If you look at my 2020 Temperature Blanket, you would have no idea that we lived through a pandemic, that our normal has changed, that our vacations were canceled, that we cover our faces in public now.
Maybe that’s indicative of where our hope should lie in “times like these”—in our one constant in all the craziness—our Lord Jesus Christ. He’s the one who gives us our days and our temperatures. From looking at this blanket, you would have no idea of what the year contained, but only the weather he gave us.
I have chosen to find the blessing in this year (the Lord has given me many) and recognize each day as a gift. Of course, I still remain hopeful that 2021 will bring in the new and take the old pandemic away with it!
I wasn’t actually going to finish my temperature blanket (as per this post), but as the nearly full box of yarn stared at me with a dejected frown (can yarn frown?), I knew I had to.
You can read all about the pattern in this post, but basically, I decided on a corner-to-corner afghan with each day’s high temperature corresponding to six squares. This left 4 squares, which I used to label the beginnings of the seasons.
What worked:
- This pattern was simple, which was one of my goals. The corner-to-corner method is easy.
- The size. The blanket ended up being about 36×36 inches. It is a struggle with temperature blankets to predict a good size, but this one is great for a lap blanket to snuggle with on the couch.
- This blanket did not use much yarn.
What didn’t work:
- The colors. I tried to step out of the box and opt for colors that weren’t typical of a temperature blanket. BUT I just wasn’t into it. I missed my rainbow.
- Tracking. Even though I had a handy dandy self-made graph, it was hard to keep track of where I was on the blanket. In the end, I had enough squares for one more day, so I just filled in what I had left.
Would I do it again? Maybe with twice the colors and different colors. I prefer my other patterns over this one.
In the end, I ended up with a pretty blanket, which will be well used in my house. I love these colors together, but they probably don’t appeal to most people.
In the meantime, I’ve got a box of yarn left! I have already started two projects.
The oranges are going to become the Blanket Mandala CAL by The Lavender Chair. I’ve already made headway on that.
The purple and green are slated to become the Myriad CAL by Iman van der Kraan available as a free download on Ravelry.
As I ring in the 2021, I will do so with yarn in hand hoping for many more blessings in the year to come (and for the pandemic to go away).