I usually don’t have my good camera with me when I visit my parents, so I took a few minutes this morning to photograph this mainstay of my childhood. I wrote a little more about it over on the Crochet Me blog.
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Reminds me of so many blankets, and the so many wonderful grandmas and aunties who made them. Still love the scrap of paper (written on the back of an Omaha phone bill!) with a Ripple Afghan pattern dashed out in Leo’s baube’s hand. I have no idea for whom, but here it is, ready to ripple any time!
“Cast on 206 sts.
Row 1: k1, k2tog, k6, yo, k1, yo *k6, k2tog, k2tog, k6, yo, k1, yo* across row, finish row with k6, k2tog, k1.
Use 10 or 10 1/2 needles and 4 ply yarn.”
I totally want to make something in this pattern, now. I love it!
Looking at your grandma’s blanket reminds me, Kim — I should photograph my Grandma Fern’s granny square masterpieces…she used an awful lot of black, they’re pretty awesome!
Yes, you should! We can start a Flickr group for our grandmother’s blankets!
Ooh, maybe we can call the Flickr group Bubbes’ Blankets
I don’t think it exists anymore but I’m pretty sure that I learned to crochet on a rainbow striped ripple blanket. I think my mom was making it mostly, and maybe for my bedroom which was rainbow themed, but I have a very strong memory of being at the hospital visiting my grandmother and getting the idea of the pattern…
Are familiar with the Blanket Buss project that artist collective Instant Coffee did last year? They covered the sides of local Vancouver transit busses with images of “typical hand crafted afghan blanket(s)”. When ever I come across close ups of these types of patterns the memory of those busses jumps to mind. Even though we didn’t have any of these afghans in my house growing up there is something very comforting about them.
http://www.instantcoffee.org/projects/shows/trans.phtml