The Rainbow Ripple

I'm a naughty mummy. From the moment I finished Aria's blanket (see previous post) I have been promising my son Blake a blanket for his bed. That was five months ago and that's why I'm naughty mummy. I will use the excuse that I had a few other things in the pipeline and then we had Christmas which kept me busy making gifts, so as soon as the January pay packet landed I put a yarn order in and set to work.

I did however use those five months to ponder over what to make him. There are so many beautiful designs out there and so many wonderful colours to choose from. Sometimes starting with a blank canvas can be daunting, so I went to my client and asked him what he would like. This wasn't actually the mistake it could have been as he's only three and some three year olds can have very vivid imaginations!

I started with a simple question and the conversation went like this-
"What's your favourite colour Blake?"
"Red"
Great, something with red, maybe some thing complimentary like grey... "and Blue" ok ok, I can do blue too, that's not a problem "and Green" Green too huh? Maybe a patchwork of three main colours could work "and Yellow and Orange and Purple and Pink and" STOP.

I thought for a moment as an idea began to form in my mind.

"Blake- Is your favourite colour Rainbow?"
"YES!!!" Cue renditions of the rainybow song from episodes of Bing Bunny (Non mummies of toddlers I tried to find it on youtube but you've been spared)

So rainbow colours it was, but I still had the pattern to think about and I didn't think asking a three year old if he preferred a half treble stripe over chevrons was going to end well. I pondered over granny squares, stripes and even a corner to corner - it very nearly was a corner to corner, but I eventually settled on another ripple.

Picking the colours was a little more difficult this time and I changed my mind several times before placing my order. I wanted to use more than just seven colours and felt it would have a nicer effect if I could have at least two shades of each colour required to make it flow. I spent a lot of time looking up rainbow designs on Pintrest before I picked out the final 13:

Lipstick, Spice, Sunshine, Citron, Spring Green, Bright Green, Aspen, Turquoise, Aster, Lavender, Violet, Magenta and Boysenberry.

I was determined to use bright green in there as I bought a ball of that ages ago and wanted to use it. If I'm totally honest I think I should have used that as the lighter green and used something more 'Grassy' instead of the Spring Green. We're all our own worst critics right?

Once my yarn arrived I set to work. I love how easy the rows of a ripple are made but have to admit that I made several mistakes while tired or after too much wine and had frog it back to put it right (Note- to Frog is to Rippit Rippit, its a legitimate crochet term I swear) the problem with a ripple is there is nowhere for mistakes to hide.

It was also stolen off me on a regular basis for sofa snuggles which slowed my progress somewhat!

 

 

 

I have to admit that it was an absolute pleasure to make, its colour therapy in its most concentrated form. I found it quite easy to spend each evening gleefully completing each row just so I could start on the next colour and it kept me lovely and warm as it got bigger. I even worked on it in bed one night and left it on the bed until morning so I could enjoy it's warmth.

 

After just 3.5 weeks it was done, and I couldn't wait to lay it out to see it in it's full colourful glory. 

 

 

Yes- that is a racing car bed, what toddler wouldn't want to sleep in that?

I should also mention that in our house, blankets are akin to empty cardboard boxes- as soon as you place one down it's cat magnet is activated.

 

 

My girls especially like to have a good rub on a laid out piece of crochet, so if I making something for somebody else I'm careful not to leave it unattended!

 

 

I love how the colours just seem to run into one another here, just like in a real rainbow!

 

So its all done, I have fulfilled my promise of a blanket for the boys bed. I hope he grows to appreciate the love that is stitched into every row and I hope it will keep him warm for many years to come. If he should ever decide that he's too big or too cool for a bright rainbow creation, Aria already has her eye on it!

 

Here's the sniffly little monkey getting some use out of it "I not very well, I need rainbow blanket and bunny"

 

 

 

Thank you for reading, hope to see you again soon!

 

Berni x