rippling away

I have finally finished Annie's blanket. I must admit I am glad. Ravelry tells me I started in November last year. I have truly honed my procrastinating skills!

I used Stylecraft Special DK for this blanket. It seems to be the yarn of choice for many blanket masters. I imagined that the blanket would get plenty of (ab)use in its time and decided soft squishy wool should be used for only my very own carefully loved blanket. Annie didn't care one way other but she was very specific about the colours she wanted the blanket to be. I was sighing not so subtly when she showed me her virtual shopping basket. How can someone who shares 50% of their genes with me have such a different idea of what is beautiful? It is truly astonishing. It is truly wonderful. Imagine how boring the world would be if we all liked the same things. Annie wrote down in which order I was to use the colours, again, totally different from what I would have done with the same colours. She decided not the use the blue second from the left in the bottom row.

Annie wanted a ripple blanket. I sighed some more. The thought of long tedious rows made me tired just thinking about them. She chose the Attic24 ripple blanket pattern, which surely is the ultimate ripple pattern to go to. The pattern is vey well written and I can only recommend it. Lucy is definitely a queen of the crochet blanket.

Naturally I followed Annie's instructions carefully because I wanted her to love the finished blanket. 

I started off ok but then spent many months procrastinating, every now and then I talked myself into a week of 'just working on the blanket' in the evenings. I said to myself that I could have a slice of toast with nutella if I managed two rows in one night, or anything I took a fancy to. It was not easy. One stripe a day seemed like the most I could manage. I just don't get the relaxing ripple effect, only the are-we-nearly-there ripple effect unfortunately. 

At the beginning of August, I was finally there, I had completed the last stripe. I was singing and dancing, inwardly, as to not embarrass my children. Another prolonged period of procrastination began as I was pondering the border of the blanket. I imagined it would take me forever, or at least until Christmas. Then I remembered Annie's Birthday in September and gave myself a bit of a talking-to. I finished the border in less that two days. Annie wanted a simple border and she wanted the wavy top and bottom of the blanket to stay wavy. Easy.

Looking at the photos, I am really pleased with the blanket. It does look lovely, doesn't it? I particularly like the subtle border and the little 'v' shape the border creates in the stripes.  The blanket is now washed and folded, awaiting Annie's Birthday. It is not exactly a surprise but I look forward to wrapping it anyway. I hope Annie will be pleased with her blanket. She is a pre-teenage girl after all. I also hope she is not reading this blog post. She is too busy organising her party. I hope.

Final thoughts. 

Would I make a ripple blanket again? I am not sure. I love stripy blankets but find the long rows a bit mind-numbing. 

Would I use Stylecraft Special DK again? Probably not. It doesn't feel squishy soft and doesn't smell right. When I stroke the blanket, my fingertips seem to be covered in dozens of microscopic hooks. I don't like to wear a fleece for the same reason. I don't know what it is, it has to be sheep for me, or maybe another wool producing animal. The yarn is great value though and I purchased the shade card because I thought I could make a granny square blanket for picnics. Some day.

As always, thanks for stopping by. Cheerio for now! Cx