LEARNING TO CROCHET - THE RIPPLE

The Ripple
update c2004 Sandra Petit, http://www.crochetcabana.com

Please click on thumbnails to view larger image.

The best place to start is at the beginning. All crochet begins with a slip knot and foundation chain. So if you don't know how to do that, please go through the Learning to Crochet pages to find out how. This tutorial will concern only the Ripple pattern.

There are a lot of different ripple patterns, as evidenced by the book 101 Ripple Stitches by ASN (a book of both knit and crochet ripple stitch patterns). However, they all have a few things in common. There's always going to be some sort of "hill" and some sort of "valley", whether it be in single crochet, double crochet, V stitches or whatever. They may be fashioned differently, using different stitches or combination of stitches. I obviously can't cover every one of them. What I hope to do here is to give you some generalities and basic information which might help you to work out your own ripples. I will demonstrate using the Preemie DC Ripple afghan pattern as my model.

Once you have designed your pattern, you can adjust it to make whatever size item you want to - preemie blankie, snuggle, baby blanket, twin size throw, bedspread, etc. There are at least two ways you can do this.

1)  Figure out your "multiples" before you start out so you can adjust the size to any afghan. I have a brief illustration of how to do this on the hints/faq page.

2) Do what Maggie Righetti says she does in her book (Crocheting in Plain English). She says that figuring the multiples for ripples can get a little complicated so she often just chain(s) a bunch (at least one half longer than the desired finished width), sets up her first row, and then cuts off the excess. That way will save you lots of headaches if math isn't your thing.

In her book, Ms. Righetti makes her hills and valleys just like I do mine, working 3 stitches in one chain for a hill and skipping 2 to make a valley.  Another idea would be to do a (double crochet, chain 2, double crochet) for your "hill" and for your valley do a 2 stitch decrease - make one stitch using 3 chains (or stitches).

That's easy enough, right? Now go get a snack size Snicker (okay, if you're allergic to peanuts, you may choose an alternate snack item. The pattern will still work.), a crochet hook, and a big ball of yarn so we can get to work. Better grab a napkin so you don't get chocolate all over your project. (Well, if you eat it fast it won't have time to melt all over your fingers. Be neat.)

As I said, hills and valleys, valleys and hills. Just what do I mean by hills and valleys? Well, you know what a hill is. It's that thing that looks like an ice cream cone upside down, a small mountain. It can be pointy, as in steep hills, or more rounded, for those gently rolling hills.

The valleys are the bottom part of a "V" or possibly a "U" if you are using a rounder hill. :-)  See pictures below.  (Be sure to click on picture to see the larger view so you can read text.)

the two pictures above are from preemie afghans done in single crochet ripple patterns

These are pictures from a DC preemie afghan.

I like a "short" ripple because it is easier to keep track of how many stitches you did and where you are in the pattern so that is what I will use to demonstrate. The more stitches that make up one side of your "hill", the steeper your ripple hill is and the deeper your valley.

If you want to figure out your multiple, you first need to design your pattern, decide how large a ripple you want, how many stitches in between pattern sections etc. Single crochet or double crochet? Yarn doesn't matter except concerning the size of your finished product.

Here's how I figured out the multiple of this pattern. Is it right? I can't guarantee. It's worked for the ones I've done.

You are chaining into the 4th chain from hook, so that's 4
Then dc in next 2 chains, so that's another 2
Pattern calls for 3 dc in next ch (1), dc in next 4 chains (4), skip 2 chains (2), dc in next 4 chains (4), so that's a total of 11
At the end of the row, 3 dc in next chain (1), dc in next 4 chains (4), so that's a total of 5
Since the (4 + 2 = 6) at the beginning and the 5 at the end = 11, and the pattern stitch needs 11 chains, I conclude I need a multiple of 11 to make my pattern larger or smaller.

It's important not to forget your beginning chains, and that the end of your row might be different than your "repeat". In other words, you might want to specifically end on a hill or a valley, or you might have a "flat" end to your pattern, starting with dc or sc before beginning your ripple. All of that is the choice of the designer.

Now I don't really need to know all this before I start designing. Sometimes a pattern evolves as I go.

Note: At the end of rows, you may use chain-2 or chain-3 for your turning chain. I prefer chain-2 but most patterns will say to use chain-3, which is perfectly fine. It doesn't matter a whit which one you choose. The purpose of the turning chain is to get your row up to height, so use whichever one fulfills that purpose.

For this sample, chain 22. (If you don't want to make a sample, but something useful, just increase the multiple to 55 and you can make a preemie blankie or snuggle)

Note: A shell is a group of stitches worked into the same stitch. In this case a shell = 3 dc.

1) First you make your foundation chain (I used 22)	Row 1: 2)  Work a double crochet (dc) into the FOURTH chain from hook (see picture in #1) This gives you two dc because the first 3 chains count as a dc	3) Make a dc in each of the next two chains (this gives you four dc all together, counting the turning chains)
4) In the next chain, work 3 dc for your first hill	5) Then dc in each of the next 4 chains, skip the next 2 chains (for your valley)	6) After you skip 2 chains, you will dc in the next 4 chains
7) work 3 dc in next chain for your second hill	8) work a dc in each of the last four chains This would be considered the "right" side though since you are turning your work every row, there is really no right or wrong side. I personally like to put my border around the "right" side, which I deem to be the side where I worked my first row into the foundation chain. However, that is just personal preference.	9) ch 2 or 3, turn

Note: If you work through BACK LOOPS ONLY you will get a pretty ridged effect. However, the pattern will look fine if you go through both loops so do it the way you like and is easiest for you.

If you don't understand what back loop and front loop mean, here's a pic to help you out. (Click on pic  to see larger view)

Row 2 (pattern stitch): 10)  skip 1 double crochet (do not put first stitch in the base of your turning chain, do not put it in the next stitch), double crochet in next double crochet,	11) dc in next 2 dc	12) 3 dc shell in next stitch, which is the middle stitch of the shell on the first row
13) dc in ea of next 4 stitches	14) skip two stitches, dc in next 4 stitches	15) 3 dc shell in next stitch (which is the middle stitch of the shell from the first row)
16) on the sample swatch you now have 5 sts left (including the tch)	17) dc in ea of next 3 sts	18) skip next stitch, dc in top chain of turning chain, ch 3
19) turn	20) skip stitches as before for row 2, dc in ea of next 3 sts	21) continue pattern stitch until piece measures desired length

Here is that row in pattern-talk, so you can see where the repeat is:

Row 2 (pattern stitch): skip 1 double crochet (do not put first stitch in the base of your turning chain, do not put it in the next stitch), double crochet in each of next 3 double crochet,  * 3 double crochet in next double crochet (which is the middle double crochet of the first shell on this row), double crochet in each of next 4 double crochets, skip 2 double crochets, double crochet in each of next 4 double crochets rep from * across to within last 5 stitches (including the turning chain), end 1 double crochet in each of next 3 double crochet, skip 1 double crochet, double crochet through BOTH LOOPS of last double crochet (note: this is your turning chain from the previous row), chain 2, turn.

Repeat Row 2 until piece measures desired length.

08/12/2005


 

The buttons above were my first at the Cabana. I keep them for sentimental reasons. :-)

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