What is a temperature blanket?
If you spend a lot of time on social media, you probably can’t have missed it. Temperature blankets are all the rage. Especially now that the old year has just ended and the new year is still largely ahead of us, you see them popping up all the time on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest, among other places. But what exactly is a temperature blanket?
The idea behind a temperature blanket is that you record the daily temperature throughout the year in a blanket. To do this, you use different colors that you’ve chosen in advance. By the end of the year, you’ll have a beautiful, colorful blanket. Because you choose the yarn, the colors, and the crochet stitches yourself, every blanket is unique.
How do you make a temperature blanket?
Making a temperature blanket isn't difficult. In fact, quite the opposite—you can crochet or knit the blanket entirely at your own skill level. There's no set standard; you choose the shape and stitches that suit your skill level and your taste. Time for a plan of action.
Step 1: Choose your yarn and colors
Browsing through yarns and colors—is there anything more fun than this? Maybe you already have a favorite yarn that you’ll use for this temperature blanket. If not, we have two recommendations for you: Stylecraft Special DK and Yarn and Colors Amazing. Both of these acrylic yarns are perfect for blankets: they have a long length, are very affordably priced, and come in many different colors.
The number of colors you need depends on your temperature scale. You can use a different color for each degree, but most crafters opt for a scale of 3 to 5 degrees. The smaller the scale, the more different colors will appear in your blanket. We’d love to give you some color inspiration for your temperature blanket.
TIP: Wrap a string of each color around a wooden clothespin and write the temperature on it. Or make your own color chart using a simple 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 Clementis – 1019 Cloud Blue – 1020 Lemon – 1842 Powder Pink – 1034 Sherbet – 1316 Spring Green – 1432 Wisteria
Noteworthy
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 heated blanket
After choosing the yarn and colors, we’ll continue designing the temperature blanket. Now it’s time to decide on the stitches and the pattern. The easiest approach is to knit or crochet one row each day. Thanks to the many different colors, the blanket is already an eye-catcher in its own right, so there’s no need to use complicated stitches. If you want to knit the blanket, the garter stitch is a good option. You can read about how to knit the garter stitch in this blog post. If you’re going to crochet the temperature blanket, the garter stitch is also a good option. Fun variations include the granite stitch and the zigzag stitch.
If you’re looking for a bit more of a challenge, there are, of course, plenty of other options to choose from. Some Haaksterrs make a mosaic temperature blanket. Others incorporate the names of the months using raised stitches. Another fun idea is to crochet a small Granny Square every day. Use the square from this free pattern as a base, changing the color of the flower. The possibilities are endless.
Step 3: Crochet a gauge swatch and determine the size
Yarn, color, knitting or crochet stitch: check! Now let’s move on to the size of your temperature blanket. If you knit or crochet one row every day, your blanket will be 365 rows tall. By making a 10x10 cm gauge swatch, you can calculate how long the blanket will be. Next, decide on a width that works well with that length and calculate how many stitches you’ll need to cast on.
Tip: Calculate how much yarn you'll need using this handy formula from Suzanne.
Getting Started with Your Heated Blanket
Feeling inspired and ready to get started? We have some helpful Tips and fun variations for you:
- Make your temperature blanket even more personal by adding a strand of glitter yarn to the row on special days (such as Birthdays and anniversaries).
- Did you miss a day's temperature? You can easily find the temperatures at https://weerstatistieken.nl/. This is also handy if you're starting a little later than January 1, or if you want to crochet or knit a temperature blanket for a year that's special to you.
Temperature Blanket CAL
Popular designer Rosina Plane launched the Temperature CAL for 2022 in collaboration with Stylecraft. During this CAL, you can use Rosina’s pattern—available on Ravelry (in English only!)—to crochet a temperature blanket, or scale it down a bit and crochet a table runner or scarf. The ready-to-go Yarn Kits featuring original Stylecraft yarns in three different colorways are, of course, available in our online store.
Have fun knitting and crocheting!
