Leo's Ripple Afghan - Free Crochet Pattern

This pattern was designed by Alexandra of EyeLoveKnots, exclusively for The Stitchin’ Mommy.

A friend of mine from work and his wife just had a gorgeous little boy back around Halloween time. I have been wanting to make something for them, but haven’t been too inspired until just recently. I decided I would make a nautical colored blanket for baby Leo using my I Love This Soft Baby Ripple Blanket, however, once I went back to the pattern, I decided I wanted to change it up some.This blanket would be a great baby shower gift, or as part of your nursery. The size makes it great for changing baby’s diaper, tummy time and cuddling. It’s also longer than my I Love This Soft Baby Ripple Blanket so I’ll work great for toddlers and children also. I put it on the legs to see, and it covered them comfortably with my feet left hanging out. Now, I think I want one to use when I am sitting up in bed crocheting! – Alexandra

Leo’s Ripple Afghan

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Skill Level:

Intermediate

Materials:

1220 yards of Worsted Weight Yarn – I used two strands of Hobby Lobby’s I Love This Yarn held together. About one and 2/3 skeins of Light Taupe, 1 full skein of Navy Blue, and about 3/4 of a skein of Soft Blue. Bulky/Chunky will also work too.
M13/9mm Crochet Hook
Tapestry Needle for Weaving in Ends – I like to use a #18, or #20

Abbreviations:

SC – Single Crochet
HDC – Half Double Crochet
DC – Double Crochet
dc3tog – Double Crochet Three Stitches Together (also called a decrease)

To work a dc3tog: Yarn over, insert hook into the first stitch, yarn over, pull through (3 loops on hook), yarn over, pull through two loops on hook, yarn over, insert hook into next stitch, yarn over, pull through (4 loops on hook), yarn over, pull through two loops on hook, insert hook into next stitch, yarn over, pull through (5 loops on hook), yarn over, pull through two loops on hook, yarn over, pull through all 4 loops on the hook.

Gauge:

(with two strands held together): 11 DC by 6 Rows = 5″ by 4.5″

Finished Size:

30″ Wide by 35″ in Length with Border

Notes:

I worked up this blanket in about 4 hours 45 minutes. If you choose to weave in all ends individually, rather than using my method, you can expect to be finished in about five and a half hours.

Use two strands held together. I held the strands from both ends of the skein – shown to the right. To make it easier on yourself, you can unwind the skein and rewind with both strands together. I don’t do this, but it would definitely help with the tangling. Or you can use one strand of chunky/bulky yarn instead.

Ripple Pattern can be made bigger or smaller by adding or subtracting 12 chains.

Blanket can be made longer or shorter by adding or subtracting 2 rows – two rows together measures 1.75″ in length.

You have three options for the tails of the color change: fasten off and weave in ends, fasten off and work over tails or carry yarn up the side and work over the tails.
In the past, I have chosen to fasten off at each color change and in weave in the ends to avoid yarn tangling, avoid puckering of crocheting over the tails and for added security for myself, but recently I have decided to take a different approach to the crocheting over the tails.

The following numbers coordinate with the photos in the image above.

Being that I cut my ends after each color change, I ended up with lots of tails. I began working into the side as stated in the border instructions up to the first yarn tail.
When I approached each tail, I held down my two color tails and began to work over these tails – only working 7 stitches over them.
At the 8th stitch of the color block, I dropped the tails I was working with, worked one single crochet and then picked up the two tails from the next color block.
I worked Step 2 and 3 across the side and end up with smaller tails by the end.
When I approached the tail side again in the second row of the border, I worked up until the “8th” stitch of the color block. Here, the tails that you previously worked over should be in the perfect spot to carry up. Work over the tails again – I also did 7 stitches over them.
I worked in this manner across the side and ended up with even smaller tails by the end.
I worked the third round of the border is the same manner, and at the end of this round had all of the tails covered up with no puckering and secure being that they were worked over in several rounds and stitches.

I worked my final join as an invisible one. You can view a photo tutorial of this in my Newborn Twin Chunky Beanie post.

Instructions:

In Navy, Chain 64. DC in the 4th chain from the hook (counts as a 1st DC), (DC in the next 4 stitches, dc3tog, DC in the next 4 stitches, 3 DC in the next stitch) 4 times, DC in the next 4 stitches, dc3tog, DC in the next 4 stitches, 2 DC in the last stitch. (61)
R2 – 4: Chain 2, turn. DC in the 1st DC and the next 4 DC’s, (dc3tog, DC in the next 4 DC’s, 3 DC in the next DC, DC in the next 4 DC’s) 4 times, dc3tog, DC in the next 4 DC’s, 2 DC in the last DC. Change to Light Taupe.
R5 – 8: In Light Taupe, Chain 2 and turn. DC in the 1st DC and the next 4 DC’s, (dc3tog, DC in the next 4 DC’s, 3 DC in the next DC, DC in the next 4 DC’s) 4 times, dc3tog, DC in the next 4 DC’s, 2 DC in the last DC. Change to Soft Blue.
R9 – 12: In Soft Blue, Chain 2 and turn. DC in the 1st DC and the next 4 DC’s, (dc3tog, DC in the next 4 DC’s, 3 DC in the next DC, DC in the next 4 DC’s) 4 times, dc3tog, DC in the next 4 DC’s, 2 DC in the last DC. Change to Light Taupe.
R13 – 16: In Light Taupe, Chain 2 and turn. DC in the 1st DC and the next 4 DC’s, (dc3tog, DC in the next 4 DC’s, 3 DC in the next DC, DC in the next 4 DC’s) 4 times, dc3tog, DC in the next 4 DC’s, 2 DC in the last DC. Change to Navy.
R17 – 20: In Navy, Chain 2 and turn. DC in the 1st DC and the next 4 DC’s, (dc3tog, DC in the next 4 DC’s, 3 DC in the next DC, DC in the next 4 DC’s) 4 times, dc3tog, DC in the next 4 DC’s, 2 DC in the last DC. Change to Light Taupe.
R21 – 24: In Light Taupe, Chain 2 and turn. DC in the 1st DC and the next 4 DC’s, (dc3tog, DC in the next 4 DC’s, 3 DC in the next DC, DC in the next 4 DC’s) 4 times, dc3tog, DC in the next 4 DC’s, 2 DC in the last DC. Change to Soft Blue.
R25 – 28: In Soft Blue, Chain 2 and turn. DC in the 1st DC and the next 4 DC’s, (dc3tog, DC in the next 4 DC’s, 3 DC in the next DC, DC in the next 4 DC’s) 4 times, dc3tog, DC in the next 4 DC’s, 2 DC in the last DC. Change to Light Taupe.
R29 – 32: In Light Taupe, Chain 2 and turn. DC in the 1st DC and the next 4 DC’s, (dc3tog, DC in the next 4 DC’s, 3 DC in the next DC, DC in the next 4 DC’s) 4 times, dc3tog, DC in the next 4 DC’s, 2 DC in the last DC. Change to Navy.
R33 – 36: In Navy, Chain 2 and turn. DC in the 1st DC and the next 4 DC’s, (dc3tog, DC in the next 4 DC’s, 3 DC in the next DC, DC in the next 4 DC’s) 4 times, dc3tog, DC in the next 4 DC’s, 2 DC in the last DC. Change to Light Taupe for Border.

Border:
R1: In Light Taupe, Chain 1 and turn. Work 2 SC in the 1st DC, SC in the next DC, HDC in the next 2 DCs, DC in the next 4 DCs, HDC in the next 2 DCs, (SC in the next DC, loosely slip stitch in the next 2 DCs, SC in the next DC, HDC in the next 2 DCs, DC in the next 4 DCs, HDC in the next 2 DCs) 4x, SC in the next 3 DCs, 3 SC in the last DC to form a corner
R1B: evenly SC down the side working 2 SC per DC side for a total of 70 SCs, 3 SC in the next stitch to form a corner
R1C: HDC in the next 2 stitches, SC in the next 3 stitches, (loosely slip stitch in the next stitch, SC in the next 3 stitches, HDC in the next 2 stitches, DC in the next stitch, HDC in the next 2 stitches, SC in the next 3 stitches) 4x, loosely slip stitch in the next stitch, SC in the next 3 stitches, HDC in the next 3 stitches, 3 SC in the next stitch to form a corner
**At this point, you should be on the side that has all of the ends. Use your preferred method to approach these. See Notes for more details.
R1D: … evenly SC up the side working 2 SC per DC side for a total of 70 SCs, SC in the first stitch to complete the corner. Join with Soft Blue. (270 SC)

R2: With Soft Blue, Chain 1, but DO NOT TURN. Work 2 SC in the first SC, SC into the next 61 SCs across, 3 SC in the next SC – corner – SC in the next 72 SCs, 3 SC in the next SC – corner – SC in the next 61 SCs, 3 SC in the next SC – corner – SC in the next 72 SCs, 1 SC in the first SC. Join with Navy. (278 SC)

R3: With Navy, Chain 1, but DO NOT TURN. Work 2 SC in the first SC, SC into the next 63 SCs across, 3 SC in the next SC – corner – SC in the next 74 SCs, 3 SC in the next SC – corner – SC in the next 63 SCs, 3 SC in the next SC – corner – SC in the next 74 SCs, 1 SC in the first SC. Join with Light Taupe. (286 SC)

R4: With Light Taupe, Chain 1, but DO NOT TURN. Work 2 SC in the first SC, SC into the next 65 SCs across, 3 SC in the next SC – corner – SC in the next 76 SCs, 3 SC in the next SC – corner – SC in the next 65 SCs, 3 SC in the next SC – corner – SC in the next 76 SCs, 1 SC in the first SC. Join. (294 SC)

Fasten Off and Weave in Ends – I worked my last join as an invisible join. See Pattern Notes for link to photo tutorial.

Please feel free to make and sell your own Ripple Blanket, but please DO NOT claim this pattern as your own nor should you sell my pattern, and DO NOT re-publish my photos as your own. DO NOT copy and paste my pattern anywhere, link to it instead.

Alexandra started her crafting adventure with needlepoint on plastic canvas nine years ago, making anything she could think of from masks for school plays to pictures frames and small trinkets. Two years ago she jumped head first into crocheting and jewelry making, and her blogging journey as EyeLoveKnots, named in honor of family members affected by Retinoblastoma, a cancer of the eye. You can find more information about Retinoblastoma at Eye Cancer MD. See more from Alexandra on her Facebook page, Ravelry, and Etsy shop.