Feb 20
Allocating colours.
There's been a wee delay with the temperature blanket but I've allocated colours to numbers so I'm ready to go.
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I decided to use minimum temperatures because of the wider variety of numbers. I have 25 colours in total.
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I tallied the numbers to see which colours were going to be used the most and then spread those colours evenly thoughout the temperatures.
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Swatch and block.
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I've swatched using 3 needle sizes and then blocked the swatch.
I lay the swatch flat on the blocking mat and let it dry.
There's no point in doing a hard pinned out block because this will be a machine wash and flat dry kind of blanket.
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Once it was dry I measured the height of the stripes in all three needle sizes and recorded it. I like the fabric that the smallest needle size creates so I'll be using a 3.25mm needle to knit the blanket - yikes!
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My calculations for the size of the blanket is as follows:
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A typical pregnancy lasts for 280 days and each day is represented by a stripe of colour.
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The stripe pattern that I like is 4 rows which measures at 1.4cm per stripe for the 3.25mm needle.
Therefore 280 x 1.4 = 392cm - way too long for a blanket.
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OK - change of plan.
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I'll use the 2 row stripe with a 3.25mm needle instead.
6mm x 280 = 1.68.
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A single bed blanket measurement according to Google is 165 x 127 so my length is looking good.
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To calculate how many stitches I need to cast on is as follows:
I have 24sts per 10cm so for a blanket that is going to be 130cm wide
130 * 10 = 13 then 13 x 24 sts = 312sts
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I also want an i-cord on each side so the cast on will be 318 sts (312 plus an additional 3 each side for the i-cord)
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Next step - allocating colours to temperature numbers.
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Feb 1 2024
The Temperature Blanket Diaries.
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I've decided to create two temperature blankets, yep, I'm joining the movement!
Mine are going to be slightly different though.
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We have a new grandchild arriving in April so I have decided to create a temperature blanket for our little Oliver based on the temperatures of the days of the 9 months up to his birth.
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I can't make a blanket for Ollie without making a blanket for his soon to be big sister Willow so I'm going to create a 9 month blanket for her too.
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Step 1: find out the daily temperatures for both time frames.
Thank you very much The Bureau of Metereology.
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Step 2: decide on yarn blend and ply.
I knew I wanted to use 100% Merino and was originally thinking of using 10ply but I want to create a lightweight, easy care blanket that has the look and feel of a cotton waffle blanket without using cotton so I decided to swatch with 4ply.
Step 3: choose a pattern and swatch, swatch, swatch.
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I knew I wanted stripes so I went straight to Ravelry and used the filters to narrow my selection down and found a blanket that I liked the look of. I didn't want a harsh line between the stripes, I wanted it to be a little blendy and the pattern I found has a flat woven look that might be right for me.
It uses a stripy yarn and a half linen stitch https://www.ravelry.com/patt.../library/brava-stripe-blanket
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Of course, I had to immediately swatch with whatever yarn I had on my desk. I like the half linen stitch, easy to do and pretty but is it too small a stripe? I added 2 rows of stockinette between the colour changes and I like it. It's a definite stripe but it has a blended join.
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I started with a few rows of garter stitch but I don't like that.
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I added an i-cord to each side to help conceal the colour changes.
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The next swatch I decided to start with 4 rows of stockinette which curls and has the look of an i-cord.
Step 4: decide how big I want the blankets to be - stay posted.
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I only have 9 months of days to work with so I have to work out how long the blanket will be before I can decide on how wide it will be.
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I've swatched using 3mm, 4mm, 3.50mm and before I make my decision I'll swatch with 3.75mm.
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Then I'll wash and block it and have a look at the fabric I've created.
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From there I'll work out the measurements - I'll report back.
Step 5: I need to look at the temperatures and decide whether I'll use the lowest daily temp or the highest daily temp. I'll go with the one that has the greatest range of temps between high and low. I want to use as many colours as possible so I'm using one colour per temperature. I've chosen 25 colours to start with but I might not need all of them.
This is where I'm up to right now. It's a bit of planning and maths but once I've started it will be fairly quick and easy.
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If you're a member of The Yarn Society - my private facebook group - you will be able to buy 100% Merino at 15% off for any order of $100 or more until the 15th Feb.
Feel free to join the group to get the unlimited use code https://www.facebook.com/groups/1221919324660313