Sunday 22 December 2019

The Hot & Cold Blanket - Join me in 2020 for a temperature blanket crochet along...

So you want to make a temperature blanket?  Well you have come to the right place.  We will be starting a new crochet along in 2020, with a brand new blanket design.  If you took part in this years crochet along, then you will be well on your way to completing your blanket.  If you didn't then you can read all about it here...  So what's new this year?  New colours, new design and a different approach to choosing temperatures, I give you, The Hot & Cold Blanket.




For those of you that have never made a temperature blanket before, the concept is simple.  You allow the daily temperature, to dictate what colour you will add to your blanket on that day.  There are many different styles and patterns to choose from.  Our pattern for 2019 was a stripy blanket, in Linen stitch using 20 different colours.  This year I will be using only 10 colours, with 1 extra colour for joining.



Hot And Cold Blanket


Abbreviations

US Terms (UK conversion)
dc - double crochet (treble crochet)
sl st - slip stitch
ch - chain
sp - space


Materials

DK yarn in chosen colours
4mm (G) hook
Darning needle

I am using Scheepjes Softfun Denim in colours 500, 517, 516, 518, 520, 507, 504, 503, 505, 514 and Scheepjes Softfun 2510 for joining.  Don't you just hate it when yarn companies don't bother to name their colours?  This particular yarn is delicious though so I'll forgive Scheepjes just this once.  It's a mix of cotton and acrylic and is very soft.  I love the slight variation in colour throughout the yarn and am really looking forward to hooking this up.


This chart shows my chosen colours and allocated temperatures for 2020.  Depending on where you live, you might want to adjust the temperature range and colours.





Each day you will check your local weather station for both your highest and lowest temperatures of the day.  We are going to be making 3 round granny squares.  The first round will be your coolest temperature of the day, the second your highest and the third round will be your joining colour.  I recommend the join as you go method for this blanket.


Granny Square

Ch4 and join with sl st to form ring

Round 1 Ch3, 2dc into ring, ch2, [ 3dc into the ring, ch2] 3 times, join with  sl st to top  ch3 and fasten off if you are using a new colour for next round. 




Round 2  Join new colour in any corner sp (or sl st to corner sp if working with same colour), ch3, 2dc into same sp, ch2, 3dc into same sp (corner formed), [ 3dc into next sp, ch2, 3dc into same sp] 3 times, join with sl st to top ch3 and fasten off.  


Round 3  First square only, with joining colour, join in any corner sp, ch3, 2dc in same sp, ch2, 3dc in same sp, [3dc in next sp, 3dc in next sp, ch2, 3dc in same sp] 3 times, 3dc in next sp, join with sl st to the top ch3 and fasten off.  


Round 3 Subsequent squares, complete using the join as you go method...



Join squares diagonally from corner to corner using the formula below.  Day 7 will be next to day 4 and so on...



The finished blanket will be 19 x 19 squares, making a total of 361.  We will use the last 5 day's colours to add to the border.


I will post updates as we go, along with a border pattern.  Why not join the CAL group.


Pin it for later...



I can't wait to get started and I do hope you will join me.

Happy hooking!
Catherine
x





Facebook CAL Group

Ravelry Pattern Page


I have been asked for an equivalent colour substitution for Stylecraft Special DK and while the colours are not an exact match this is the closest I could get...



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18 comments:

  1. This sounds like fun, but I can't buy more yarn of any kind as I'm overflowing with it and have no more space. Would it be possible for you to give us similar colours to work with in Stylecraft Special DK?

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  2. Hi Sandra, I have had a look at the colours and while there is not an exact match, I have added a diagram with the best substitutions...

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    1. that's really kind. Thank you! Are you able to put it on your blog here as I don't use Facebook!

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    2. Yes it's on the blog at the bottom of the post :)

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  3. Thank you so much for hosting this CAL. I hope you don' t mind but I added your link to my list of CAL's. https://whatsnanamaking.com/crochet-alongs/ Love this idea!!

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    1. Thanks for adding me to your list of CAL's, I hope you enjoy it...

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  4. Thanks for the update on this CAL, Catherine! I see you have added a third neutral beige-brown colour. I don't think you mentioned a colour choice for this joining round, so I've tentatively used white to see how I feel about it! Another idea was Parchment or Stone in the Stylecraft Special DK. It's getting exciting to see it take shape! I find the corner to corner joining interesting!

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    1. The colour I have chosen for joining is probably in between Grey and Graphite in the Stylecraft range. I am using white for the border of last years blanket, so wanted to go for something a little different. I think white as a joining colour will look wonderful too though, both the grey and the white will make the colours pop.

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  5. Found you again. Whew! I realize that I have to go back to the original post to find out if you've added anything new concerning the Hot and Cold CAL! You perhaps won't be making new postings on this, so I will just come back here when I need to see the next joining stage!

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    1. Yes I will be adding the first few days here as I go along. I want to replace that ugly mock up with an actual photo to guide placement. After that I will only be making seasonal updates, which will have their own post so you will see those on your blogger feed. I also post on Instagram, I don't know if you use that?

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    2. Thanks for explaining how this will work. No, I don't go on Instagram. I have enough social media with two photo sites I post on, my own blog and visiting other blogs and sites about photography and crochet. I love yours! I've also started, since you posted about it, a Cath Kidston inspired project with Stylecraft Aran. It's so lovely and soft and warm!

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    3. Yes I do like the Stylecraft aran, especially for making blankets. They work up so quickly too.

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  6. Catherine, will you be giving the diagramme of how we need to continue adding our squares on the diagonal? We shall need it for Day 7 tomorrow! I couldn't find any help on this when I researched it on the web. Maybe you give more details on your Facebook group?

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    1. Hi Sandra, you just follow the formula in the diagram, adding subsequent squares in the same way. So day 7 will be next to day 4 and day 8 will be next to day 5 and so on...

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    2. Ok. thank you. I understand that far... Day 9 will be next to Day 6. Then I guess we have to start going higher up and creating a new row at the top so that we don't just get a three-row strip! I've never worked this way before!

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  7. Hi! Do you sew in your ends as you go?

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    1. Hi Melissa, I don't sew them I just crochet over them as I go along.

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