Crochet a Historical Temperature Blanket

What is a crochet temperature blanket? Their beginnings were quite humble: they’re simple, colorful striped blankets that use the daily temperature to determine the color of the stripes. However, the crochet temperature blanket has evolved. It’s become its own movement as well as a beautiful way to preserve the weather history in your own hometown.

Above: Warm Colored Striped Blanket (affiliate link) by Kathy Merrick found in Crochet in Color

As a child, I loved to sit and listen to the old ranchers’ stories about winters when they were young. Tales of sledding out the second story windows and shoveling tunnels out the front door transfixed me. I remember the front door freezing shut with my family and I outside, and I remember building snow forts. Even so, I don’t remember how cold of a winter it was or how much snow we had that year. Now, I wish I had a temperature blanket as a visual reminder of those years and could compare them to the winters from the ranchers’ stories.

Crocheting History

My dream of a temperature blanket of my childhood is not completely out of reach, however. The Tempestry Project, the tapestry-inspired creation of Emily McNeil, Justin Connelly, and Marissa Connelly, allows you to crochet a blanket based on the year of your choice. They use high temperature data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to create a guide to make a blanket or scarf that gives you a visual history of a specific location. The Tempestry Project also allows you to create crochet or knit histories across multiple years or decades. This enables a visual comparison of the change in the climate over time.

Making a Crochet Temperature Blanket

To create my first crochet temperature blanket, I first need to choose a pattern. Traditional temperature blankets are worked in double crochet, but that’s only one option. Maybe I should choose the chevron design of the Aegean Dreams Throw. If I choose the Tunisian design of the Mulled Spices Afghan or the Hap Blanket, I could work the forward pass in the high temperature and the return pass in the low temperature! You can even work motif blankets like the Babette Blanket as a temperature blanket by working a round in the motif for each day. If you have seven-row motifs, each motif is a week.

Or maybe I should work up to a temperature blanket and crochet a temperature shawl instead. I love the idea of wearing temperature history when I go outside into next year’s weather. The Film Noir Shawl, Going Ashore Shawl, and Maritime Stripes Shawl are perfect for this project. And I even think the Ghost Ranch Shawlette, with its shell stitches, would look perfect in temperature stripes.

Crochet your own piece of history with a crochet temperature blanket (or shawl)! Whether you choose to crochet a piece of history with past temperatures or keep a history of the present by working a row each day, we can each make a difference with our crochet hooks.

Happy crocheting,
Toni

Discover patterns for your crochet temperature blanket