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| The whole 2018 blanket! |
***Edited to say that when you the sc rows, you should do the st thru the front loop only (flo). That's what gives the ridged look on the back side.***
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| Back side detail showing ridges created by alternating sc with sl st rows |
**Intro**
Here is my version of a temperature blanket. It's not so much a pattern, more like my notes. ;)
I wanted a pattern that wouldn't end up to be 10 feet long! I also wanted my blanket to be soft, not stiff, and have a good drape. I think I came up with a good solution. I adapted a standard temperature blanket pattern to fit my needs, and maybe it will help fit yours, too.
Most temperature blanket patterns are repeated rows of sc, but when I swatched it with an H hook, I estimated that it would be 10' long for a whole year using worsted yarn! So, I decided to alternate a row of sc with a row of sl st. It also adds a nice ridged pattern on one side. My blanket ended up being about 6' long...perfect for covering me while sitting on the couch. I made my blanket 240 st wide, which ended up being about 57". Final measurements: ~57"x72"
**Yarn**
I bought 1 skein in worsted of each of my colors on my chart to start, then replaced them as needed. 1 color (for my coldest temp) I didn't ever use! It never got below 16 degrees as a high here. I started with Lion Brand Vanna's Choice solids, but as some colors got discontinued thru the year, I had to replace them with Loops & Threads Impeccable solids, or Premier Everyday solids. The colors weren't exactly the same, but close enough. Besides, since there are so many stripes, it doesn't make much difference. However, if you want to have the same colors thru the year, then I suggest you buy enough yarn at the beginning of your project. You probably will only need 1 skein each of your 2 coldest and 2 warmest colors, depending on where you live. I used the most yarn in colors in the middle of my chart. Specifically, in the 51-64 deg range. So I would buy a few skeins of each color for those ranges, and a couple of each in the colors on either side of your middle. YMMV, depending on the temps where you live. I estimate that I bought between 22-25 skeins total, but only fully used about 10-12 of them. I have lots of partial skeins left.
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| My temperature chart |
All the yarns on the chart are Vanna's Choice, but some are discontinued now. I used mainly a 7-degree range, because I wanted to have lots of color changes. You could easily do a 10-degree range, or a 5-degree range. A larger range will require fewer different colors, while a smaller range will require more. You may notice that my chart has a space for snow with white yarn. I thought about using white yarn on days where it snowed, but decided not to as I didn't want to have white stripes in the blanket. Instead, I elected to hold white sewing thread along with the day's yarn to mark snow days. You can see it in one of the detail photos. You could elect to use white yarn for snow days, though!
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| Front detail showing the white thread for a snow day |
I used this site to track the day's high temps: https://www.timeanddate.com/weather/usa/denver/historic
Using Denver as an example, it has historical data for the day's temps, which is great, so you can catch up on any days you miss.
**Last Advice**
Weave in ends as you go! If you don't want to do them daily, spend a couple of hours at the end of each month weaving in that month's ends. You will thank yourself later!
**Materials**
worsted weight yarn in as many colors as are in your color chart (I used ~3700 yds total)
H (5.0mm) hook
yarn needle
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| Cute kitty |
**Pattern**
Here are the instructions for the blanket I made:
Using first color, ch 241 st
Row 1: sc flo (front loop only) into 2nd ch from hook, sc all the way across row, turn
Row 2: change color of yarn if needed. sl st all the way across row
Weave in all ends.
Repeat rows 1 & 2 until your year or timeframe is up.
Change color to chosen border color. sc all around blanket. Weave in ends and enjoy!
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| Border detail |
