Hey Dearies! We have finally come to the end of our first month for our temperature blanket! I know you all have been waiting to see what it has started to look like, but if you are on my Facebook page, I post daily updates of what square was for each day!
Anyway, since I live in Maine, the temperature hasn’t been very high, the only high temp we were lucky to get was in the 50’s, and that was only for one day! I will also add the yarn and color of what I am using for each temperature, just in case you didn’t remember what colors I am currently going to be using!
Also, the way I am sewing them together is with a single crochet stitch. I wanted to give it a try, but this month wasn’t completely perfect, although, February should be a little better!
Now, for each month, I will be taking a picture by itself, and then connecting it to the previous month, but since this is the first month of our temperature blanket, we don’t have to worry about that until next month.
Temperature Key:
100 degrees – Fire Red (I Love This Yarn) 90 degrees – Pumpkin (Red Heart Super Saver) 80 degrees – Bright Yellow (Red Heart Super Saver) 70 degrees – Jelly Bean (I Love This Yarn) 60 degrees – Green (Main Stays Basic Yarn) 50 degrees – Turqia (Red Hear Super Saver) 40 degrees – Soft Blue (I Love This Yarn) 30 degrees – Dark Orchid (Red Heart Super Saver) 20 degrees – Orchid (I Love This Yarn) 10 and below – Light Gray (I Love This Yarn)
Here is the month for January:
First month of the 2019 temperature blanket. The entire month of January.
How do you tell which color to use?
I, personally, go with the overall temperature. So, let’s go by today, for example.
Today in Maine, the overall temperature is 17 degrees. I would chose the light gray.
Let’s say that it was an overall temperature of 22 degrees, I would chose the Orchid color. All my temperatures, for my colored yarn, has to have the same number first number. If that makes any sense, I’m sorry if it doesn’t!
What was the highest temperature for this month?
We actually reached 50 degrees! For Mainers, such as myself, days like that is considered Spring, but sadly, it didn’t last long. That is why you will see another color that stands out from the rest, that was when we had that one say of nice weather.
What was the lowest temperature for this month?
Well, we reach single digits, but the way my temperature blanket is set up, we can’t really tell, other than it would be a light gray square!
Do you post daily updates?
Yes, I do. On my Facebook page, I post a picture of the square for each day. I also tried to post every week’s worth, but it was hard to keep track of, so I’ll be posting monthly and daily instead.
If you haven’t liked my Facebook Page, here is the link below! It keeps you posted and updated on my temperature blanket and any updates for my blog and YouTube channel, as well!
Hey dearies! 2019 is just around the corner and as I have mentioned, I want to make a temperature blanket for 2019. I wanted to talk more into what a temperature blanket is and what you need for it.
So, for my temperature blanket, I will updating you on what it looks like at the end of every month, rather than posting every square a day, I figured it would be easier to post on what it looks like at the even of every month. However, I will be posting a square a day on my Facebook Page.
Let’s talk about some questions I have gotten on my Facebook page about the temperature blanket is.
What is a Temperature Blanket?
A temperature blanket is a blanket in which you crochet a square a day, in a color, based on the temperature of what it was that day. The picture below is an example that someone used as their ‘guide’, for their temperature blanket:
This is just a simple chart, but there is a color that represents every temperature. You don’t have to crochet a square a day, you can do whatever you want to do! I’ll be crocheting a solid granny square a day, but you can crochet a row a day, or crochet a different design a day, whatever you would like to try!
You can even do it with one color, but start from the darkest color, and work your way down to the lightest or whitest color. Here is another example:
As you see here, this person used a ‘purple’ as their base color for this project, which you could do for any and all types of colors. The rainbow theme, for a temperature blanket, is more common because when it all get’s put together, it’s amazing to see what they look like.
Best part about seeing these blankets, is that the temperature isn’t the same everywhere you are from. I’m from Maine, and it doesn’t stay in the same temperature all year long. So, we will see a little bit of every color, that I have planned.
Do you have to use the same yarn?
Not at all! Most people use their leftover yarn that is just sitting in their closet. Or, if you are like me, I go out and buy whatever colors I don’t have and go from there.
There also isn’t a brand that you have to stick with either. Whatever yarn you have hanging around, that follows the key, will work! Even if they aren’t all from the same brand.
I’ll be using mostly I Love This Yarn, because it’s one of my favorite brands to use, but their yarn can be rather pricey! I do have a few other types of yarn that aren’t the same brand. Usually, I stick with a brand, when it comes to a project, but this being my first time making it, I’ll be using what I have from my yarn stash.
What colors are you doing for this blanket?
I know a lot of people are wondering what colors I will be using for this blanket. Since this is my very first temperature blanket, I will be doing the ‘rainbow’ color key for this project. So, here is the colors I will be using:
100 degrees – Fire Red
I Love This Yarn
90 degrees – Pumpkin
Red Heart Super Saver
80 degrees – Bright Yellow
Red Heart Super Saver
70 degrees – Jelly Bean
I Love This Yarn
60 degrees – Green
Main Stays Basic Yarn
50 degrees – Turqia
Red Hear Super Saver
40 degrees – Soft Blue
I Love This Yarn
30 degrees – Dark Orchid
Red Heart Super Saver
20 degrees – Orchid
I Love This Yarn
10 and below – Light Gray
I Love This Yarn
This is the line up of what colors I will be using for my temperature blanket for 2019! I included the brand, just in case any of you would like to follow me in making this blanket as well!
Do you have to wait until the beginning of the year to start?
Nope! You can start one when ever you would like! A lot of people I know like to start from the beginning of the year to the end of the year, just to see what it would look like, too!
Another option you can do, is if you are a faster crocheter and want to blanket from, let’s say 2015, you can always use Google to search for what temperatures it was during that year from where you live. It might be a little hard to find, but it would be amazing to see what each year turned out to me.
If you are looking for a later year, Google might not have the information for later years, but if you are a newspaper collector, you might have more luck!
How are you joining your squares?
So, I have learned and watched quite a bit of videos on how to sew together squares and I have two in mind:
Single crochet the squares together
Now, this wouldn’t require a sewing needle at all! Basically, you would put your squares back to back and single crochet the seems together. It’s simple for beginners and you would have sort of have two blankets in one.
This is a stitch that I LOVE to use because of the fact it hides how you stitched it together. I’ve used it multiple times and it is one of my favorites!
Not sure which one I am going to use, but I will show you how to do one of them, when I go live on my Facebook Page.
Do you have to make squares?
Not at all! You can do squares, hexagons, circles, rectangles, rows, and etc. Be creative and try to do a temperature that you think would be amazing.
If you are a beginner, I would start out with squares. You don’t have to do a solid granny square, like I am going to do. A lot of people use a granny square for this type of project, but I like my squares completely squared.
What do they look like?
Well, here are some examples! If you wish to make one of these, for your own collection, keep a look out on my Facebook Page for more details for how to follow along!
This isn’t exactly a temperature blanket, but I wanted to show an example that you can make them in just simple long rows. This is a square temperature blanket, but it is a different design from the original granny square. This one was made with hexagons. Like I said, you can make them using pretty much any time of shape.Another great design, this one looks like they did two types of temperatures, one in the morning and one at night.
I will be doing monthly updates, as well, on my blog to show the progress of each month, but I’ll be doing a weekly and daily update for my blanket on my Facebook page!
Happy Tuesday to all my crafters! Today, I’m going to take you step-by-step on how to loom knit a basic scarf. I’m going to break it down, just in case some others go way too fast.
Now, I am going to be using a solid blue color yarn, I figured using a plan color would be easier to focus on. I’m also using a medium size yarn, which is a basic yarn that you would get from the craft store.
If you don’t have a looming set or kit, you can buy them on Amazon, Walmart, or your local craft store. The one I have is the KB Tadpole Loom, I got this from either Walmart or Kmart. It comes with the loom set and a little booklet, that shows you how to 8 different thinks with the loom.
So, first thing is first, we need to create a slip knot. Now, if you don’t know what a slip knot is, that’s okay because I am going to explain it too you. A slip knot is a basic knot that is used for knitting, crocheting, looming, etc, projects. I basically holds the start of your work together.
A lot of people do a slip knot differently, you don’t have to do it my way, but I would look on how other’s make a slip knot and choose whatever makes you comfortable. Here is a quick visual on how I make a slip knot:
Find the start of your yarn and hold on to it. I have used this yarn before, as you can see. If you are using a brand new yarn, you can either find the start of it by grabbing the middle string, that might be sticking out, or look around the yarn and see if you can find the other end. Personally, I rather grab from the outside, because mostly every time that I grab onto the middle and pull, sometimes it be in a knot.
Wrap the yarn around your finger, leaving a enough space in between them. See photo below:
Next, you are going to pull the first yarn over the second yarn, like this, see below:
Then, you are going to pull the end of the yarn, so that it’s tight, not too tight on your finger, though.
And there you have your slip knot!
Now that we have a slip knot, we can begin! So, take the slip knot off of your finger and place it on one of the end pegs, and tighten it, not too tight, though. Like shown below:
What we need to do next is wrap the yarn around the pegs. Pay very close attention to how we do the figure 8 stitch.
It will look tricky at first, but it’s very simple, just make sure that you are wrapping each and every peg, as shown in the picture above. Once you get to the other side, see below, go back and re-wrap all the pegs, using the same stitch that you just did.
When you finish wrapping all the pegs again, your work should look like this, if I explained it well enough. This is the top view:
Here is what the side view will look like:
If you haven’t already noticed, that there was one peg that was only wrapped once. That is okay! It is supposed to be like that. Every time that you wrap them a second time, there will always be one that isn’t wrapped twice.
Now, because this loom doesn’t have a end peg that you can wrap around, I wrapped the yarn around the side of my loom, because if you don’t, your work will come undone. That is the only down fall with this loom, it doesn’t have a place to wrap your yarn.
Anyway, here comes the more difficult part. You will need your hook for this step. Take your hook and grab, from the first set of yarn that we cased on, you are going to pull it over the peg and over the second yarn. Note: It doesn’t matter which side you start on, but which every one you decide to start on, finish it before moving on to the other side.
You keep doing this, on the side you are working on, it should look like this, when you finish your first side.
It’s okay if they are a little loose, most of them will end up in the middle anyway, so it’s okay that they don’t, at first.
Once you have completed the other side, your work should look like this:
Then, just gently push the middle of your work down and recast another figure 8 stitch, until you get it to the length you desire. I have added a chart, for the average lengths, but if you want a scarf that fits perfect, for you or whoever you are making it for. Hold you arms out side and have someone measure from fingertip to fingertip, that will give you the exact length you need.
How To End Your Work
I don’t have any pictures on how to cast off, so I am going to explain the best I can. I will be making a YouTube video about this blog post and will attach, once it is uploaded. I will make sure to have pictures, as well.
Basically, you’ll be transforming one side to the other and then binding off. So, grab your hook and take one of your yarn, from your first peg, and wrap it around the peg across from that peg. Note: I’m pretty sure you can start from either side, when you bind off. But don’t quote me on it.
Once you have finished that, and got to the final hook, your work should just come off and you should be all set.
There you have it! I’m sorry if I didn’t explain it a little better. I will be making a video on how to do it, as soon as possible and I will edit at this post, once I do! If you have any ideas or want me to try out something new, let me know in a comment or send me an e-mail at katie_farrington@aol.com!
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