Making Progress: Updates on My Temperature Blanket Knitting Project
I started knitting my temperature blanket last month and it has quickly become one of my all-time favorite knitting projects. There’s something intriguing about making a plan to knit a blanket and picking a set of 14 yarn colors… and then letting the ever changing daily high temperatures determine the arrangement of the yarn colors. I’m thrilled with the results!
In this blog post I am sharing updates on my first temperature blanket knitting project. Since I’m using last year’s weather data (2022) I’ve been able to make a lot of progress on my blanket. See photos below!
APRIL 2023 UPDATE: My temperature blanket is done! See all the step-by-step progress photos below along with lots of notes. You can also see this project and notes on my Ravelry project page.
I finished making my 2022 temperature blanket on April 5, 2023. It took me a little less than three months to complete the project. I love how it turned out!
THE PLAN FOR MY TEMPERATURE BLANKET KNITTING PROJECT
In case you missed my previous blog post… here’s a little look at the plan for my blanket.
BLANKET DESIGN: I’m knitting a garter stitch blanket in three panels that will be seamed together. Each panel is 15” wide. The high temperature for each day of 2022 is represented by 4 rows of garter stitch (2 garter ridges). Click here to get detailed instructions.
BLANKET SIZE: Approximately 45” wide x 58” long.
KNITTING NEEDLES: Knitters Pride Nova Platina US 8 circular knitting needles
WORSTED #4 WEIGHT YARN: One skein each of 14 colorways in Berroco Vintage worsted yarn. Each skein has 218 yards for a total of 3,052 yards. One skein is enough yarn to knit approximately 31 days with my blanket knitting pattern. Each day of knitting (4 rows of garter stitch) requires about 7 yards of yarn.
YARN COLORS: Berroco Vintage in Black Cherry, Pumpkin, Marmalade, Butternut, Rye, Smoke, Overcast, Sage, Twilight, Breezeway, Jalapeno, Acai, Douglas Fir and Charcoal.
LOCATION: Kansas City in the center of the U.S.
YEAR: I’m using the daily high temperatures for last year… 2022.
TEMPERATURE CATEGORIES: Last year in Kansas City, approximately half the days had a high temperature of 70° F. or above. In order to use each of the 14 yarn colors in a balanced way, I made my temperature categories “uneven”. Warm temperature ranges are 3 - 5° and less frequent cooler days have 6° or more ranges. Click here to get more details about researching daily temperatures and selecting temperature categories.
MORE DETAILS: Click here to get lots more details and the FREE knitting pattern instructions.
This is my yarn color card for my 2022 Temperature Blanket. All of the yarn colors are Berroco Vintage worsted yarn. Click here to download my FREE Temperature Blanket Color Card PDF. Print it on card stock, punch holes, fill in all the details for your temperature blanket project, and add pieces of yarn. I used two 8” pieces of yarn for each color.
UPDATES ON MY TEMPERATURE BLANKET KNITTING PROJECT
January 23, 2023: My 2022 Temperature Blanket is on the needles! I’m using the weather data from last year to knit a blanket in three panels that will be seamed together. On January 16th, I started with Panel #1… knitting 4 rows of garter stitch for each day.
In this photo, my blanket shows the knitting for the temperatures for January 1st (at the bottom of the photo) through February 9th (on the needles). In that 40 day span the high temperatures ranged from 15° F. to 65° F. Winter temperatures in Kansas City can vary quite a bit so I have already used many of my yarn colors!
The Berroco Vintage yarn colors shown in this photo are: Charcoal, Douglas Fir, Acai (dark blue), Jalapeno, Breezeway and Twilight.
January 27, 2023: At this point in the project, 76 days of 2022 high temperatures are represented using nine yarn colorways. The high temperatures from January 1st (cast on edge) through March 17th (on the needles) ranged from 15° F. to 84° F.
FEBRUARY 4, 2023: Panel #1 of my temperature blanket is done! I love how it looks! The first 122 days of 2022 are represented in this panel: January 1st through May 2nd.
The first “hot” day in Kansas City in 2022 had a high temperature of 86° on April 12th. That day stands out in the yellow colorway (Butternut).
February 9, 2023: I started knitting Panel #2 on February 5th while we were on a long road trip. After working on it for several days, Panel #2 illustrates temperatures for May 3, 2022 through June 20, 2022.
Now that I’m working on late spring and early summer dates, I’m using the warm colorways more often. There is a large section of the 'Pumpkin' colorway on the needles representing five days of high temperatures ranging from 93 to 95° F.
Now that we are back home, I’m using a flat, rectangular basket to keep my yarn organized. It’s easy to see all the yarn and quickly grab the next yarn color needed for my temperature blanket knitting.
The Berroco Vintage yarn colors shown in this photo are (starting with the yellow on the left and working clockwise): Butternut, Rye, Smoke, Overcast, Black Cherry, Pumpkin and Marmalade.
FEBRUARY 11, 2023: The photo below shows Panel #2 in progress representing the high temperature for each day from May 3, 2022 through July 1, 2022.
Hot days stand out in the warm colorways of Berroco Vintage: Butternut (86 - 88°), Marmalade (89 - 92°), Pumpkin (93 - 97°) and Black Cherry (98° & above).
I love how the yellow shades look next to the calm neutrals: Overcast (73 - 77°), Smoke (79 - 82°) and Rye (83 - 85°).
FEBRUARY 25, 2023: Panel #2 of my temperature blanket is done. This panel represents the daily high temperature for May 3, 2022 through September 1, 2022.
Lots of hot summer days are represented in the warm colorways. Nine days had high temperatures of 98° F. or above and are shown in the Black Cherry colorway. On three of those days, the high temperature was 100° F. or warmer.
MARCH 11, 2023: A rainy day is a good day to get caught up on posting updates of my temperature blanket project! I started working on Panel #3 on February 24, 2023.
So far, this panel represents the daily high temperature for September 2, 2022 (cast on edge) through October 26, 2022 (on the needle). There were several very warm days in September including a high of 99° F. on both September 19th and 20th… shown in the ‘Black Cherry’ deep red colorway.
Since I’m now working on day #300 of this 365 day project, I have completed 82% of the project. It’s fun to see how each panel is unique. I’m looking forward to piecing them all together soon!
March 20, 2023: Panel #3 is coming along… finally! I had a set-back on this panel last week when I realized that I had used the darker blue yarn color (Acai - representing 40 - 47° F. ) instead of the lighter blue colorway (Twilight - representing 63 - 67° F. ) in four locations that represented the high temperature for four days. Basically, I grabbed the wrong color of blue not just once… but four times.
I can now see in the photo above that the stitches on the needle are the first occurrence of my error… using the Acai colorway instead of Twilight. All of the yarn colors are Berroco Vintage worsted yarn.
To correct the mistake, I ended up ripping out about 9” of my project… 72 rows! Reknitting all those 72 rows took me a couple days but I’m glad I took the time to correct my mistake. If I had not, I would have run out of the darker blue colorway (Acai) before completing the project. And, the blanket would not have been an accurate visual representation of the daily high temperatures for 2022.
In the photo below, Panel #3 represents the daily high temperature for September 2, 2022 (cast on edge) through November 30, 2022 (on the needle). Only one more month to complete!
The photo below shows a closer view of the gray, blue and green colorways representing cooler days in late October through the end of November 2022.
Berroco Vintage worsted yarn colors shown here include: Butternut (mustard yellow), Rye (light sand), Smoke (lighter gray), Overcast (darker gray), Sage (soft grayish green), Twilight (lighter denim blue), Breezeway (blueish teal), Jalapeno (greenish teal), Acai (darker blue), Douglas Fir (dark forest green) and Charcoal (dark gray).
My favorite flat, rectangular basket has been a great way to keep all the yarn colors visible and easy to access. Yes… it's now a bit of a mess! There are only a few yards left of a couple colorways since I’m nearing the end of this big project.
In case you are wondering… I purchased this basket years ago at Ten Thousand Villages. I use it all the time for entertaining or holding yarn!
MARCH 26, 2023: Panel #3 is finished! It represents the daily high temperature for September 2, 2022 through December 31, 2022.
All colorways were used in this panel. The daily high temperatures ranged from 11° F. on December 23rd up to 99° F. on September 19th & 20th.
The plan for this blanket is for each panel to represent 122 days (366 days divided by 3). However, 2022 was not a leap year and had 365 days. I knit four extra rows (representing one day) using ‘Douglas Fir’ in the mid-December portion of Panel #3. Doing this makes Panel #3 the same length as Panels #1 and #2.
Here’s a look at my leftover yarn. There’s only a few yards left of a couple colorways. I highly recommend using a basket or tray to hold all the yarn colors in one place while working on the project.
It’s a great feeling to have finished knitting all three panels for this temperature blanket. Now… there’s a some ends to weave in on the back of the blanket. I have been working on weaving in the ends when I have a few minutes here and there. Then, I’ll seam the three panels together. I’ll share photos of this process and the finished blanket… hopefully very soon!
MARCH 27 - 29, 2023: Weaving in lots of ends! Yes… it took a while to weave in the ends on the back of the blanket. But, not nearly as long as it took to knit the entire blanket! When I was knitting, I did weave in the new yarn on the back of the knitting as I worked the first few stitches in the row.
While I worked on this task, I started listening to the audio book of The Dutch House by Ann Patchett and narrated by Tom Hanks. I read this excellent book about a year ago but I’m thoroughly enjoying the audiobook as well. Available on Amazon or Bookshop.org.
To weave in a loose yarn end, first thread the tapestry needle with one “tail” or piece of yarn on the project. Then, evaluate the best place to weave in that yarn color. Of course, the ends will be most hidden when weaving in across the matching yarn color.
Weaving in the ends on the back of my garter stitch temperature blanket.
A close up look at weaving in the ends of yarn… one stitch at a time.
To create some tension between the fibers, it’s helpful to occasionally thread the needle through the yarn of the stitches.
I worked across about 2 - 3” of stitches and then snipped the yarn leaving about 1/4” of yarn. Then, I used the tip of the tapestry needle to “fray” (separate the strands of yarn) the 1/4” of yarn to help keep it from slipping out.
APRIL 1, 2023: I blocked each of the three panels. Blocking really made a difference in the appearance! Click here to see my step-by-step tips for wet blocking a blanket project.
APRIL 3, 2023: Before stitching up the two seams, I basted the panels together… counting 20 garter stitch ridges between each basting point. I used 8” pieces of yarn and a tapestry needle to baste the panels together. These pieces of yarn are temporary and make it easier to stay on track when stitching up the seams.
I used the mattress stitch technique to stitch up the seams:
With right side of knitting facing and starting at top of blanket, sew up seam between Panels 1 and 2 using a tapestry needle and an 18” piece of yarn. I used one of the gray colorways for stitching up the seams.
Feed tapestry needle through edge stitches one at a time, alternating from one panel to the other. See photos and notes below for more specific details!
Note that on the left panel I fed the needle through the “lower bump” of the garter stitch on the edge of the knitting.
Note that on the right panel, I fed the needle through the “top bump” closest to the edge of the knitting. Being consistent in seaming each stitch makes a huge impact on the final appearance.
With the mattress stitch technique and careful attention to detail, the yarn used for seaming will not be visible when finished.
Remove basting yarns as complete each section. Weave in ends on wrong side of blanket working horizontally across 2 - 3” of garter stitch ridge. Use same technique to seam Panels 2 and 3 together.
APRIL 5, 2023: My first temperature blanket project is finished! I love how it turned out!
The panels are arranged from left to right to illustrate the daily high temperatures for 2022. Panel #1 (left) starts at the top (upper left in photo) with January 1st. Panel #2 represents the warm spring to summer months with May 3, 2022 through September 1, 2022. Panel #3 (right) is the only panel that includes all 14 yarn colors. It starts at the top (upper right in photo) with September 2nd and ends at the bottom with December 31, 2022.
TEMPERATURE COLOR CARD & CHECKLIST:
Below is a photo of my temperature blanket yarn color card and my checklist for the daily high temperatures for last year.
I found the data for last year’s high temperatures for Kansas City on the National Weather Service website. Then, I copied and pasted each month of data to one spreadsheet… compiling 365 days of daily temperatures. I added columns for the day of the year, a place to write in the yarn color name and a check box for when I complete the knitting. You can also hand write the temperature data using my free temperature blanket planner.
GET THE FREE TEMPERATURE BLANKET PLANNER: Click here to download my free Temperature Blanket Planner PDF printable.
GET THE FREE YARN COLOR CARD: Click here to download my FREE Temperature Blanket Yarn Color Card PDF printable.
Looking for more details on how to knit a temperature blanket?
Click here to see my blog post about planning a temperature blanket including yarn suggestions, researching temperature data, and much more!
Click here to get the FREE knitting pattern and all the details on how I am knitting my temperature blanket.
These were my five best selling blanket knitting patterns in 2022. Click here to see all of my knitting patterns.
Sign up for my Fifty Four Ten Studio newsletter! Click here to sign up. Expect to receive one or two newsletter emails per month. (I do not share email addresses with any other person or business.)
Here are links to a couple of newsletters from 2022.
December 2022 - My best selling patterns of the year.
February 2022 - Knitting for little ones.
Thanks so much for following along on my temperature blanket knitting adventure! It’s fun to see how the sometimes dramatic swings in high temperature that we experience in Kansas City are making for an interesting temperature blanket knitting project.
I’ll add more updates as the knitting progresses.
Happy knitting!
