Hook/yarn size and patterns

[Westernrose]

I am trying a new pattern for a ripple Afghan that is designated as an "easy" pattern. I don't usually use patterns because they confuse me and never turn out right. 

I got the counts to turn out right, the rows ended where they should etc. Here's my problem. I chose a somewhat thicker yarn, 5 ounce, and used a j hook.  No matter how loose I made my stitches the clusters looked like popcorn stitches. So I know I grabbed a K and N hook, but I'm unsure which to use or if it will even work, and I dont want to create the first three rows of this just to have to tear it all out again. 

Any advice?

[Avon Lady]

Are the stitches supposed to be "cluster stitches"?  Or does it say that they are "popcorn" stitches?  If they don't say popcorn, they shouldn't "bunch up" like popcorn stitches.  Could you send us a line from the pattern that describes the stitch itself?

[Granny Square]

Hi and welcome to the 'ville!

Not sure what you mean by 5 ounce yarn, are you in the US?  There should be a little skein picture with a number on it, like shown here  

https://www.craftyarncouncil.com/standards/yarn-weight-system 

The above numbers are arbitrary ranges of yarn thickness, do you mean your yarn is classed as #5 'weight', which is bulky?  If so, this site says 6.5-9 mm hook size is appropriate, but that depends on your own personal stitch tension.  Here's a conversion chart, this would be US size K-N.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_standard_crochet_hook_and_knitting_needle_sizes

If you don't know the thickness of the yarn, that's determined by 'wraps per inch'.  If you have a ruler handy, wrap the yarn around a ruler and see how many wraps you get.  More on that https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yarn_weight#Wrap_method , bulky would be 6-8 wpi (wraps per inch).

Having said all that, I'm going to bring up stitch tension again.  Sometimes when my sister-in-law visits we get together and crochet something to amuse her grandkids, and to get  something the same size I have to use a hook several sizes bigger than she does to get the same sized thing.   Nothing wrong with that, just something to be aware of; maybe your stitch tension is on the tight end of the scale.

I'd make a little gauge swatch with the N hook if you do indeed have bulky yarn.  You could just do it in the middle of your 3 rows of afghan, make a chain maybe 5" long and work stitches back and forth on that little protrusion for a few rows, throw in some clusters, and see how it looks, and rip it out.  

Unfortunately in crochet, there's gonna be ripping out.  I'd be ecstatic if the most I'd had to rip out on a blanket was only 3 rows, and I've been crocheting for decades.  If I could magically reconstitute all the stitches I'd ever ripped, I'd have enough stitches to slip cover my house, I think. 

[Granny Square]

Hi Avon Lady, I think we posted at the same time.  I assumed she meant the typical '3 stitches together' in the valley of the ripple, but good point to double check.  Or to the OP, if it's a free pattern on the net, just give us a link so we can see it.

[Westernrose]

It is a cluster and definitely should not be popping out. 

I do tend to stitch a little tighter than most.  I initially thought that was the problem, so I took it all apart and started over with much looser stitches with the same result. 

The frustrating part was that row 2 looked great but by the end of row 3 you could really see the clusters popping out. And the pic with the pattern shows these lovely holes periodically and that was not happening no matter how loosely I stitched. 

[Westernrose]

My other issue is that using an N hook is making this a gigantic blanket when I was really just going for a throw blanket size. The chain  is 185 stitches and I can't even begin to thi k how on earth to adjust it down. 

[Granny Square]

Thanks for the pic of the skein...I don't use a lot of Lion Brand, not sure if they put that little skein symbol with the yarn weight (thickness) on it (if not, shame on them).  The 5 ounces doesn't mean anything, but, 5 ounces and only 81 yards...has got to be some grade of bulky yarn.  A 7 ounce skein of ordinary medium (#4 'weight') Red Heart Super Saver has 364 yards for comparison. 

The photo showing the blanket does not appear to be using bulky yarn, it looks like medium/worsted/US medium / #4 in the little skein symbol - what yarn does the pattern call for, and how many skeins or yards?  How many yards of yarn did you buy?  When following a pattern, you may run into trouble for a large project if you stray from the yarn called out.  Even if you used the same weight but not specific brand called out, you'll have to do some math - let's say a project calls for 3 skeins of the Red Heart above, so 1092 yards of #4 weight yarn.  Let's say you want to use Acme #4 weight yarn, and  their skeins are 300 yards.  To ensure you have enough yarn, you'd have to buy 4 skeins of Acme (1200 yards, since 900 yards wouldn't be enough.  But if you decide to use a different weight yarn, it gets difficult to figure things out--the number of stitches / yardage needed is going to change.  

But, marching forward with your yarn - crochet  only unravels backwards from the last stitch made, not forward from the starting end.  So if you are making something and want to adjust the number of chains but don't know by how many, you can make a chain longer than you want, turn and work back to within 1 pattern repeat's worth of stitches from the end, then later pick out the unused chains (they won't unravel, but you can pick them out one by one).

What I would do, and this kills 2 birds with 1, er, hook - make that swatch with the N hook, over however many stitches constitute a hillside, hilltop, hillside and valley of your ripple pattern - let's say that's 20 stitches.   Work a few rows back and forth to see if you like how it looks, and this will also give it the shape and size of 1 segment, which needs a few rows to stabilize the shape - because it's a ripple, it's going to draw up to a narrower measurement than 20 stitches straight across would.  Let's say, measuring valley to valley it's 5".  Let's say you wanted the blanket to be 40" wide, so that would be 8 'hills'.  I would start with a chain 20x8=160 chains, plus a handful extra for turning chains and "just because", it's easier to pick out chains than start over if you're short.  Don't follow my actual numbers as they are totally made up, I was just steering you to how to re-figure this.

[Granny Square]

I was trying to find your yarn...Lion Brand Hometown USA's skein put-up is 5 ounces and 81 yards (prints are 64 yards), weight is super bulky--if that's not it, it confirms the literal skein weight and yardage fits #6 super bulky yarn 'class' if the word weight is confusing.  It says "Crochet Gauge (4" x 4")6.6 sc x 8 r on N-13 (9mm)", so it looks like N hook is appropriate.

If I guessed your yarn right, here are some Lion Brand Patterns for ripple blankets that are second level beginner (first level didn't have any ripples, just squares).  I think you have to create a sign-in to download.

http://www.lionbrand.com/patterns/crochet-pattern-quick-lacy-ripple-afghan.html  this takes 10 skeins total of the Hometown, 7 of main color, 3 of contrast color

http://www.lionbrand.com/patterns/crochet-pattern-rustic-ripple-afghan-3.html  takes 9 skeins, 3 colors 3 skeins each

http://www.lionbrand.com/patterns/crochet-pattern-smoky-mountain-ripple-afghan-1.html  takes 2+2+3 skeins, 3 colors