Soothing Waves Lapghan Pattern

My second Soothing Waves Lapghan

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Back Story: I designed this striped afghan for a relative who is fighting cancer for the second time.  She usually spend the whole summer at the ocean, but will have to spend much of this summer in a hospital.  I tried to capture some of the warmth, joy, and peace of a summer day on a secluded beach.

Beach photo courtesy by my younger sister, who gets out much more often than I do.  She took it as I was finishing the lapghan, and it matches up almost perfectly!

Yarn: Red Heart Super Saver: 1 skein each of Warm Brown, White, Aruba Sea, Turqua, Delft Blue, Royal, Light Blue.

Hook: L (8.0 mm)

Finished size: Might vary depending upon gauge.  My completed lapghan is 32 inches wide by 50 inches long.

Terms (US terms):

• ch: chain
• dc: double crochet
• dc2tog: work a double crochet decrease
• 2dc: work 2 double crochet into the next st

Ripple Pattern:  Pattern is a multiple of 12 +3.

The lapghan is worked with two strands of yarn held together.  (Pull one from the center of the skein and one from the outside of the skein, or use two separate skeins.

1. Ch 75
2. Turn, dc in 4th ch from hook (with starting ch, counts as 2dc in first st), dc in next 3 sts, dc2tog twice, dc in next 3 sts, 2dc in next st, [2dc, dc3, dc2tog twice, dc3, 2dc] five more times
3. Repeat row 2, switching colors on the appropriate rows, until the blanket is completed.  The last 2dc of the row will be worked into the top of the previous row’s starting ch3.

For the visual learners, here is a quick diagram I drew:

Stripe Pattern:

• Starting chain: Warm Brown
• Rows 1-7: Warm Brown
• Row 8: White
• Row 9: Warm Brown
• Row 10-11: White
• Row 12: Aruba Sea
• Row 13: White
• Row 14-16: Aruba Sea
• Row 17: Turqua
• Row 18-19: Aruba Sea
• Row 20-21: Turqua
• Row 22: Aruba Sea
• Row 23-26: Turqua
• Row 27: Delft Blue
• Row 28-30: Turqua
• Row 31-32: Delft Blue
• Row 33: Turqua
• Row 34-38: Delft Blue
• Row 39: Royal
• Row 40-41: Delft Blue
• Row 42-43: Royal
• Row 44: Delft Blue
• Row 45-51: Royal
• Row 52-60: Light Blue

For those who prefer more visual patterns, I have a picture of the stripe pattern below.

A few notes

If you want to make the blanket wider, make the starting chain longer.   The pattern is a multiple of 12+3, so adding 12 chains at the start will add one ripple repeat.  Keep in mind the finished blanket will be narrower than the length of the starting chain because of the ripple pattern.  If you make the blanket wider, you will need second skeins of some of the colors.  To make it longer, just add some rows.

You can substitute a bulky/super bulky yarn such as Bernat Softee Chunky, Deborah Norville Serenity Chunky, Loops and Threads Charisma, Stitch Studio Belle, etc.  You want the following colors: tan, white, four shades of blue/teal in a gradient from light to dark, and sky blue.  If using a bulky/super bulky yarn yarn, use only a single strand.

The blanket on the right, below, was made with assorted chunky yarns.  I used Bernat Softee Chunky Yarn in “Soft Taupe” and “White,” Stitch Studio by Nicole Belle Yarn in “Mint Green,” Softee Chunky in “Seagreen,” a triple strand of Lion Brand Heartland Yarn in “Glacier Bay,” Softee Chunky in “Teal,” and finally Deborah Norville Serenity Chunky in “Alaskan Blue.”  It is a few rows shorter and turned out 34″ wide and 50″ long.

Instead of four shades of blue/teal, you could make the blanket using only two shades of teal.  For this little example I used Caron Simply Soft (white) and two colors of Vanna’s Choice from my stash.  The darker on is “Dusty Blue”  The lighter one was unlabeled.  white+light teal is water #1 (like “Aruba Sea”), light+light is water #2 (“Turqua”), Light+dark is water #3 (“Delft Blue”), and dark+dark is water #4 (“Royal”).  You would also need a tan and a sky blue.

 

Stripe Pattern, Picture Version: