It’s 10.20pm and the blanket is done! The border, as I thought, didn’t take long and here it is, as yet unblocked. A quick run through the washer and dryer should do the job.
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![IMG_5748 [688547]](https://nicolaknits.files.wordpress.com/2016/08/img_5748-688547.jpg?w=186&resize=186%2C256&h=256#038;h=256 "IMG_5748 [688547]")
The finished size is 43 by 33 inches, so not that big, and it’s my first ever DK blanket. Base the bear loves his new coordinating blankie.
Last night I finally finished the last stripe on the Neat Ripple blanket. There were so many ends to weave in that I thought it would take me all day but it actually went very quickly. A few ends before I went out with Tai Chi Man to the farmers and crafters market, and the rest when I arrived home, having stocked up on fresh produce for tonight’s dinner and recharged with the most amazing raspberry matcha latte and Mexican chocolate cookie at Chai Baba.
So, just the border to go. It’s a narrow one, only three rounds I think, and I’ll probably just do it all in turquoise. And then my little teddy can have his photo shoot with his matching blankie.
Linkies: Neat Ripple know-how (border and notes)
I am so glad that this is nearly done. The Demelza blanket, (link will take you to the Ravelry project page as it’s a free Ravelry download) which I will be starting September 1st with a bunch of other Crochet-along-ers in the Colourful KALs/CALs group on Ravelry, looks quite challenging and I didn’t want other WIPs nagging me from their bag in the corner while crocheting Demelza!
Of course the Peacock Tail Bag will overlap Demelza somewhat during September.
Anyone is welcome in the Colourful group – Ravelry is free to join if you haven’t discovered its wonders already. And it’s such a friendly chatty group with frequent posts – important for a successful interesting group, I think.
One more recommendation while thinking about crochet and Ravelry…I am actually watching a podcast (and the latest episode featured a bit of free advertising for Ravelry and its features). I have tried various podcasts over and over again but find different aspects of them offputting for whatever reason, but I like this one: Crafternoon Treats. Kathryn is an experienced crocheter living in Yorkshire, England, relatively new knitter, new spinner, new dyer, and she talks about what she’s making, her adventures in playing with yarn and colour, and other stuff. She’s one of Stylecraft’s new Blogstars too. This is a group of bloggers, most but not all of whom are in the UK, who have been chosen by Stylecraft to get sneak peeks of new yarns, offer their own designs with the yarn, offer giveaways, etc. If you haven’t tried Stylecraft yet, it’s worth it – their yarn is good quality and reasonably priced. I order mine from Deramores but you can also get it internationally from Wool Warehouse in the UK.
She is on Facebook as Crafternoon Treats and Bagalong with Crafternoon Treats, and has her own group on Ravelry. The latter has not been particular active so far but I got the impression that she was thinking of making it more of a priority in future.
Well, enough waffling. It’s a beautiful day, and even though I feel like I made the most of my morning, there is still the afternoon to enjoy. Such a link-heavy post! I hope you check out some of them.
I love this photo. In one shot, I have captured a work in progress and three finished objects: my ripple blanket WIP, the storage pouf on which I sat this morning to crochet before it got too hot, the basket that is holding the blanket yarn, and my Grandma’s Knickknacks blanket.
Five stripe repeats are finished on the blanket but that means there are still 18 rows to go plus a border. Considering the Peacock Tail Bag CAL starts tomorrow, the blanket may not see much action for a while. (That link will take you to the lillabjorn home page.)
I have my yarn ready for the CAL – five 100g balls of Deramores Studio DK in the colours fuchsia, fir, wine, indigo and malachite. I actually have a jewel-toned colour pack of twelve colours of this DK yarn but after looking at the colours that the designer used for her bag I found it easy to choose the five for the bag.
I’ll get a good daylight photo of the yarn when I post about the CAL.
Excitement for the day: the four of us went for a swim this evening and afterwards we were just enjoying the ambience of the lake when someone started pointing at something behind us. Across the highway and up the steep hillside, far enough away that they looked pretty small but still recognizable, were a mother bear and her two cubs. We watched them for some time as they made their way across the hill and upwards through the trees. So cool!
Have a yarnful day! (I think I just invented a new word.)
It’s a day off today which is a good thing because I’m still blowing my nose every 2 minutes!
Ds3 caught a cold at summer camp. Tai Chi Man caught it on the long drive back from summer camp. Then I caught it. After a blissful four day block of days off last week, in which I spent time in the sun every day including (finally) an afternoon at the beach, I had to work Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The weekend shifts were a challenge as I had a horrendous sore throat and would rather not have had to talk at all.
My nose has been running like crazy for the last couple of days but at least this morning the whole headache/neuralgia thing seems to have lessened. I did resort to some acetaminophen (paracetamol) to get through the worst of it, plus I’ve been dosing with the usual natural remedies. We had a monster pack of tissues from Costco last week that’s already gone and I am now using toilet paper!
Enough whining, now to the more cheerful stuff.
Apricot jam…
The first tree produced well this year. I gave some fruit away at work, to two neighbours, froze some, and made jam with more. I just have a few left in the fridge which I should probably eat for breakfast because they are on their way out. We do have a second tree that has teeny tiny apricots that always ripen later, and it’s probably time I starting picking those.
Neat ripple blanket…
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Look at those lovely ends. Next time I find a good movie on Netflix, I think I’ll catch up with those. Talking of Netflix, I watched Season 4 of Orange is the New Black. Awesome stuff!
Swap parcel…
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Not quite ready to send yet – I have yarn, jewellery fixings, penguin buttons, a seashore themed dishcloth, all things which I think my swap partner will like. I have one of those 5.5″ mailing boxes from Canada Post and there’s still a bit of room left, so it would be nice to add in a bit more.
I think that’s all from me right now – I need more tea and lemon water to keep me going (sneeze, cough, sniff) and hopefully the next time you hear from me I will be back to wellness again.
Now that I have made a stripe in each colour, thanks to some concentrated crocheting time along with my London Fog at a coffee shop today, I can give you a better idea of how the colours are working with each other.
What do you think?
I’ve been making rather slow progress on the Neat Ripple. I was thinking I’d wait to show you a photo once I’d done a stripe in each colour, but you’d have been waiting too long!
However, I’m actually pleased with the look of the stripes and colours so far, so it’s a good thing I persevered to find the best project.
It’s been a busy week, I’ve had extra shifts, and we’ve weighed and counted every darn thing in the store. We’re still in the middle of putting everything back to rights – many bolts of fabric are still horizontal instead of vertical, but that’s what happens when you’re trying to do the job while the store is open and with constant interruptions.
I have the next couple of days off, thank goodness, because home stuff is calling me.
Ds3 has been dropped off at the ferry for summer camp this week – you know they’re getting older when instead of being a student they are an assistant to the organisers! I’m sure he’ll have lots of fun. I think the work part of it is minimal.
It’s a beautiful evening and I must go outside on the deck and make the most of it before it gets dark. Happy crafting!
The powers of Ravelry have helped me to make a decision with my ripple blanket stripes. I lined up all my colours in three different permutations, took photos and posted them to the We Love Lucy group on Ravelry, in (what else) the Ripple Blanket thread.
I had a few replies and more than one person suggested I could remove the lime green. So I tried it and I prefer it without.
This is in artificial light but the colours look right on my screen. I used the lime and a 4.5mm hook to make a small swatch to find out how wide a pattern repeat is.
This is two repeats and measures 6.5 inches so for a baby blanket I’m going to chain 143 for ten repeats and approximately 36 inches wide before adding the border.
It’s a busy week at work with inventory: looking at my calendar Sunday to Sunday, I’m working six days out of eight. Also I have had a couple of very good books from the library, big thick novels, one of which I mentioned in a recent post. The one I was stuck into yesterday was A Banquet of Consequences by Elizabeth George. It certainly was a compelling read, a complex story well-written.
Not much crochet is getting done, but now that I am happy with the colours and the swatch, I am optimistic about the ripple blanket idea.
Remember those crocheted doughnuts? My friend posted a photo taken by the recipient of my doughnuts with a cute white rat. I don’t know whether copyright allows me to share it with you here – maybe I shall have to check that she has no objection to me doing so.
Well, I’m going to be setting my alarm for 4.30am so as it’s now 10pm I’d better get to bed. Good night and happy crafting.
What is it with this turquoise colour pack? I love the colours but every time I start something with it I change my my mind.
The Joy’s Journey blanket isn’t going to work with this yarn – it really does need a yarn with long soft colour changes. This is what I have and I don’t like it!
Having to decide where to put the colour changes means I have to make decisions as I go, which I don’t want to do.
Now I’m thinking that maybe Lucy’s Neat Ripple would be a better idea.
Neat Ripple pattern
Ripple blanket know-how (this link includes the edging)
Maybe I’ll make a small one that I can save for a baby gift. Anyway, once I’ve cleaned up the dinner stuff, this square will be frogged. Sigh!
NICOLA KNITS 