Temperature Blanket

October and November Temperatures from 2016

I first heard about the idea of a temperature blanket some where in the middle of last year. I vowed to begin one of these amazing blankets come the first of the 2018 year.

A temperature blanket is a knitting/crochet project where you assign a temperature range to a rainbow of colored yarns and each day you knit/crochet a row or 2 depending on the day's temperature.

There are so many variations that can be applied to this project, you can do a different stitch depending on if it's sunny or windy or raining that day. But in the end, you have something of a record of the temperatures for that year.

In the end, I decided instead of doing the coming year that I would knit the temperatures for my daughter Evelyn's first year in our hometown. She was born on October 5th, 2016 so that day's temperature is the first row in my blanket.

Temperature Range

I decided that each color would represent a 10 degree range going from sub zero to over 100 degrees. We live in Michigan, where all of these temperatures are a possibility. If you live in a climate that doesn't have a lot of variety in temperature you can do every 5 degrees, or even every degree.

Finding Yarn

It can be difficult to find a brand of yarn that carries such an assortment of colors. Choosing the colors was by far the hardest part of this project. I decided on the Lion Brand Heartland Yarn Collection. (yarn size 4) It's a beautiful soft yarn that is heathered, giving it a rustic homespun feel. I chose earthy- jewel tones, and as it knits up, it reminds me of the rock layers in the grand canyon.

 My yarn colors:

100+       Isle Royale #189
90-99      Redwood #113
80-89      Yosemite #135
70-79      Yellowstone #158
60-69      Everglades #173 (available online only)
50-59      Joshua Tree #174
40-49      Kings Canyon #180
30-39      Cuyahoga Valley #171
20-29      Olympic #109
10-19      Glacier Bay #305
0-9          Mount Rainier #150
sub 0       Katmai #151 (available online only)

Once I found all my yarn colors, I rolled the yarn in to balls pulling from both ends of the skein so I had a double ply (knitting 2 strands at once). I made little tags with the name of the yarn and the temperature that the color represented.

Pattern/Gauge

I wanted the pattern for my blanket to be as simplistic as possible. My goal was to really let the color variation stand out. In the end, I decided to use 10.5 circular needles and to double the yarn ply.

I've cast on 200 stitches and the blanket will be 365 rows long. This should be a good size blanket somewhere around 70" by 100".

I knitted the garter stitch for 5 rows, and am knitting the garter stitch for 5 stitches to start the row, then stockinette, and ending with 5 stitches of garter. This will keep the blanket from curling.

I'm also knitting in the previous color tail into the first 5 stitches. This will save me from having to tie in all the yarn tails at the end.

I'm at the 3 month mark here and the blanket it 20" long. (October, November and December 2016)

Finding your Temperatures

October 2016

You need to decide if you are going to take the high, low, or average for the day. I am knitting the high temperature. I feel like this will give me the most variation in colors.

I am doing the temperatures from October 5th, 2016 to October 4th, 2017.

October 2016

You can find a history of weather temperatures from Weather Underground. Just type in the year and city you want to see.

October 2016 through January 2017 4 months!

Check out our Facebook Page as I post updates as the blanket comes along.

Fair Isle Knitted Bobble Dot Pattern

I shared this knitted item on our Facebook page and many of you said that you'd like to see the pattern.

This is my first time writing a pattern so forgive me if there are mistakes.

I would love to see photos if you decide to knit this.

And let me know your feedback on how easy/difficult it is to read the pattern.

Let me know if any of you know of an easy to use online knitting graph. I made this one in Paint Shop and PicMonkey. But it was tedious.

Materials:

5 double pointed needles size US 5 3.75mm

Worsted weight yarn cream and burgundy

Darning needle

Small crochet hook

sts - stitches

k – knit

m – make

c1 – color 1

c2 – color2

k2tog – knit 2 together

ssk – slip, slip knit

Cast on 12 sts in dominant color leaving a long tail of yarn about 12” to sew up opening at the end of project.

Divide the sts between 4 needles, each having 3 sts.

Row 1: Knit all sts c1

Row 2: For each needle c1: k1, m1, k1, m1, k1 ( 5 total sts per needle)

Row 3: Knit all sts c1

Row 4. For each needle c1, k1, m1, k3, m1, k1 (7 total sts per needle)

Row 5: Knit all sts c1

Row 6: For each needle c1, k1, m1, k5, m1, k1 (9 total sts per needle)

Row 7: For each needle knit c1, c2, c1, c2, c1, c2, c1, c2, c1

Row 8: For each needle all c1: k1, m1, k7, m1, k1 (11 total sts per needle)

Row 9: For each needle knit c1, c2, c1, c2, c1, c2, c1, c2, c1, c2, c1

Row 10: For each needle all c1: k1, m1, k9, m1, k1 (13 total sts per needle)

Row 11: For each needle knit c1, c2, c1, c2, c1, c2, c1, c2, c1, c2, c1, c2, c1

Row 12: For each needle all c1: k1, m1, k11, m1, k1 (15 total sts per needle)

Row 13: For each needle knit c1, c2, c1, c2, c1, c2, c1, c2, c1, c2, c1, c2, c1, c2, c1

Row 14: Knit all sts c1

Row 15: For each needle knit 2c1, c2, c1, c2, c1, c2, c1, c2, c1, c2, c1, c2, 2c1

Row 16: Knit all sts c1

Row 17: For each needle knit c1, c2, c1, c2, c1, c2, c1, c2, c1, c2, c1, c2, c1, c2, c1

Row 18: For each needle k1, k2tog, k9, ssk, k1 (13 sts per needle)

Row 19: For each needle knit c1, c2, c1, c2, c1, c2, c1, c2, c1, c2, c1, c2, c1

Row 20: For each needle k1, k2tog, k7, ssk, k1 (11 sts per needle)

Row 21: For each needle knit c1, c2, c1, c2, c1, c2, c1, c2, c1, c2, c1

Row 22: For each needle k1, k2tog, k5, ssk, k1 (9 sts per needle)

Row 23: For each needle knit c1, c2, c1, c2, c1, c2, c1, c2, c1

Row 24: For each needle c1: k1, k2tog, k3, ssk, k1 (7 sts per needle)

Row 25: Knit all sts c1

Row 26: For each needle c1: k1, k2tog, k1, ssk, k1 (5 sts per needle)

Row 27: Knit all sts c1

Row 28: For each needle c1: k2tog, k1, ssk, (3 sts per needle)

Pull a length of yarn about 10” and thread through a darning needle. Sew through the 12 sts left on needles to bind off and pull to cinch.

Stuff the bobble with polyfill through beginning opening. Then use the tail to sew through the rim and pull to cinch.

Using a small crochet hook crochet the tail creating a loop for the bulb to hang. Sew the end to complete the loop.

Work in remaining tails. 

Loom Knitted Stocking Hat

Winter is in full force here in Michigan. We got 5 inches of snow last night and the temperatures have been bitter cold.

The secret to staying warm in our climate is to wear a hat. If my head is warm, I can sometimes forego my winter coat altogether and be outside in a heavy sweater or flannel.

My favorite, favorite winter hat is starting to look pretty raggedy. I got it 6 years ago at an underwear store of all places. Aerie by American Eagle. And the faux fur is getting matted and it's just dingy all around. I'll still use it to work in, but I wanted a nice warm hat to wear out running errands etc.

I saw this pattern on You Tube over at Easy Me World. She has an easy-to-follow video that explains step by step the loom knitting process and the pattern for this hat.

I did change things up from her example. I made my hat on my 41 peg round loom because I wanted it nice and loose fitting.

I also did the brim 24 rows wide for a 12 row folded brim.

The yarn I used was Big Twist brand the 100% acrylic Chunky Yarn #271012 in colors:

Chunky Cloud White #12001
Chunky Dove #12003

I am in love with this yarn! I believe it is exclusive to JoAnn Fabric, but it might be available online. It's a super soft yarn with a clean nap and has substantial weight. I doubled the yarn for this project and I still have more than half of each skein left.

In the video, she suggests using one skein of each color and pulling from the inside and the outside of the skein. I've tried this several times and I always end up knotting up the skein so I bought two of each color. If you can successfully use her technique, then 1 skein of each color will be plenty for this project.

To make the pom pom I used my 36 peg loom and wrapped it around the front and back, then tied it in the same way she describes in the video.

The whole project knitted up very quickly and I love the resulting hat!

Crochet Pumpkin

I love fast fiber projects! And these pumpkins can be made in just a few hours. They have a nice earthy-homespun feel, especially if done in natural more matted yarns like wool as opposed to a shiny nylon blend.

To learn the basic technique for these pumpkins I watched the tutorial on Youtube by Happy Berry Crochet.

Part 1 How To Crochet a Life-Size Pumpkin
Part 2 How To Crochet a Life-Size Pumpkin

In the video she uses a chunky yarn and a larger crochet hook. I downsized to a worsted weight yarn and a size G/6 crochet hook

The majority of the pattern is double crocheting in rounds with increases and decreases. It's a very easy pattern and moves along quite quickly.

For the rust pumpkin I followed her pattern as the video showed. In the worsted yarn it made abour a 6" pumpkin.

For the cream pumpkin, I added two more rows of increase and two more rows of length. I also started the stem one row sooner than the pattern, to give the larger pumpkin a larger stem base.  This made a 8.5" pumpkin.

Cream Pumpkin Yarn

Pumpkin Body: Lion Brand, Fisherman's Wool, Color # 098 Natural Ecru
Pumpkin Stem: Lion Brand, Fisherman's Wool, Color # 126 Nature's Brown

Orange Pumpkin

Pumpkin Body: Lion Brand, Vanna's Choice, Color # 135 Rust
Pumpkin Stem: For the stem I used a bit of scrap handspun yarn in a mix of green and rust. But any earthy-green worsted weight yarn would give a similar effect.  

Crochet Baby Afghan, Bonnet and Booties

My cousins brought home their first little girl a few weeks ago. I couldn't be happier for them. I'm also happy because our little girl due in October and theirs will be close in age. The girls will surely play together at family parties and event.

I decided I wanted to make the new baby something and finally decided on this afghan/throw. The pattern can be found at Jayda In Stitches Crochet Baby Blanket- Easy Fan Stitch Pattern. The stitch pattern was very easy and alternated a 5 double crochet fan stitch with a double crochet "V" stitch.

I did alter the pattern where the border is concerned and changed the size. I started with more stitches in my initial chain because I was going to use a finer yarn and hook. The pattern calls for a starting chain divisible by 8 then add 5. So I started with 101 stitch chain.

8 x 12 = 96
96 + 5 = 101

I used 100% acrylic Bernat Baby Sport Yarn 350g skein in the color Baby Pink
and a size G/6 4.25mm crochet hook.

This was enough yarn for the entire blanket, the booties and the bonnet. I have a small ball left over.

The finished blanket was 70 rows. This gave me a nice size rectangle. The finished blanket is about 3ft. by 4 ft.

Once the blanket was done, I decided I wanted to weave a 1/4 " white satin ribbon through the pink blanket. So for the border I did a row of double crochet stitches all the way around. About 3 double crochet fit nicely in the half fan ends, and about two fit in the "V" stitch end. So I kept this going. For the corners I chose the stitch closest to the exact corner and did three double crochet, chain 1, three double crochet to turn the edge.

After the double crochet round, I did a round of 5 double crochet fan stitches. Skipping three stitches between sets. This gives the blanket a scalloped edge which is super feminine, and a place to weave the ribbon.

The ribbon is woven through every two stitches.

I had a ton of yarn left over so I decided to make a pair of these ballet slipper booties by Wooly Wonders Crochet. I added ribbon again to cinch up the decorative treble crochet detail in the front.

Then I made this little bonnet with a similar fan stitch look. I used the white ribbon again around the neck, and added a decorative bow on each side. The pattern can be found at Bag-O-Day Crochet and More. 

I also found this beautiful box at Michael's Craft Store to "wrap" it. She might find a use for it to store baby items.

Pretzels and Backsmithing

A couple weekend's ago our friends Nate and Stacey came over for the day. We spent the morning in the garden. Stacey was helping me weed and plant things as I'm having a hard time bending and squatting for long periods of time being over 5 months pregnant. I told myself that this pregnancy wasn't going to slow me down. That I was strong and I'd keep bustling like I always do. And I was WRONG! 

But that's ok. We are just thankful for our new little blessing to come. Everything else can wait. 

After gardening, Stacey and I headed to the kitchen to make homemade soft pretzels while the boys made their way to the shop to spend the afternoon blacksmithing. 

Stacey received a delicious gourmet pretzel mustard dip as a gift from a co-worker and she wanted to make soft pretzels to dip in the sauce. 

The recipe we used is from Alton Brown Alton Brown Soft Pretzels.

Traditionally pretzels are dipped in a diluted lye solution, which is extremely alkaline and give pretzels their pretzel-y flavor. However, lye can be a bit intimidating to cook with so we appriciated that this recipe used baking soda as a substitute. 

 The most fun was rolling and shaping the dough!

 They turned out DELICIOUS! And Stacey's mustard dip was a perfect accompaniment!

 The guys spent the day making large hooks. Nate will use his for his boat and Zach will use his to connect chain to the tractor to haul things.

 I finally remembered to give Stacey her birthday present. A silly little crochet potholder that I made to match her chicken-themed kitchen. The pattern can be found over at Bag-O-Day Crochet and More. 

We finished the day with cool drinks and pretzels at the picnic table.

Winding Road Crochet Afghan

I started this afghan over a year ago. It's not that it's a particularly hard pattern, in fact, it's quite easy. But when I started this afghan I had just finished two others (one for my mom and one for my mother-in-law) for Christmas presents.

I was moving along quite nice when I made a mistake that meant I'd have to take out quite a bit of the project. At this point I burned out. Spring was also rearing it's head, and the afghan was set aside for gardening and outdoor projects.

Fast forward to this year.

One of my New Year's resolutions is to finish a whole collection of projects that I've started. In our art room I have bins and baskets filled with projects that are 3/4 of the way done. Something happens to me 3/4 of the way through a project and I "checkout". Usually I begin something new and more "exciting" and the old project gets sat aside. I've realized that I need to stay out of places like yarn shops, Jo-Anns and the hardware store to end temptation. I see things that I want to make when I visit these places, and it can be detrimental to my focus!

So I made a list of all the projects I need to complete and I'm working on them in the evenings. I won't let myself start another until the first is complete.

This afghan was the first completed project this year.

The pattern is the Winding Road Afghan from the Weekend Winners, Cozy & Quick Afghans to Crochet In Lion Brand Homespun....ha! "Cozy and Quick"...they obviously don't understand my attention span.

It's a little more of a contemporary style than I usually go for.  

The yarns I used the Lion Brand Homespun yarn in the colors Wild Fire, Sierra and Barks

and a K 10.5 crochet hook. 

It's a very easy pattern of single crochet with a mitered corner achieved by crocheting together 3 stitches every three lines.

You must know how to single crochet, use crochet stitch markers, join yarns and sew together sections.