Letters
Let’s Go: A Garter Stripe Temperature Blanket for 2022
Dear Ann,
Welp. Cara Davis went and did it. Her post about her gorgeous temperature blankets put me over the line that separates merely admiring temperature knitting projects—I’ve seen so many good ones in my internet wanderings while I’m supposed to be working—to feeling the imperative to CAST ON NOW.
In case Cara’s post had the same effect on anybody else, I’ll share my plan. I cannot wait to have progress to show on this thing, and to see everyone else’s temperature project. (Be sure to share over in the MDK Lounge, and on Instagram, where the hashtag #MDKtemperatureblanket hopefully will keep us from straying too far afield.)
Yarn
I’m using Rowan Felted Tweed, God’s own colorwork yarn. It comes in a bountiful palette that is designed so well that all the colors look good together. Obvious bonus: we carry it in the MDK Shop, where it’s a fan favorite.
Right now, to enable everyone’s 2022 Temperature Blanket dreams, we’ve got a deal: 10 percent off Felted Tweed. Just enter the coupon code TEMPERATURE at checkout. Expires January 15, 2022. Order up a blanket’s worth, or fill in gaps in your stash of tweedy felters. If you’ve got a deep stash of discontinued colors of this all-time great yarn, I can think of no more glorious use for it than a temperature blanket. Maybe this is why you’ve been saving it!
Pattern
Kaffe Fassett’s Garter Stripe Shawl from MDK Field Guide No. 13 is a simple, blanket-sized template that will work perfectly for the sort of blanket where you knit exactly one garter ridge for each day of the year.
There are 392 garter ridges in this blanket shawl, shown here in Kaffe’s original colorway. Knitting 365 ridges for the year will absolutely not result in a too-short blanket, but if you like, you can use those extra 27 ridges to make dividers between the months, borders at the beginning and end, extra rows for your birthday—whatever you like. I’m guessing I will knit 365 ridges. My cast-on number is 252, in case you don’t have Field Guide No. 13 handy.
I’ve been wanting to make a Garter Stripe Shawl ever since Kaffe sent us his first giant swatch for it. This is the year!
Plan
As Cara counseled, I picked one color for any day with a high temperature lower than 19 degrees Fahrenheit, and one color for any day higher than 95F. I divided up the in-between temperatures into 19 ranges of 4 degrees, for a total of 21 colors. (You can use the low or average temperature for the day, too—it’s up to you.)
To pick my colors, I started with the classic “Roy G Biv” rainbow colors: Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, and Violet. I changed the violet end of the spectrum to pale, drab, and gloomy shades reminiscent of winter. I assigned shades of Felted Tweed into groupings of 3 for each of the other Roy G Bivs. I took some liberties, because I wanted to choose colors I like, and because in some cases—orange, for example—the Felted Tweed palette didn’t have as many options. (Aside from the orange-red of Zinnia, I chose hot pinks instead.)
Here’s where I ended up—I put all 21 shades in the gallery up top.
The middle column is Rowan’s shade number.
19 degrees or lower: Clay
20-23: Alabaster
24-27: Scree
28-31: Seafarer
32-35: Seasalter
36-39: Maritime
40-43: Delft
44-47: Ciel
48-51: Fjord
52-55: Vaseline Green
56-59: Electric Green
60-63: Lime
64-67: Cumin
68-71: Mineral
72-75: Sulfur
76-79: Pink Bliss
80-83: Barbara
84-87: Zinnia
88-91: Ginger
92-95: Scarlet
95 or higher: Rage
I tried to engineer my choices to get plenty of days in colors I’ll be happy seeing a lot of, and colors that will look good next to their likely neighbors.
But who really knows? It’s weather!
I already love having a new ritual to start my days in 2022: every morning, knitting one ridge to represent the temperature from the day before. It’s hard to get my mind around how such a big blanket could come from knitting just one ridge every day. But it will!
Come on in, the temperature’s fine!
Love,
Kay
I’ve been admiring these too and you’ve inspired me to knit one now! How many skeins of each color are you thinking? And what size needles? I can’t wait to get started!
Could you provide a list of how many skeins of each color is needed and the actual pattern/how many rows per color?
This looks like such an interesting project but I’ll need to live vicariously through everyone else’s projects. I simply have too many unfinished projects. I live in the Sierra Foothills & we’re the ones causing the Air problems in the Bay Area. (Too many arsonists ruining our forests) I hope you don’t mind I love the Mohair as smoke so I want to use it. Oooh maybe a small temperature scarf instead that might be finishable for me.
The weather will dictate how many skeins we’ll need, I’m predicting needing a second ball of some of the warmer colors, but who knows! I’m a loose knitter so I use a US 5 for Felted Tweed but I think some people use a 6 or even a 7.
Just started my temp blanket for 2023, and I love finding and knitting the high temp each day. I only wish I would have recorded the temps from the places I’ve been during January rather than just sticking with my home town. Would have been fun to see the pinks and reds (Israel and Florida) interspersed with St. Louis temps. Perhaps next time. Splicing the ends is the way to go—surprisingly smooth transitions and no ends.
Thank you! I am also loose!
Hi Kay! Any suggestions on how to change colors at the end of each row? I am inspired and look forward to seeing the progress on your temperature blanket.
I’ve considered using the daily high temp from wherever I am. It would mainly represent my hometown (Omaha), but would also include my travels throughout the year. Visits to relatives, vacations, etc. Take care.
How about leaving a 6-7” tail at both ends of each row and knotting them together as you go for a fringe? Or you could make the fringe on only one side if you wanted
I’m spit felting my Color Explosion Throw as I go—I break the yarn 4” (10cm) when I’m 4 stitches from the end of using the old color. Spit felt the new color onto the old color, return to knitting, and you’ll have no ends at all! Felted Tweed works well with spit felting.
Stephen West has a method he calls Weavin Stephen – you loop the last strand along the back for the first 10 or so stitches of a new row.
I use it all the time! It was in Knit Stars Season 1.
Thank you. I have Knit Stars.
that’s what i did on the Kaffee blanket….
That’s brilliant!
What will you do with all those loose ends at the beginning and end of each color change? It could be over 500???
I’m doing one in cotton and I really like to sew them in well so I’m doing end management every seven days. Otherwise, It will never get done!
I’ve made a many-colored scarf w/ almost every row color changes & I left 4″-6″ of end each row. When finished, I tied every few color ends into knot close to piece’s edge and it made a beautiful fringe. You could leave even longer ends to make a netting-type fringe by tying multiple rows of knots alternating the ends you tie together.
How many ounces/grams did you buy in each color?
I started with one ball of each of the colors on my shade card. There’s no way of really knowing how many days will fall into each of the temperature ranges, but I’m expecting to need second balls at some point.
I’ve already started a temperature blanket for my next grandchild, with each row one day from (theoretical) conception to birth. This is my third for a grandchild.
I started my first Temperature blanket this year too so I was so excited to see this post! What will you do with the ends? Fringe? Tassels or weave in as you go? So many thoughts!
Weave in as I go! It’s easy and I use Stephen West’s process that he taught in Knit Stars 1. I’ll bet it’s on his website.
Weave in as I go!!!
I think the spit-felting solution is the most elegant but I will confess that I don’t mind weaving in ends so mine are all a-danglin’ for now! I love to sit down and just weave in a mess of ends. It’s weird but I’m just going with it….remember I am the person who made Kaffe Fassett’s Big Flower jacket, it may have damaged me.
So happy to have inspired you after you’ve been inspiring me all these years! I hope you love your project as much as I love mine!!! Have so much fun!
If it doesn’t work out I’ll pack it all up and send it to you…I think that’s how I got a bunch of Rowan Denim from you back in the day! I kept all the squares you knit!
I love your colors. Have you thought or selling a kit?
Please consider offering a kit. Your colors are beautiful and it would be interesting to see how they are interpreted across the knitting community based on their local temperatures.
This is a wonderful idea but I keep getting stuck on the fact that we cannot predict the temperatures in advance. I wouldn’t want people to get a kit that wasn’t adequate for the project. Will keep thinking about it. Surely there is a solution but it hasn’t come to me yet.
I was thinking your already determined 21 temperature ranges would cover the various parameters and fluctuations for everyone. And you could offer color choices you are using in the kit. Blankets would turn out a bit differently based on knitters’ locales. And, possibly you could offer a variation of the color shifting bundle/scarf kit allowing people to determine their own wider parameter temperature ranges with fewer colors. But, I guess I can make a selection on my own too without a kit. Just a thought.
Maybe it’s a “starter kit.” For those of us who have a hard time putting colors together (don’t laugh at me!), that would be a great springboard to a beautiful project!
I’m thinking I want to make it narrower. I don’t want a blanket; I want a shawl…time to do some math!
Kay I cannot resist this even though I have a case of too many WIPitis. Can I copy your color chart? XO
Sarah you can consider it my version of “it goes like this”! A little thank you for sharing your delicious recipes.
I love this idea, but yikes. You are hard to keep up with! I finally fell for doing that marled throw and just yesterday got my kit box from you full of the gorgeous, gorgeous Felted Tweed! What exquisite yarn! Any blanket or throw or anything made of that will be totally wonderful and redefine “the lap of luxury.”
The lap blanket of luxury. Hope you have a blast with it. Mine is sitting at the exact halfway point while I get in my temperature blanket groove!
And then there is Texas. That is going to be crazy swings in color!
I used Felted Tweed for my 2021 blanket – it has turned out wonderfully squishy and cozy and just what is needed for colder days in London at the moment. Can’t wait to see how your 2022 blanket turns out.
Can you share what size needles you used and how many you cast on. I’m about to start!!
I thought I put the cast-on up in the post and I will remedy if I didn’t: the number is 252. I am using size US 5 needles, but I am a loose knitter so you may need a 6 or 7. Gauge of course is not much of an issue but you do need to be happy with the firmness/drape of the fabric you are knitting.
That Rage is the colorway for 95 degrees and above is just perfect. Sums up how I feel about summer.
I love that the color itself says “I’m hot and I’m tired of this.”
I think my favorite part of your plan is that the days with temps above 95 deg F are assigned the color ‘Rage’ 🙂
I found this info for my area to help determine how many colors I’d need.
“Over the course of the year, the temperature typically varies from 56°F to 89°F and is rarely below 44°F or above 92°F.” I still have determined how much yarn I would need.
Michelle that weather sounds wonderful! You can use as many colors as you want and just set your temp chart for where you live. For example, if you give yourself a bottom of, say, 47 so you have the likelihood of few colors in that range and you make the top temp, say 85 and you do your increments in 3s you can get up to 15 colors. Make your increments in 2s, it’s even more. Make 4s or 5s for few colors.
I hope this makes sense. If it doesn’t, dm me and I’ll help you with it.
Michele, I think I want to know where you live. Sounds like a good place to retire! It is supposed to be -20 today in the Twin Cities… sigh.
I was thinking the same thing!
I should have said this but for a project like this I am very comfortable not getting all of my colors in the same dye lot. They are so interspersed with each other, and so varied to begin with, that perfect dyelot matching is not needed. I might be able to figure out approximately how many stripes I’d need of a color but I might not, and it’s not really in my nature to be that organized. (PEOPLE WHO KNOW ME: STOP LAUGHING.)
Is one “ridge” just once across or twice?
One ridge = two rows, both of them knit rows.
Oh. My.
2 thoughts: we all totally want to see the actual knitting – the long needle and the very tiny squiggly little bit above the cast on.
And marl. What is the temperature marl? Hi & Lol? Temp & cloudiness? Weather & mood?
I never start a thing on time, but I might mull this and make something after all.
A marl of temperature and rainfall &/or snow perhaps?
It’s actually an advantage to let the year get going so that you aren’t knitting just one row a day! I keep finding myself at the end of the day’s ridge and feeling sad that I have to put it down.
I have a fixed amount of time on this earth and within that a fixed amount of time I can knit. Why would I spend it on such a project? I can look out the window for the weather and yesterday’s is passed so of no consequence anymore. Do I really need to knit a remembrance of three 90 degree days that happened six months ago? I think not. If that’s your thing – enjoy and you will produce a beautiful item. I’ve got other things to knit.
And such a shame you wasted some of your fixed amount of knitting time on earth posting a nasty comment.
yup!
Of course, no one should knit ANYTHING that they don’t want to knit. I knit Bex’s Infinite Weather Infinity Scarf in 2015. I used a gradient of blues and grays, with a pink and coral for the hottest colors. It turned out to be a fascinating way to look at my local climate, and a scarf I get compliments on often. I’d suggest it for anyone who would like to spend less time on this project but is still interested, or who prefers their projects to wearable.
*be wearable – commenting before coffee
What a strange comment to make, particularly as a knitter, and observing the diversity of people’s choices in our craft.
I feel obliged to point out that people’s meticulous documentation of daily temperatures has given us a striking visual representation of climate change. I remember seeing temperature blankets about a century apart (made recently) documenting Texas weather. Yesterday’s weather turns out to be, in fact, of great consequence.
Would you think it any less strange if I commented on my dislike for raglans or yoked sweaters. If you are going to acknowledge the diversity of choices then mine are no less valid nor more odd.
What is strange isn’t your preference, but showing up as negative in a community chat that is so positive.
Such a good question: why would anybody do anything? I’m a daily knitter and this appeals to me on so many levels. Everything is not for everybody. Different strokes for different folks.
“…in some cases—orange, for example—the Felted Tweed palette didn’t have as many options.” Kay, YOU have some options here! Option #1: Get on the phone (fax, Telex, interwebbynet, etc.) to Kaffe and Rowan and tell them they need more shades of orange. Use your law school training to make good, irrefutable arguments. Option #2: You’ve dyed before. Granted, it was with indigo, but maybe now is the time to try onion skins or Kool-Aid. Make your throw truly unique with some exclusive shades, like “Mango Sorbet,” “Die, Pumpkin Spice!”, “Terrier Assistant,” or “Light Day-Glo Auburn Reddish Copper Blonde.” Think of the possibilities!
Kay, I’m feeling amused at 19 degrees being your lower limit. It is currently -7 in St. Paul, with a low of -20. Par for the course – it’s January. We northern knitters need a whole palette of icy blues and grays!
Your palette is splendid.
That’s just what I was thinking Deepa! We in northern Minnesota would need several more colors in the lower in of the range.
I moved here from Nebraska in 1981 and all these years later I still find myself surprised and delighted at how New Yorkers can just walk around outside most of the winter! I feel like it’s the perfect mix–you get enough winter to need coats and boots and fun things like that, but you don’t have to worry about frostbite. Winter-ISH.
Also I’m amused that if you just used my color card, it would be day after day of Clay for a while….
Are you using the low, high, or average daily temp? We have extremes in northern CA so I’m trying to figure out what would be best.
All in!!!!
I’m waiting patiently for my yarn and writing down the daily highs. I confess I borrowed your color scheme but had to completely revamp the temperature range because I live in the Bay Area. I’m thinking of doing something with mohair for smoke days, which have become more prevalent here recently.
I guessed at the colors I thought I would need two of based on historical data. I’m really looking forward to getting started!
As a knitter, I love the mohair idea, but as a fellow Bay Area resident, I hope you don’t have to use it! I had been contemplating incorporating the AQI (air quality index) number, maybe with multiple shades of green, yellow, orange, etc. for ranges within each band, for the borders on mitered or granny squares, or maybe quilt blocks. The air quality station closest to me is still offline for repairs (since October), though, which I’ve taken as permission to let this idea marinate for another year.
I love the mohair-for-smoke idea esthetically but I hate that you have to plan for smoke out there.
If there are leftovers, well….there are so many fun things to do with FT leftovers.
It has pleased me greatly to read about temperature blankets. I did not know such a thing existed but I am inspired! I’m in Scotland so I’m going to keep a little note of daily temperature from now on to chart out how such a temperature blanket might look for me. Such a lovely idea. I can’t wait to see your progress.
Kirsty, one thing I have noticed in temperature blankets that use Celsius is that they have far fewer colors. Naturally, because it is not nearly as granular as Fahrenheit. Totally your decision but consider plotting your weather in F and C using one of the tools Cara linked and see what appeals to you.
I’ve been keeping a pretty epic spreadsheet that I have been sharing as people ask for it. DM me or email me at kjt1211@optonline.net and I’ll send you a copy. It has a page for working in Celsius.
Ooooh, for Scotland I’m imagining lots of grays and greens and some flashes of yellow and orange for the rarer (I think) hot days you have over there.
I think snow days should incorporate a touch of sparkle or white yarn as a marl! Happy Snow Day!
I’m just soaking my temperature scarf I did for 2021. I did it as a stockingette tube on circular needles with half a row the low temperature for the day and half a row the high temperature for the day. Turned out about seven inches wide (double thickness) and 52 inches long. I did a few rows of garter at either end to stop curling. One could also do two rows, of a blanket or scarf, one high, one low. Since I live in the northeast of the USA I divided the temperature range from 8 degrees F to 90 degrees F into 12 segments of 8-9 degrees each. Our weather last year was unusually humid and stagnant (very little wind) during the summer with really high heat index readings but not that high in temperature alone. It tempts me to toy with temperature by heat index reading in the summer and by wind chill in the winter. I’m not starting another temperature project yet for 2022 but am thinking of doing seasonal cowls starting with the spring equinox. For people interested in yarn details, I went a classic ROY G. Biv route with Morehouse Merino 3 strand worsted weight merino — it’s turned out delightfully soft and cushy and warming. Too thick too be comfortable to knot but perfect for criss-crossing. It would be fun to add in rows to mark first of the months, birthdays, other significant days, perhaps marking a snow storm with a fine silver lace thread added or a row of white. There are so many ways to play this. And, temperature tip, if you forget to track your temperature daily, weather underground has a great almanac feature for the closest airport or similar weather station to you. Have fun!
Great ideas! Thanks, Fiona
I’m thinking of doing a temperature blanket in the “All Coins” version of the throw, one segment per week with the low as the background and high as the dots.
That’s brilliant–and a great way of minimizing the ends! I have to NOT be tempted into another coins blanket….but it was so fun…
I will admit, I jumped on this as soon as I saw it posted and bought the yarn from your shop. I have been wanting to do a temperature blanket for several years but the thinking about it seemed too much with all I had going on. I quickly looked up the last 5 days’ low temps, made a chart, and now I’m waiting for the yarn to arrive. Wheeee!
One of the sad things about being a knitter in the San Francisco Bay Area is the minimal need for warm wooly items like hats, mittens, cowls, and stranded sweaters. A temperature blanket is another one. I just checked the monthly averages for the nearest city and they vary by only 14 degrees, whether measuring the highs or the lows (45-59 lows, 59-75 highs). I’ve also been told that virtually every day, year round, the temperature here hits 65 degrees at some point. This may take some serious calculations….
Kay! I love your ideas and am totally enjoying my own Felted Tweed Temperature Wrap (a mere 164 stitches across) inspired by Cara and you. xo
Kay, you have ruined me! I had resisted this temptation until now. I have one lonely skein of Scree in my stash, clearly it’s a sign that I need to order 20 more skeins of RFT immediately!
New to following your letters – have lurked in the background, Blanket seems both fun and a challenge to stick with it! My temperature range is a bit narrower here in Charleston SC so will I need fewer colors or narrower temperature bands? (i may be missing something, but I think yours are 4 degrees, not 3.)
I hope we’ll be seeing regular pictorial updates of what is going to be a beautiful blanket.
I love this idea, what source did you use for past weather by day? There are a lot but looking for something more concise than hourly.
Thanks,
Yes, Cara’s post had the same effect 🙂 Although I knit every day, there is something different about a set, daily ritual involving knitting. This was confirmed in Dec. when I knit an advent cowl. Using a 25-yard mini skein of DK each day, it was a finite amount of time to devote to calm. In the end I had a cowl but for me, that wasn’t even the point. It was the daily practice that quickly turned into something I truly looked forward to each morning. Yes, I am a process knitter! Re: what to do with the ends, I started mine with an i-cord cast-on and am doing a 3-stitch i-cord edging on both ends, which works well for weaving in the ends. I look forward to seeing everyone’s progress!
Question: You guys have absolutely convinced me w/ your love of felted tweed that it is a must-have! 1) Is it possible to buy a complete color card? 2) Do you have a deal if I wanted to buy 1 ball of every color you carry? (to play & experiment w/, swatch, etc?) If I decide on a many-coloured coat or some similar project and needed more of certain colors, dye lots wouldn’t be prob. If I wanted to make a 1-color project, I’d order enough separately to have matching dye lot.
This has been the most fun group of replies to read! I LOVE the MDK Knitting community! My resolution is already bust! I swore I would buy no new yarn until I finish 5 unfinished pieces of magic….but alas…I have to jump on the temp blanket band wagon! Thank you my fellow Nebraska alumni for the inspiration (been in CO since 1997). Cheers and Happy New Years y’all!
It’s gonna be a fun one! Can’t wait to see it . . . heat up.
At first I wasn’t sure I wanted to tackle this project, but the more I thought about it, the more I liked the idea of it. And now I’ve decided to make two of these blankets — one will be for temperatures during 2022 and the other for 1987 when we moved to our current house. They will become my “climate change” blankets! I’m curious how they’ll compare side by side at the end of this year!
Wow! There are so many great comments here and I haven’t even gotten through all of them! I noticed a lot of people trying to figure out their temp charts so I added some pages to the spreadsheet. Check the lounge. It’s post 138 if you’re not a Lounge Lizard and don’t want to scroll through.
Such a great idea! Maybe something I can actually finish!
Well, I can’t help myself, I placed an order and I have made a chart to keep track of the temps at home and when I travel (crossing my fingers there will be some travel!). Such a fun plan!!!
I’m in – but had to do some real research on the range of temperatures here in Wellington, New Zealand. Such a temperate climate, last year not one day above 26C and nothing below 8C. So I’ve chosen my colours accordingly then watched the fruity knitting YouTube -sessions 116, 117) interview with Kaffe Fasset. Totally inspiring.
Kiwi knitter here – did you get your temperature data from NIWA, MetService or somewhere else?
Try this and change as needed https://www.wunderground.com/history/monthly/nz/lower-hutt/NZWN
That link works for anywhere in the world. Go into settings to change Celsius to Fahrenheit. I’m also looking at doing it as an infinity scarf tube using circular needles but I’ll have to figure out how long 365 rows comes to. I guess I go down a size needles if too long or add a few contrast colour rows after each month if it needs to be longer.
For some reason, I thought it was supposed to include the high and low temperatures of each day. Is anyone doing that? Just the high temp?woulf that then mean 4 rows a day?
So I too have a bazillion projects but LOVED this idea! I chose 9 colors and am holding 2 strands together…one for the high and one for the low of the day. I’m knitting 1 row each day in stockinette. I cast on 272 stitches and it’s about 50 something wide. I did a provisional cast on so I could add navy garter border at the top and bottom to make it as long as I wanted. At the end I will knit 20 and 22 eyelets to denote the year!…kinda like eyelets in a gauge swatch to denote needle size. I’m adding the navy border on the sides by adding a tubular edging. I have always woven in ends as I went..then with this I tried tying and think I will do felting or running ends into the side tubes. I have wanted to learn to marl so that’s what I have! Thanks for the inspiration!!!
Hi! I’m looking to get started my first temperature blanket. I wanted to to a historical one (2019) at the same time I do one for 2022. Do you have any recommendations for climate data sources? NOAA doesn’t have data for any town around mine…
Beautiful! Thank you for sharing your colour scheme. I’m in Scotland, so probably won’t need many ‘hot’ colours
What a helpful post! I am currently driving myself crazy trying to pick yarn and colors. I would rather make a throw than a blanket, but I don’t want it to be too light. If I use the Felted Tweed ( which I love), do I hold the yarn double, as in the Color Explosion Throw???? Thank you for any assistance!
i love everything about this blanket. i hope to be able to try it soon.
i have loved this blanket since i first saw it. i was unable to start it due to some hand issues, but 2023 will be my year
I want to do this, but we live on the Oregon coast…… it could be a giant swath of dominant mid-tone .
I need to ponder this one !!
Happy Hollerdays
Kate
Happy New Year everyone. This is the year I am going to make the Temperature Blanket. However we will be traveling off and on for the first few months. I’m thinking I should use the temperature of where we are and not the temperature at home. Is that correct?