Help with Ripple starting chain

[draydev1]

Hello. Ya'll have helped me in the past and I need your help again. In the newest Crochet Today (Jul/Aug 08), there is a ripple afghan on page 55, the Boho Bedspread. (I love this magazine as it's so easy to follow their patterns with the diagrams - only magazine I can follow the pattern). Anyway, it starts off with ch 223. Well, if I wanted to make this for a baby or even a preemie, how do I know how many chains to start with? I finally figured out (with help from this board) the multiples + for other patterns, but this is the first time I'm trying a ripple and this is a very easy pattern. If anyone has this issue and can help me, I would appreciate it. If anyone needs me to type part of the pattern so you can help me, I can do that as well. I'm actually making the actual pattern size for my hubby right now, and I love it. It's really simple, once you get past the 223 ch for the foundation. Sorry to ramble. Thanks so much for any help.

[DreamsOfYarn]

Does the pattern give you a guage?

A lot of times if there is a guage for a ripple, that would be the multiple.

 

I don't have the magazine so that is all the help I can give you.

HTH

[draydev1]

It says for making a guage swatch:

 

ch 13

Row 1 Dc in 4th ch from hook (skipped chs count as dc), dc in each rem ch across - 11 dc

 

row 2-7 Ch 3 (counts as dc now and throughout) turn; dc in next dc and in each dc across. Swatch should measure approx 4"/10cm wide x 4 1/4" /11cm high.

 

Does that mean that I'll use multiples of 13? The actual pattern is different from the swatch. Here's the beginning of the pattern:

 

Ch 223

Row 1 Dc in 4th ch from hook, dc in nect 10 chs; *V-stitch in next ch, dc in next 12 chs**; sk next 3 chs, dc in next 12 chs; repeat from * across, ending last repeat at ** - 8 ch-3 sps and 208 dc

 

Row 2 Turn; sk first dc, sl st in next dc, ch 3 (counts as dc now and throughout), dc in next 11 dc; *V-stitch in ch-3 sp of next V-stitch, dc in next 12 dc**; sk next 2 dc, dc in next 12 dc; repeat from * across, ending last repeat at **. Fasten off, leaving last dc unworked.

 

Row 3 With right side facing, sk first dc, join B with sl st in next dc, ch 3, dc in next 11 dc; *V-stitch in ch-3 sp of next V-stitch, dc in next 12 dc**; sk next 2 dc, dc in next 12 dc; repeat from * across, ending last repeat at **. Fasten off, leaving last dc unworked.

 

Hope this helps.