Easy Ripple Afghan

Materials needed:

• yarn
  • Worsted weight acrylic yarn in desired colors.
    About 12 ounces each of 3 different colors (36 ounces total) will make a 40-inch X 60-inch afghan
    (Ideal size for Project Linus).
    (I made a 40 inch by 60 inch afghan using 10 three ounce skeins of variegated yarn.)
  or
  • Sport or baby sport yarn. I made a 42 inch by 39 inch afghan with about 21 ounces of baby sport yarn.
• crochet hook
• Crochet hook size I for worsted weight yarn
• Crochet hook size G for sport weight/3-ply yarn
(Increase or decrease your hook size if you crochet tightly or loosely.)

Gauge:

worsted wt. yarn	sport yarn
8 rows = 5 inches	8 rows = 4 inches
1 pattern repeat is 5 inches wide	1 pattern repeat is 3.75 inches wide

Abbreviations/Stitches:

• ch — chain
• dc — double crochet
• yo — yarn over
• 3 st dec — 3 stitch decrease (also known as: dc3tog)
  • *yo, insert hook through next stitch, yo and pull loop through stitch, yo and pull through first 2 loops on hook; Repeat from * twice. Yo and pull through remaining 4 loops on hook
• 2 st dec — 2 stitch decrease (also known as: dcdec or dc2tog)
• *yo, insert hook through next stitch, yo and pull loop through stitch, yo and pull through first 2 loops on hook; Repeat from * once. Yo and pull through remaining 3 loops on hook.

Instructions:

Chain a multiple of 16 stitches plus 2 stitches.
For a 40 inch wide afghan in worsted weight yarn, chain 130.
For a 55 inch wide afghan in worsted weight yarn, chain 178.
For a 41 inch wide afghan in sport weight/3-ply yarn, chain 178.

Row 1: Dc in 3rd ch from hook; dc in next 6 ch, 3 dc in next ch, dc in next 6 ch; *work 3 st dec in next 3 ch, dc in next 6 ch, 3 dc in next ch, dc in next 6 ch; Repeat from * across. End by working 2 st dec in last 2 ch. Ch 2 and turn. Note: The valleys will probably be shallower than the peaks at this point. Work another row or two and they should even up.

Row 2: Skip first stitch; dc in next 7 dc, 3 dc in next dc, dc in next 6 dc; *work 3 st dec in next 3 stitches, dc in next 6 dc, 3 dc in next dc, dc in next 6 dc; Repeat from * across. End by working 2 st dec in last 2 dc. Ch 2 and turn.

Repeat Row 2 until afghan is desired length changing, colors as desired. If you are using more than one color of yarn, I suggest changing colors every 2 rows.

Changing colors
At end of row, when working the 2 st dec, drop the current color of yarn when you have the last 3 loops left on your hook to finish the stitch. Yarn over with new color of yarn and pull through 3 loops on hook. Ch 2 and turn.

Leave 5 or 6 inch ends of each color of yarn to weave in.

Finishing

Weave all yarn ends in securely.
Variation 1 - Ribbed Ripple:

Beginning with Row 2, work all stitches in the back loop only to create a ribbed effect.