for how to lay out the pattern of rows so that they look like they're rippling outward from the center.  Don't be daunted if the written directions for this don't seem clear.  They weren't to me at first.  Read her explanation and study a close-up of the blanket and you'll see the pattern and her written instructions will begin to make sense once you work a sequence of rows that creates a ripple.  That's how it worked for me.  Now that I've finished this blanket I can say that how she created this cool effect is actually super simple. I don't even have to think about it now.


For the sake of transparency regarding my design process, I'm going to admit that this blanket was a bit of an experiment.  I started out with the colors Bright Green, Teal, 2 shades of Gray, and White.  Actually, I didn't start out with White, but I decided these colors needed the contrast of white to lighten up the whole thing and bring definition to the colors.  Okay, good enough...   I started somewhat daringly with that small circle of green in the center thinking I'd repeat it later in the blanket, but I found that following AFwifeCrochetNut's directions I would have a mammoth blanket if I ended up using the green and teal a second time in later rows.

It was a last minute decision, but I ditched (make that, frogged) the second repeat of green after giving it a try.   Then I tried just a single row of green, but even that didn't make me happy.  In the end, I decided to just go with a that green center as the only touch of green in the whole thing.  And act like it was intentional all along.  :^)

And then, I don't know...  it kind of grew on me.  Truth be told, I think I'd like that green center better if it was a tad larger (like maybe just one more row).  Ah well...live and learn.  I have a feeling every one of these blankets I make will end up being an experiment, so I best get comfortable with that. 

In the end, it was very favorably received at the baby shower today.  That said, it was the fifth crocheted baby blanket opened, so I think I may come up with another gift idea for the next shower I attend.  I loved using baby blankets when I had babies, and I was happy to have several, so I don't know that multiple gifts of baby blankets is a bad thing.  But it is a little embarrassing to be the giver of the fifth, and final one opened.  lol



To see what other Year Of Projects participants are up to this week check out our thread on Ravelry.




14 comments:

  1. You done an awesome job on your afghan and pretty colors. I hope you have an awesome Thanksgiving!

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  2. I love the blanket and think the pop of green in the centre is far more eye catching than if it were repeated further out. I can definitely see though how each time you make this it became an experiment in colour, you could have so much fun with this and colour and never end up making the same one twice. Personally I think you can never have too many blankets either but that's just me as a mom.

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  3. I love the blanket. And since when can you have too mny blankets for a baby? I loved ll of minend wished I had had more. I have made 2 of the ripple bla kets and love doing them. I am going to look up the helps you mentioned and try those next time.

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  4. This is soooo gorgeous, Becki! The colors, the shape, your stitches look just perfect! What a thoughtful and generous gift! It really shows you put love in every stitch!

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    1. Oh, Alina, Thank you for the encouragement. It means a lot.

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  5. What an adorable baby blanket and I bet it was much appreciated...I remember going through them a lot in the wash so 5 is probably a good amount! I really like how yours turned out and I had no idea about the actual "ripple effect" being inherent in the pattern....no wonder I like the looks of it so much. I would love to make a rug like that...I wonder if I could but not one that is dangerous and makes you slide! LOL! Beautiful job! You should be very proud and pleased with the result. Have a good week!

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    1. Sam, I don't think I was clear. The original pattern doesn't make a ripple effect, but another Ravelry member (linked to in the post above) came up with a way of placing the rows of colors so that a ripple effect is created. I've edited my post to hopefully make that a little clearer.

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  6. That is beautiful. I agree, the green is perfect and love the effect of the ripples. And, just like others have said, I don't think you can have too many blankets for a baby!

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  7. Your blanket is gorgeous - obviously the best was saved for last! Your colour scheme is awesome!

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  8. A round or star blanket is my go to for baby shower gifts, too. And can I say I'm thrilled that moms now are branching out into new colors other and pink and blue..lol. Love your colors and how it all came together!

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