Temperature Afghan
Years ago, Bernat Yarns prior to rebranding themselves as Yarnspirations had a blog where they used a Yarn Temperature Gauge for making unique afghans, generally referred to as a Temperature Afghan.
I was reminded of this when Sarah, founder of Repeat Crafter Me, posted this as an idea for crocheters. I've been looking for this gauge and was unable to find it. Thanks, Sarah for the reminder!
Getting Data from the Past
If you don't know the temperatures of the past, you can find them pretty easily. I have written a blog on where to get the information plus there are 4 examples from Crochet Crowd Community Members to gawk at too! Where to Find Temperature Information.
How A Temperature Afghan Works
If you have never heard of a Temperature Afghan, it's pretty straight forward. You commit to crocheting 1 - 3 rows/rounds of your work using the temperature gauge as your colour choice each day. So you can either check your temperature outside of your home or refer to the weather network each day and crochet accordingly. If you think you are not going to crochet for a day, just take the temperature and write it down so when you pick up your project, you have that information handy.
The temperature gauge is showing 6 colours of Caron One Pound yarn.
Once you know the temperature, look at your gauge and crochet the colour that falls within the temperature readings.
The trick is not to cheat the system by falsifying a temperature because you think the colour shouldn't go where it does. The whole point is capturing the temperature as it happens making the afghan a true representation of the season you are crocheting in.
PSST... if you cannot start on the first of the month, you can start anytime, when you are done, no one is really going to know if you started on a the 1st of the month or had to delay it.
Customizing Your Temperature Gauge
In my region of the world, the chances of it hitting anything above 54 - 66 degrees is unlikely at this time of year. So what I would do is to change the temperatures to be closer to what is normal for your region.
So I would just stroke out the temperatures and redo the gauge that is closer to temperatures that are possible. For example, I would actually put my lowest temperature to be up to -20 degrees and work up increments all the way up to a maximum to 13 degrees as my highest point. Be creative, just because there are 8 increments that don't mean you have to have only 8, you can have more colours and closer temperatures.
I would also look at the yarn colours and you can change out the yarn colours too depending on what is in your collection or making something that more reflects your own personal tastes.
To help you further, I have created a downloadable PDF of the Temperature Gauge so you can make your own notes or alterations.
Thermometer Applique
I have written a pattern called the Yarn Thermometer. This pattern will show you how to make an applique that can be applied to your Temperature Afghan.
The colours you have selected for your project are to be used in the thermometer. Once you are done this applique and your project are done. Simply sew this onto the corner of the afghan.
To help you remember what the colours mean, the gauge shows the colours in order of the temperature. So when you look at the project, you can look at the thermometer and remember the temperature increments.
How Many Chains to Start Worksheet
Tips on Selecting the Right Stitch
The Afghan may be up to 365 rows. Based on single crochet using Caron One Pound with a 5 mm or H Hook, 3 days equals 1 inch of height. This means the afghan will be 121" long. If you have seen most temperature afghans, it's way too long and isn't practical.
So I attempted doing slip stitching and I know what you are thinking, 'Slip stitching' an entire afghan is crazy. But wait. You have to do 365 rows. Slip stitching with 5 mm or H Hook using Caron One Pound, you can get 8 days in just 1". This will give you an afghan that is really tight and approximately 46" long instead.
If you want texture, when you are slip stitching, use the front loop only. This will give a unique look and make the afghan have elastic look and feel to it.
If you do a lapghan size of 180 chains to start. You can create an almost square lapghan. Then you can add on a border to make it slightly bigger.
Tutorial
What Types of Projects Can You Do?
It's usually done in granny format but you can follow your own rules or designs. Here is a list of 5 patterns that are great for this. Again, be creative.
Dina says
I'm afraid my project would be about 2 colors. I live in Southern California. Great idea though, I just don't see how it can work for me.
Robin Pearce says
Sure it could! There is a small range of about 25 degrees between high and lows. So if you want 8 colors make your colors change at every three degrees. Another option would be to change shades of the 2 colors you are using. Nothing is impossible is my motto
Daisha says
You can always do 2 or 3 temps per color! And then do special colors for holidays and birthdays!
Ashleigh C H Upadhyaya says
I am going to include rain and snow. You could include other conditions like dry and humid and such, you just have to create your template.
Ashleigh C H Upadhyaya says
Someone suggested making the temperature range smaller, so a difference in 2-4 degrees or so would change the color. I think that would work great for someone in a climate that has a relatively consistent temperature =)
Sorry for multiple comments!
Kathy says
Change the colors every 2-3 degrees instead of 10.
Jan says
I'm trying to figure out a way to do this and not have the blanket be huge! Even 8ft as Nikki said is a pretty big blanket. I'm thinking of only doing a row when there's a color change, which around here with 10 colors would be at least 12 times a month, usually more. Maybe with silver for snowy days and a sparkly blue for rain.
Opinions? Or how did you make your blanket manageable?
Joanne Mas says
I used a linen stitch. (Sc, chain 1) Since you are putting the sc into the chain one space of the previous row, the rows are short. My blanket for 2016 is about 80 inches long.
Vilma says
Did you use a high and a low?
Brianna Trowbridge says
Could you make this in a c2c with it turning out right?
Sharon Hagins says
I found a pattern on another site and she said she figured out how big she wanted it, figured out how many clusters it would be divided by 365 and it was 24 clusters a day.....so the colors changed in the middles of rows.