2020 Temperature Fun

[Char]

You know - things always start with a friend who says “have you ever”.....

Have you ever made a temperature blanket? Knit? Crochet? Quilted? Woven?

Anyone want to make one along with me? I have seen rainbow ones but I am thinking about doing different colors for mine. I am thinking I will crochet one, maybe a corner to corner?

There was one I saw that was 12 large squares, each 30 rows. That was pretty cool too. Then it wouldn’t be too warm to work on in the summer. Hmmm...

[Jenny Hardebeck]

You know, sometimes friends do have great ideas This blanket could have all kinds of possibilities. The colors you use and the stitch you use. It also would depend on your climate. I’m in! I think I’m going to try a row by row

[Char]

Yay!!!! I can’t wait to see what colors you pick!

[lovestostitch]

Char - we need some pictures!

[Char]

lovestostitch - I have never made one, and I have been looking for a picture from a site I that has given permission to share and I can’t find one.

However, if you google temperature blanket or temperature afghan you’ll find a slew of photos. The possibilities are truly endless!

[lovestostitch]

Char - I'm not going to look! You will not lure me into this project. I do not need another blanket! We need a fun one skein shawlette/scarf MAL. I don't need another one of those either but I love knitting them and I wear them all the time in the winter. I have my sock wardrobe and my scarf wardrobe.

[Char]

lovestostitch - how about a temperature scarf - as seen below in crosstitchlinda ‘s post?

[knitter131]

I didn’t know what a temperature blanket was, I don’t recall ever hearing about it. My online surfing showed me all about them. I wonder if I could do it for a scarf or wrap instead of a blanket....... hhhmmmm

[FreedomLover]

I like the idea of a scarf!

[knitter131]

An Afghan becomes too large for me to handle. And I’d like to keep my colors to one skein of each. I hope to make two or three simultaneously.
I will begin on December 1st so they are finished in time for Christmas gifts next year. Anyone with me to begin then????

[Char]

knitter131 - I am ordering yarn now - I'm excited to start too!!!

[crosstitchlinda]

I have done two scarves in the past, the second one I really went wild (or crazy, you pick) and spun half of the yarn for it and double knit it with daily highs on one side and lows on the other. The scarves became very long. I'll try and post pictures.

[Char]

Wow!!! Those are awesome!!!

[knitter131]

crosstitchlinda, they are beautiful! What pattern or stitch did you use? And how long was your scarf ?

[crosstitchlinda]

knitter131 No real pattern, just cast on the desired # of stitches and went from there. There is a recipe on R by Cindy Kuo designs. She used the weather temp charts for the colors and cast on 35 stitches with dk yarn.
My first scarf is garter stitch using average daily temp (picture on left). The second scarf was 2 rows SS double knit, highs on one side and lows on the other. Both scarves are well over 6 feet long. I'll have to dig them out and measure them.
Last year when I was on the playground every day (here in IN) they kept me nice and warm.

[Char]

lovestostitch - feel free to start a one skein shawl make along - I would make with you for sure!!!

here’s a start on patterns:

https://intheloopknitting.com/one-sk...ting-patterns/

[lovestostitch]

Thanks. I'm going to look through those - after my walk. It's a nice day and we are headed to the forest preserve to walk off the donut we had this morning. It was my husband's reward for joining me for our one Black Friday shopping trip. He is not a shopper! We went to the hardware store for a new Shop Vac and then stopped for donuts.

[lovestostitch]

Char - the only one I really liked on that list was Close To You and I've already knit it a bunch of times. I'm also on Knitting Paradise and I got some great suggestions from some of the knitters there. I'll make a shawl thread.

[Char]

I have a friend who has a very craft worthy family. I remember making a silly, mismatched, I thought it looked terrible baby blanket and she begged me for it. I made her (then 7 or 8 year old) son some fun frog head slippers when she had her baby (didn’t want him to be left out). She reported back he wore them until he was about 14 and just couldn’t put them on any more. She regularly tells me how much they love all of their hand made gifts.

Her daughter, the one who had a beautiful blanket as well as an ugly one, is graduating this year. I decided to make her a senior year Temperature blanket. I did some research, wisked myself over to the store for the perfect yarn, found out what days she was in session... then made a spreadsheet, scheduled out her school days in session, temps so far this year (thank you weather underground), color coded yarn card in hand. Time to get to work.

I got home last night with yarn around 7:45. Crocheted a swatch. I decided to make it a corner to corner blanket. Calculated desired dimensions, figured out how many blocks I needed for each day, and got started. Crocheted until 11:15 last night, and here I am at 4:45 - can’t sleep because I want to work on it more.

[knitter131]

Char, that sounds like such a unique gift for her. Your color choices are very nice, and it’s so cool that she is knit-worthy!

[FreedomLover]

I love this idea! What a thoughtful present this will be.

[Char]

Here’s the start of my Senior Year Temperature blanket - I am through 11/1, so almost caught up, and my ends are all tucked in (except the last one).

[Char]

So - I kinda geeked out on the math a bit. I figured out I need 26 “squares” for each day. When I have 50 stitches along the edge (I’m almost there) I’ll go into rectangle mode. So - the smaller strip is 26, a very long one might be 104 (four days same approx temp). This young lady is in Texas - so a lot of hotter days at the beginning of the school year.

Does this make sense lovestostitch ?

I would add it seems if you do one row of double crochet for each day, you could end up with a very long blanket. With this corner to corner method, I was able to calculate how many stitches in each day based on dimensions and number of school days. :-)

[knitter131]

I never realized how important math is when doing knitting or crochet. 🧶🧶🧶

[Char]

knitter131 just another layer of fun for me.

[lovestostitch]

Char - I think I expected to see stripes so the patterning in the corner to corner blanket confused me. I did look it up to understand it better and found two good websites - one for corner to corner and one for straight lines. I think my mind relates more easily to the straight lines but the corner to corner makes a more colorful, artistic look.

Corner to corner:
http://deenascraftcorner.com/

Straight lines:
https://thecrochetcrowd.com/crochet-...ature-afghans/

[Char]

lovestostitch I was working things out mentally, and realized quickly that a double crochet blanket was going to be huge. So - 180 school days. Pretend your double crochet is 1/2" - that makes a 7.5 FOOT long blanket. That is just doing school days only. Can you imagine a year long blanket? My double crochets are actually closer to 3/4" - making the blanket over 10 feet long.

I really didn't want to go to single crochets. I saw a similar corner to corner as the one you show on your post - maybe the same one? - and decided this is how I would go since I could control the size much easier. And it makes it a more interesting look for sure.

Now I am just hoping it turns out ok. The colors look a little wonky now, I am hoping it looks much better when it's done.

[lovestostitch]

After seeing that other one done corner to corner, I'm sure your colors will look great when it is all done. Did you say the recipient lives in TX? Temperature blankets would really be different in TX vs Indiana. A TX version would have a looong stretch of the over 90 degree color!

[Char]

Kind of - or you can adjust your temperatures accordingly....

Here in the Midwest, you might have 12 colors (as I have) but they might span 10 degrees (one for below zero, one for above 100.

For Texas, I did a little research and decided to do 5 degree increments - one for above 95 (the burgundy in the tip / corner) one for 45 and under (the light grey) and five degree steps in between. So far it looks like I’ll need an extra skein or the 81-85 degrees and the 91-95 degrees. Everything else I think I’ll be set with. :-)

[Char]

lovestostitch in hindsite I think I should have organized my colors differently. Instead of (close to) ROYGBIV I should have organized ... I don’t know something else.

[Char]

I ordered some DK solids in a rainbow of colors. They should be here any minute!!! 😁😁

[Char]

Last night I got caught up on my Senior Year temperature blanket. I had the week before Christmas Vacation and last week to do, so it wasn’t too bad. My plan is to tuck in ends this evening and be ready for the week to come.

[Char]

I am also planning out my 2020 blanket - I think I am going to do one block per month. Debating on if I want to count a month as “30 days” and adjust accordingly or reconfigure each month to be the same size, therefore each day’s crochet will be a different amount of stitches.

Oh the possibilities!!! Thoughts?

[knitter131]

Aaahhh, my Daughter the accountant! You love the numbers, so go for it! 💗💗

[Kathy7661]

I won't be joining in this MAL but I will be watching with interest. I saw this YouTube video today and thought it may help those of you participating. Good luck with your blankets!
https://youtu.be/Th9JdgO9XQs

[Kathy7661]

Char Oh, I love the idea of weaving a temperature blanket!!! Thank you!

[Char]

Kathy7661 - you are welcome! I hope you decide to do it and share pictures

[chrisz]

I'm watching with interest too. Yes I will be interested to see pics and plans for this. Good luck!