At the beginning of last year, I succumbed to the temptation to join in with making a 2020 temperature blanket. I have seen them floating around in blogs and Instagram posts for a while now but never caught the bait. That was until the start of 202 when I spotted the one created by Knitalieco on Ravelry. At that moment, I ordered a load of yarn.
What is a temperature blanket?
I will admit that this floated around in my had numerous times before I finally found something on the vast interweb that was understandable. There seems to be a lot of weird cryptic ways in which people describe them. So I hope I can do you a service and explain it in layman’s terms.
A temperature blanket is a blanket made to a certain time frame (such as a year, like I am doing for 2020) where you crochet or knit one row per day. The colour of that row is determined by the temperature for that day. The colours are pre-determined for bands of temperature and you select it depending on the temperature for the day. For my blanket, I am doing every day for 2020. The colours are added in four-degree bands with the chosen colours next to them. I am making two blankets, one for the high temperature and one for the low temperature. This one is the ‘high’ one.
The white sections in my blanket show the divide between the months. Some people do this and others choose not to. I liked it because it gave me a break in stitch and will also match the edging I will do when I finish the blanket.
Excuse the kitten chewed diary!
Recording the temperatures
I started the year in full force after starting my blanket well after the first of January. Once I caught up, I would do a row on each blanket each day. This was all great until the weather started to hot up and I had to concede to the fact that it would be far too hot to sit beneath a woolly blanket each evening. I purchased a diary so that I could record the temperature each day and keep everything (including my colour chart) in one place. This way, I have been able to keep noting down my temperatures even when I haven’t been actively making the blanket.
Frodo has given it his full approval!
Productive relaxation
I am a big fan of yarn crafts. Actually, a fan of crafts and hobbies in general. I learned to knit when I was about five years old when I got my first knitting kit from my Nana. Growing up around knitters I was keen to develop from finger knitting to the real deal. After getting to grips with the basics, I was soon to start a knitting club in school to make squares for blankets for people in need. I think it was a sign of things to come really.
Having spent most of my childhood and teens in handknitted clothing, I have always seen it as productive relaxation. You relax and enjoy doing a craft, but get something practical at the end of it. Like crocheting this blanket. On a side note, crochet wasn’t my thing until about ten years ago. I hated it! I couldn’t get my head around the hook side of things, much to the pain and persistence of my Nana and Mum trying to teach me.
While we are in ever-changing forms of lockdown and restrictions, having a long-term project or hobby can be a wonderful way to while away some of the time. Especially if you can make it a part of your productive relaxation.
Stitching away
I had promised (loosely!) that I would share my progress with my blanket over on my social media, so I am placing this here as a kind of promise that I will update. Be it here or over on Twitter or Instagram. Head on over if you fancy seeing things grow. I also offer you this metaphorical knitting needle to poke me with if I forget!
Have you ever made a temperature blanket? Would you be tempted to try?
Are you a fan of productive relaxation or craft in general?
Let me know in the comments, I’d love to chat crafts with you!
