Posted on 24-1-2022 by Janita van Rijnsbergen
Bring your year literally and metaphorically to life with a temperature blanket. A project that you can enjoy each and every day for a whole year. Want to know more? Then read on as we share all you need to know about this year-round project!
What is a temperature blanket?
If you have spent any time on social media, you are sure to have come across them. Temperature blankets are on-trend. Especially right now, with the old year behind us and most of the new year still ahead. Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest are full of examples of this kind of project. But in case you missed them, what is a temperature blanket?
The idea behind a temperature blanket is that you record the daily temperature for a whole year in a blanket. You use a range of pre-determined colors to represent each day’s temperature. And at the end of the year, you have a beautiful, colorful blanket. By selecting the yarn, colors, and stitch yourself, each resulting blanket is completely unique.
How do you make a temperature blanket?
Knitting or crocheting a temperature blanket is not difficult. Indeed, you can make your blanket as easy or difficult as your skill level demands. There is no set method or pattern. Simply choose the size and stitch that you like the look of and can master. Let’s get planning!
Step 1: Pick your yarn and colors
What could be more fun that browsing through yarn and color options? Maybe you already have a favorite go-to yarn for blankets that you want to use for your temperature blanket. If that is not the case, we have two recommendations for you: Stylecraft Special DK and Yarn and Colors Amazing. Both of these acrylic yarns are ideal for blankets. They come with a very generous yard length per skein, are very reasonably priced, and are available in loads of different colors.
The number of colors you need depends on your local temperature range and how many degrees you assign to each color. You could use a different color for every degree, but most makers opt for a range of 3 to 5 degrees per color. The smaller the intervals, the more colors you will be able to feature in your blanket. To help you further, here is some color inspiration for your temperature blanket.
Tip: Wrap a strand of each color around a wooden peg and label it with the temperature range for that color. Or make a simple color chart using a piece of cardboard.
Warm
Yarn and Colors Amazing: 009 Limestone – 015 Mustard – 018 Bronze - 021 Sunset – 024 Chestnut - 026 Satay – 029 Burgundy – 089 Gold
Cool
Stylecraft Special DK: 1203 Silver – 1034 Sherbet – 1019 Cloud Blue – 1820 Duck-Egg – 1725 Sage – 1422 Aspen – 1068 Turquoise – 1829 Empire
Pastel
Stylecraft Special DK: 1026 Apricot – 1390 Clematis – 1019 Cloud Blue – 1020 Lemon – 1842 Powder Pink – 1034 Sherbet – 1316 Spring Green – 1432 Wisteria
Bright
Yarn and Colors Amazing: 013 Sunglow – 021 Sunset – 032 Pepper – 049 Fuchsia – 055 Lilac – 072 Glass – 087 Amazon – 102 Marble
Step 2: Choose the stitch for your temperature blanket
After choosing the yarn and colors, it is time to give the temperature blanket shape and decide on the stitch pattern you want to use. The simplest option is to knit or crochet a row a day. All the different colors mean that the blanket will be eye-catching enough without any complicated stitches or design. If you want to knit your blanket, double seed stitch is a great option. Learn how to knit double seed stitch in this blog post. If you are crocheting your temperature blanket, seed stitch is a great option. Other fun alternatives are linen (moss) stitch and zigzag stitch.
If you are looking for more of a challenge, there are plenty of options to choose from. You could crochet a mosaic temperature blanket or use raised stitches to record the names of each month within the pattern. Another interesting option is to crochet a mini granny square each day. Or use the square from this free pattern and change the color of the flower. The possibilities are endless.
Step 3: Crochet a gauge swatch and determine the finished size
Yarn, colors, stitch—check! It is now time for the all-important question: How big do you want your blanket to be? If you plan on knitting or crocheting a row a day, your project will have 365 rows. By making a 10 x 10 cm gauge swatch, you can work out how long 365 rows in your chosen stitch will be. At this point, you might decide to choose a different stitch that is shorter or taller. Don’t forget to swatch again! Then decided how wide you want your blanket to be in relation to its length and use your swatch to calculate how many stitches you need to cast on or set up for the foundation.
Tip: For more details on how to extrapolate the number of rows and stitches you need based on your gauge swatch, read the section ‘Adjusting a pattern’ in this blog post.
Get started on your temperature blanket
Feeling inspired and excited to start your own blanket? Here are some final tips for you:
- For an extra personal touch, add a glitter thread to rows marking special occasions, such as birthdays and anniversaries.
- Have a notebook on hand to record each day’s temperature. That way, even if you do not have time to crochet or knit that day’s row, you still have all the data you need to catch up later.
Temperature Blanket CAL
The popular designer, Rosina Plane, has launched a Temperature CAL in collaboration with Stylecraft that will run throughout 2022. The pattern for this CAL is available to purchase from Rosina’s Ravelry store (in English only), and with it you can crochet a full-size temperature blanket or scale down and make a temperature table runner or scarf. You can find ready-to-go yarn kits with the original Stylecraft yarns in three different colorways in our webshop.
Happy knitting and crochet!
