It isn’t often I get on my high horse about things in the crafting world.   This morning, a comment was made on one of the very large knitting groups on Facebook.   I won’t name the group or the person, but the comment was something to the effect of “I don’t get these temperature blankets.  In my cold climate it would all just be blues and grays, and I don’t like a random mix of colored stripes.”  (paraphrased, of course, but that’s basically what the person said.)

First off, of course, nobody is forced to knit or crochet a Temperature Blanket, so there’s no need to complain about it.

On it’s face, it’s JUST a blanket on which a new row or stripe is added to record the temperature of that day.   That’s all it is.

But (and here’s the fun parts) —  It doesn’t have to be a blanket; it can be a scarf.  Or thigh-high stockings.   It doesn’t have to be horizontal stripes; it can be a Pi shawl, or a square or rectangle blanket started from the center and working out.

And it doesn’t have to be blues-and-grays for cold weather.   Here’s a Google search for temperature blanket color guides.   These are JUST IDEAS, not prescribed or required colors.  It’s your project,  you get to choose the colors for the temperature ranges.  The Craft Police will not come knocking on your door over this.

I will say, however, that because it is intended as a record for the year, it helps to be HONEST about your project.  It is, after all, a record of what happened, so it should be honest.   But it won’t be filed with the government as an “official” document (that’s what the National Weather Service is for), so just be true to the color chart you select.

But read on….

If you’re going to use temperatures, you can break it down into 10-degree ranges, or 5-degree ranges, or something else.  You can use the day’s high temperature, or the low temperature, or both in alternating stripes.   Or with double knitting, you can make one side of the blanket high temperatures, and the other side the low temperatures – but sure to flip colors across the row to lock the sides together, using whatever sequence you wish.    Or, going back to the thigh-high stockings — make one for the high temps and one for the low temps.  🙂

Or what about, instead of temperatures, you make a Mood Blanket?  If you’ve been having a rough time and working on some mental health issues, you can keep track of such things on a blanket.  Nobody else needs to know what meanings you have assigned to the colors.   Here are some ideas for Mood colors:

And, again, this doesn’t have to be a “blanket”, per se.  It can be any sort of project you wish.

For as long as knitting and crochet have been hobbies, there have been trendy craft projects like this.   There are no Craft Police, and no one can judge your work.

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