How to Crochet -- Ripple stitch

Recently I showed you how to change your yarn color at the end of a row of crocheting and also how to carry your yarn up the side of a crochet piece instead of cutting the yarn at each color change. Did you like the look of the stitch I was using? It's called the Ripple Stitch and here's how to do it...

First crochet a chain stitch as long as you want the width of your piece to be, making sure the number of stitches is divisible by three, for example 99 chain stitches. Of course this number will depend on the size of the yarn and hook you have chosen for this project and how wide you want the piece to be. Now add one more chain stitch.



Now turn your work and do two double crochet stitches into the third chain from the hook as shown above.



This is what your work will look like.



In the very next chain stitch as shown above, work one single crochet and two double crochet stitches. This is your pattern stitch -- one single and two double crochet stitches.



This is what your work will look like now.



Now skip the next two chain stitches and work the pattern stitch -- one single crochet and two double crochet stitches -- into the third chain from the hook, as shown above.



This is what your work will look like after doing a pattern stitch in every third chain stitch several times.



Continue working the pattern stitch in every third chain stitch until you have the last three chain stitches left. Work one single crochet in the last chain stitch.



Work two chain stitches before turning your work. This is what your piece will look like.



After working two chain stitches and turning your work, do two double crochet stitches into the last single crochet of the previous row. This stitch will be right next to the turning chain, as shown above. This is how you will begin each row.



Skip over the two double crochet stitches and work the pattern stitch -- one single crochet and two double crochet stitches -- into the next single crochet as shown above. This is how you will work the entire body of your piece, except for the beginning and end of each row.



At the end of the row, work a single crochet into the top of the turning chain from the previous row as shown above. This is how you will end every row.



This is what your work will look like after the end of the second pattern row. The edges look a little odd, like there might be too many stitches in the top row, but you will see after a few more rows that they will be straight as an arrow!



See! Continue the piece in the same manner until it is as long as you want it, adding a new skein at the end of a row as needed. Finish off with a round of single crochet evenly stitched on all four sides, working three single crochet stitches in each corner.



The above picture shows the texture of this stitch. Each two rows of the ripple stitch makes these little ... well ... ripples in the piece. This makes a very warm afghan!



You can see by stitching a row in a different color how one row of this stitch looks by itself. Each pattern makes a little lopsided shell.



The next row of pattern stitches fills in with lopsided shells going in the other direction.



This pattern is nice worked in a solid color or a variegated yarn. It can also be worked in two or more colors.


This is a close-up shot of a baby blanket crocheted using the Ripple Stitch and Red Heart Baby Cloud yarn which is very thick, textured, soft and fluffy. Doesn't it remind you of cotton candy? Yummy!


This is the whole baby blanket. I did a little ruffle kind of border on this afghan which was made by working a round of single crochet around the whole afghan, then a round of single crochet and chain three in each stitch around. It's fun to experiment with different combinations of stitches for a border. Just make something up and see if you like it.


This is the full size afghan I made for my husband using the Ripple Stitch. This afghan, as you can see, is wide enough for our queen size bed. In this picture it is folded into quarters, so you can imagine just how long it is when opened all the way. I haven't measured it, but my guess is somewhere between seven and eight feet! It took 18 skeins of Red Heart Super Saver yarn in the 5 ounce skeins. This is the Aspen Print variegated yarn and I just love the colors in it.


This is a close-up of one of the corners where you can see the simple single crochet border. It's just enough to finish the edges neatly, but nothing foofy or frilly. My husband loves it.

I have also used the Ripple Stitch with a solid color sport weight yarn to make a baby blanket which turned out very lightweight. It took me almost as long to crochet the baby blanket as the full size afghan because there were just as many stitches in it. They were just smaller because of the yarn and hook size.

This is a fun stitch to use no matter what size piece you want to crochet. Make one and see what you think.

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