Why a temperature blanket should be your next creative project

From scrapbooking to journaling, there are many ways to keep a record of the year gone by. But if you're looking for a more unique and abstract method of charting each trip around the sun, you should try a temperature blanket.

Temperature blankets have been growing in popularity among the crochet and knitting communities over the past couple of years. The basic concept is to stitch a row or square based on a colour you've assigned to the corresponding average temperature for the day.

By the end of the year you will end up with a colourful blanket you can actually use, gift or donate, ranging from one end of your colour spectrum and back again.

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There is no limit to the colour palette, style or design you choose to go with. This makes the project suitable for beginners because you can make it as detailed or simple as you like.

And you don't even need to keep your own record of the average temperature each day, week or month because that information is easily found online.

Here's what you need to know:

Choosing colours

To show enough variation in the design, you'll need to select at least four or five colours for your palette. Then assign the colours to temperature ranges.

For example:

But you don't have to be that literal with your colour choices. You could use a neutral colour scheme of whites and browns, or take inspiration from the sunset and use only pink orange and yellow shades.

Design

Temperature blankets are traditionally crocheted or knitted in rows to show the ultimate contrast in the variation, or lack of depending where you live, in the weather.

However, stitching rows can be time consuming and overwhelming if you are making the blanket as a record of daily temperatures. And unless you use a chunky yarn or stitch multiple rows per temperature, crocheting a row for the average weekly temperatures in a year might leave you with a small blanket.

Another option — which is perfect for beginners — is to crochet squares. This way you can crochet one square per week or month and then join them together at the end of the year.

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Squares don't have to be made up of one colour either. You could crochet 12 squares for the year, but have each record the weekly temperature by changing yarn colours for each round.

Whatever design you go with make sure it's one you'll find interesting enough, yet not too hard to pick up at regular intervals throughout the year. It's also handy to choose a pattern that allows you to catch up easily if life gets in the way and you fall behind.

Patterns

For a temperature blanket stitched in rows, you can find plenty of blanket patterns online or you can just use a basic double crochet stitch (known as a single crochet in US terminology) for the entire blanket. Use a tape measure to work out how wide you want your blanket to be, then stitch enough chains to reach that length and start double crocheting across. Turn your work at the end of each row, and change colours as needed.

If you want to do a blanket with multiple granny squares you can find heaps of free patterns online, including this one from LoveCrafts.

You can also use a continuous granny square pattern to make a temperature blanket. Just change yarn colours at the end of each round. You can try this free pattern from Crochetverse here.

Linen squares are another option, which Toni Lipsey from TL Yarn Crafts used for her 2021 temperature blanket. Her pattern is available free here.

If blankets aren't your thing, the same concept can apply to scarves, dishcloths, tea towels or placemats.

Beginner advice

If you are completely new to crochet and want to get started just buy a hook and a ball of wool, then Google 'how to crochet beginners'. You'll find step-by-step guides and amazing YouTube videos.

There are also lots of online and in-person beginner workshops and courses to choose from.

Learning anything new can be tricky so give it plenty of practice before deciding whether to keep going or not.

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