Attic24 Neat Ripple Pattern Questions

[catwoman]

Hi. I am trying to make this pattern from Attic24 Neat Ripple Pattern Website as a blanket for a bed  but the pattern has only a 31 chains  and that's not  enough for a long big blanket.The pattern has :A Multiple of 14(2x14 plus 3 for turning chains).I was wondering how many chains to crochet for a blanket for a single twin bed 39 inch ?What multiple of 14 number should i use?What do you guys think i should do?

[Granny Square]

Link http://attic24.typepad.com/weblog/neat-ripple-pattern.html

Pattern states multiple of 14, plus 3 extra for turning.  She says "I would strongly advise before you begin any ripply project to make a small ripple sample so that you're confident of the pattern. Make a chain of 31 (2x14 +3) as I'm doing here.... "  So, she is suggesting that you practice by making a swatch starting with 31, which is 2 repeats of 14, plus 3.

Making a swatch is a good idea, because it will give you an idea of how many repeats you will need for the blanket size that you want.  Since the chain will ending up being ripply, not straight, you can't just chain (example) 48" and end up with a 48" wide blanket--it would be quite a bit less. 

Scrolling about halfway down the page she has a photo with a crochet hook lined up with it; I just measured the length of a handy hook of mine and it is 5.5"; in her photo, her swatch, with is 2 ripples wide, the hook looks like it is about 1" shorter than her swatch.  So, each ripple is about 3.25" inches wide in my crude guessing.  Your gauge on the swatch is sure to be different, but let's just go with these numbers.  Let's say you want an afghan to be about 48" wide, which is about the width of a 'back of the couch' blanket. The 14 stitch multiple is 1 ripple.  Coincidently 48" divided by 3.25 is 14.8  ripples, which I'd round up to 15.  So, you would want 15 ripples, times 14 stitches per ripple, is 210 stitches, plus 3 for the turning chain, so a chain of 213.

All of these numbers are my crude example, not knowing your gauge or how big of a blanket you want, but just to give you an idea of how to figure out how long of a chain you will need -- you'll have to do the swatch first to have enough info to figure this out if you are trying to hit a specific measurement for the width.

[Granny Square]

Forgot to add, ripples are really easy, but they require you to pay attention more than some patterns.  It is really easy to get off-count and end up with Dr. Seuss looking (tilting) ripples.  It's a good idea to put a stitch marker in the center stitch of each 'hill', (and maybe each valley) this will make it easier to keep count.  This pattern has 4 stitches on each hillside, a decrease of 2 stitches over 4 in each valley, and an increase of 2 stitches over 2 in each hilltop.  She gives a good recap of this in the photo blow where she where she says it's important to recognize where the increases and decreases are, in that photo she's written a little diagram with notes below to show where they are.

Also - are you in the US, or in an area that uses UK terms?  This pattern is in UK terms, so her triple is a US double.

[catwoman]

Hi villager. I am in the us. Where does she get the 2 from that goes with multiple of 14?also how to you tell that it has 2 ripples in the gauge?

[Granny Square]

Did you scroll down and look at her swatch?  I'm counting one ripple as one hill or one valley, in her case valley - it's all the same, her photo is showing 2 valleys (VV) but if you turn it upside down it would be 2 hills (^^).

I assume you meant the 3 that goes with the 14 when she tells you right at the beginning that the chain "should be in multiples of 14, plus an extra 3 added on for turning."  So I assume your question is, where does the 3 come from?  Notice that she puts the first DC into the 4th chain from the hook, leaving 3 chains unused--that's what she's referring to. 

edit - for the 13, look at one of the photos where she draws out the stitches next to the photo - count each stitch, each bottomless box in the valleys are decreases and count as 1, each | on the hillsides count as 1, each 2-into-1 'v' count as 2.  Each set of hilltop, valley, and 2 hillsides = 14