Make a Temperature Scarf as an Alternative to a Temperature Blanket

Temperature blankets are a popular way to track a year, whether you’re stitching up the colors of the current year or a year that is important to you.

But a blanket is a big project to keep track of all year, and maybe you don’t want a giant randomly striped blanket at the end of the year, anyway.

Another option is to make a different kind of project that tracks the temperature, such as a temperature scarf or cowl. Fox and Pine Stitches has a tutorial on how to work a scarf in the round using the colors of your choice for the temperature data for where you live.

The benefit of doing a scarf is that it will use a lot less yarn, and it will also be faster to knit. This is a great way to do a project with temperature data from a year that has already passed, because you’ll be able to knit it quickly.

You can leave it as a scarf or sew the ends together and make a giant circular cowl if you’d rather.

If you do want to make a temperature blanket, there are lots of resources available to help. Craft Warehouse has a printable you can use to keep track of your range of temperatures and the colors you choose for each one.

Noble Knits has a nice guide to temperature blankets that talks about how to pick yarns, how much of each yarn you might need and links to some knit and crochet patterns you can use to make your own temperature blanket or other project.

You can work your blanket in garter stitch, stockinette, moss stitch or any other pattern that you like, and you can do one or two rows of each color, depending on the stitch pattern you are using. The circular scarf is worked in stockinette, which makes it really easy, but you could do a project like that in any stitch pattern worked in the round as well.

Have you ever made a temperature project? Did you actually finish? I’d love to hear about it!

[Photo: Fox and Pine Stitches.]

Next Pattern:

Blankets are a great blank slate project that you can change up in a million different ways. From color to stitch pattern to size, the possibilities are almost endless.

Jared Flood, the designer behind Brooklyn Tweed, was inspired by a log cabin quilt his mother made in 1995 to re-create that design in knitting, which led to more blankets and ultimate Brooklyn Tweed’s Knit and Crochet Blankets, which includes 25 patterns from an array of designers using different skills and techniques to make cozy, pretty blankets.

The patterns are divided into three aesthetic themes: traditions, minimalism and colorplay. The patterns are rated on a scale of one to five, with one being the easiest, and there aren’t any pieces rated five. Two blankets are rated one, 14 are two, eight are three and one is four.

In addition, three of the 25 patterns are crocheted, but they either use single crochet or granny stitch, so they are pretty easy even if you don’t do a lot of crochet. You can see all the patterns on Ravelry.

Some of my favorites include Rattan by Rastus Hsu, a chunky blanket worked in knits and purls with simple crossing stitches to make a raised woven look; Homewood by Seth Richardson, covers in dramatic, loopy cables; Ainur Berkimbayeva’s Tessellate, one of the beginner projects that doesn’t really look beginner but is totally worked in knit and purl stitches; Warp + Weft by Aist? Butkevi?ien?, which is mostly knits and purls but makes a fun woven look fabric that blew my mind a little bit; and the same designer’s Canyonland, a multicolored blanket with wavy stripes.

The patterns tell you how to resize them for different dimensions and include information on pattern repeats where it is possible to make a totally custom size.

Many different techniques are included here such as cables, lace, shadow knitting, intarsia and other colorwork techniques, as well as modular knitting and lots of sewing pieces together. The patterns are all presented with charts, but there are line by line written instructions available on the Brooklyn Tweed website if you need them.

The book ends with a deep dive into log cabin knitting, telling the story of the quilt Jared’s mom made and how he made it in knitting, as well as the multitude of variations you can make if you want your own log cabin style design.

The back of the book includes a little written information about some of the special techniques needed, but there are no photos.

This is a lovely book full of inspiration for knitting and crochet blankets for any skill level. If you like to make blankets as gifts or aspire to have a handmade blanket in every room of the house, these designs would be a great place to start.

About the book: 192 pages, paperback, 25 patterns. Published 2024 by Abrams Books, suggested retail price $24.99.

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