Large Ripple Afghan Crochet Pattern

Hello, my name is Lauren and I'm a yarn hoarder (my best friends call me a "yarn sniffer"). I'm not quite as bad as some of the photos that are floating around the internet, but I do have a lot of yarn. I recently sold some of my collection, and I have to be honest, it was a little bit painful to do. But, I had to honestly assess what I would and wouldn't use. Some of it I purchased when I was first starting to crochet, and my yarn tastes have certainly evolved over the past few years.

Somehow, the full picture of my stash got deleted so for now, this is going to have to suffice. I store the vast majority of my yarn collection in three cabinets. They're intended for wine, but they're just the right size for storing skeins of our favorite fibers. I know many people like to store their yarn in plastic totes like this one, but my husband wanted my skeins stored in something that would help make the Florida room look somewhat normal rather than something straight out of an episode of Hoarders. So, these were the perfect solution.

Be that as it may, my cabinets are overflowing as my stash continues to grow. I've been toying around with ideas for a stash busting project, but it was time to bite the bullet and start one. After perusing Pinterest and Flickr for ways to use a million colors without a blanket getting muddy, I decided to make a huge ripple blanket. I've shared my progress on Facebook and Instagram, and people are already asking for the pattern. Since it's going to be such a large project, I didn't want to mae people wait until the blanket was finished for the pattern. 

This pattern is very similar to my popular Ripple Baby Blanket pattern. It's the same blanket on a larger scale. I know some people would be able to improvise and make the baby blanket bigger, but others like patterns written out for them (I used to be this way) so I decided to write it out. 

I can't give exact amounts of yarn since I have no idea how big this blanket is going to be, but I can tell you that each row uses approximately 1.3 oz of yarn. Also, I'm not sure the names of the colors since I didn't save the wrappers (I'm going to do that from now on, though, for situations like this), but I can tell you it's a mixture of Red Heart with Love, Hobby Lobby's I Love This Yarn, and Vanna's Choice. 

Materials Needed

-J crochet hook (these Clover Amour hooks are my favorites!)

-Worsted weight yarn in various colors (just over 1 oz for each row)

-Tapestry needles for weaving ends

Pattern Notes

-This blanket is approximately 5 feet wide. It can be made as long as you want it. 

-This pattern is worked through both loops. 

-You WILL work into the top of the turning chain on each row. Forgetting to do this will mess you up. :)

-Gauge is not important for this project. 

Pattern

Chain 198

Row 1: dc in the third chain from hook. dc in the next 4 stitches. dc2tog, dc2tog. dc in the next 4 stitches. *work 2 dc in the next 2 stitches. dc in the next 4 stitches. dc2tog, dc2tog. dc in the next 4 stitches. End with two dc in the last chain. Ch 2, turn. 

Row 2: dc in the first st (your ch 2 and your first dc are worked in the same stitch) and in the next 4 stitches (you should have a total of 6 dc in a row, including the ch 2). dc2tog, dc2tog. dc in the next 4 stitches. *work 2 dc into the next 2 stitches. dc in the next 4 stitches. dc2tog, dc2tog. dc in the next 4 stitches* across until you have one stitch left End with 2 dc in the top of the ch 2 from the previous row. 

Repeat row 2 until your blanket has reached the size you like (or you've used up your stash). I'm doing two rows of each color and I'm really enjoying the results. 

As this blanket grows and develops, I'll be sure to share my progress on Facebook and Instagram so be sure to follow along for frequent updates. I will also be post more "professional" photos here as I finish larger chunks.

I plan on throwing this blanket over the arm of the couch or chair in my crochet nook. I can't wait to see how much it brightens up the area.

The baby blanket version of this pattern is available here.