scottish dancing crochet

My 'Scottish Dancing' blanket looks like it's on a pedestal. I like the idea of this as I feel it's a trophy I've won for all the hours and hours of ripple crochet that went into its creation. 

I stopped where I stopped because, once again, I ran out of the right shades of yarn. Of course, I could just carry on regardless with leftovers, but I much prefer to keep to an overall theme and scheme. This one is 'Scottish Dancing' and was inspired by a visit to Inverness in early autumn last year when I was spellbound by the wonderful colours of the hills, trees, plants, flowers, lochs and skies. I really wanted to make something with a teal and orange combination because those are the colours in my favourite tartan (I have no idea which clan, but one which must live/have lived near water and hills covered in rowan trees). And then I added more colours for heather, clouds, earth, leaves, wild flowers.

It all 'dances' because of the ripple pattern. As I crocheted the ripples I thought of the highlands and lowlands of Scotland, the peaks and valleys, the mountains and the lochs, and all the windy roads around them. I took the pattern from 200 Ripple Stitch Patterns by Jan Eaton (no. 8 'Soft Waves') and used mostly Rowan Pure Wool DK plus a few odd waves of Jaeger Merino, Debbie Bliss Merino and Blue Sky Alpacas alpaca (all DK weight). The blanket swallowed 1110g of yarn and it measures 54"/136cm x 58"/147cm. When it's hung over the banister (second photo) the weight makes it have a 3D ripple effect; the colours not only dance on the horizontal stripes, but also the whole thing meanders in and out like a textile version of corrugated iron (and like the playground game of 'In and Out the Scottish Bluebells'). 

This is how the top section looks. I know it's upside down but I quite like the way the stitches fan out on the crests of the wave and, anyway, this is how I see the blanket when it's over my knees.

And here it is in all its glory, suspended over the stairwell with Tom hidden behind, holding onto the edge to prevent it sliding off.

When I was eight we all had to do Country Dancing at school. It was one of those things which the girls took very seriously and the boys did not. I can remember the complete tangles we got into (mostly because none of us wanted to hold hands with the boys) and it got worse when we had to do Scottish dances. So I am quite happy to restrict my 'Scottish Dancing' to crochet, and reward myself with a trophy blanket.

Comments

[PJ]

BLUE RIBBON!

[Mary K. in Rockport]

When I squint at the 5th photo, I can see how the colors repeat regularly, but not too regularly. It's a lovely piece and one I wish I could make, but that's not likely. First, I don't trust myself to choose and repeat colors as beautifully as you do, and second - well, I don't know how to crochet.

[aurora fox]

oh! lovely gorgeous! and inspiring...

[irene]

that ripple would make a perfect endpaper pattern! brava!

[elise]

wow, that looks beautiful. i think i am going to try my hand at that blanket when i'm back home. plenty of yarn leftovers i can use. thanks for sharing the name of the pattern.

[lazylol]

Lovely blanket!
OMG we did Scottish dancing at Primary School in Yorkshire too!!

[Lina]

It's beautiful! Your first blanket (ans also Alicia's) inspired me to start my own, but it's still a work in progress. Thank you for these wonderful photos and for providing me with an insentive to keep on crocheting :)

[Bonny]

Gorgeous ~ I vote for the second photo for your book cover!

[Mary]

Breathtakingly beautiful! You've inspired me to finally get to an afghan that I''ve been planning to crochet for a while.

BTW, check out my blog if you'd like to see some NYC tulips. The photos aren't half as nice as yours. but tulips are a favorite of mine and I just needed to put some up on the blog.

[oiyi]

Another beautiful Ripple Blanket! Love it!

[RI]

LOTS OF "MUSIC" IN THESE COLOURS..
JAZZY I THINK...AND THE HOT WATER BOTTLE COVER WILL LOOK GOOD ON YOUR LAP WITH THE BLANKET NEXT WINTER ...! LOVELY AND COSY

[Jen]

Love it!!

[lekki]

I love your blanket. I have been making them in mohair on a 7mm hook for the last 2 Winters, have just picked up on the one I started last year. This is one I completed for my mother-in -law last year. http://flickr.com/photos/36259386868@N01/471715760/

[Linda]

What beautiful singing colours.

[handknit168]

colourful, beautiful, lovely,.... I have made use the leftover of yarn to crochet a rainbow cardigan. It has been finished but hasn't posted in blog. Will be soon.

[Sherry]

What a beautiful blanket!!

[Adam]

Absolutely gorgeous. That is a blanket that you can be proud of and pass down for generations! I have a ripple afghan that my Great Grandmother knitted and it's one of my most cherished possessions. Congrats on finishing!

[Amy]

Stunning color combos. You ought to be quite proud!

[Anna]

Dear Jane, the blanket is absolutely beautiful and your photos of it are brilliant. How do you manage to take such studio-like looking pictures? Perhaps the answer is: With much patience and try and error. I find it extremely difficult to take satisfactory pictures of knitted and crocheted work, but you master this challenge very artfully!

[ruthie]

congrats!! it looks absolutely fabulous!!!

[Gemma]

I'm not rippling I am stripping. Didn't have the patience to wait for the book or to figure out how to do anything apart from double crochet!

Love the blanket but after a session of endless weaving in last night all I can think of is how long it must have taken to do all the ends for your blanket!

Gorge as ever. :-)

[Gemma]

Oh and white walls! WHITE WALLS in the Brocket house! Not at all what I imagined.

[Celia Escuela]

I really like this blanket. It is gorgeous and the choose of the colors is just amazing!
Thanks for sharing!
Celia

[susoolu]

My favourite - the over the stairs shot, and how the ripples play tricks with your eyes, like squinting into a heat soaked landscape. Well, Scottish heat soaked. And if you want a good film to watch, encased in scottish dancing ripples, try Powell and Pressburger's "I know where I'm going!", black and white, but you can see the colour. And while Roger Livesey is no Cary Grant or Gregory Peck, what a voice. (Being made to learn Scottish dancing at school, down in south London, was bad enough, but scarier were the compulsory lessons in 'Greek' folk dancing. 50 11 year old puppy-fat girls, all lumbering in embarrassment, while the gym mistress shouted instructions to 'remember you are graceful wood nymphs'.

[Isobel]

You don't really appreciate the colours until the blanket is completely unfurled. It's really spectacular. The Orkney tartan has orange, teal, purple and green - I have a tendency to look at tartan colours when I am deciding on different colour combinations - colours you wouldn't think go together somehow do.