Fun Alternatives to a Temperature Blanket (Crochet/Knitting)

A few years ago I wrote a blog about making a temperature blanket in knitting or crochet, this is the link to that blog if you've no idea what I'm talking about: Original Temperature Blanket Blog

The basic idea is that you make yourself a temperature chart, and allocate a yarn colour to each temperature, then you knit or crochet a row every day for a year in the relevant colour.... 

BUT, it got me thinking..... a blanket is a bit of a large project for me, I don't think I have the level of commitment needed! I wonder what other things I can make in the "temperature tracking" method!? An absolute favourite I came across pretty quickly was a Temperature Snake!

Isn't he gorgeous!? This would be wonderful to make for a baby's first year, a lovely snuggly snake with the secret story of the year's temperature making up the coloured stripes. The picture above is from the very wonderful Lucy at Attic24. Some temperature snake patterns can be found here.

A couple of years ago at Yarndale (our local yarn festival) I got chatting to a lady that told me a story that has made me laugh ever since! She'd heard of a lady that had tracked how late her train was each day in the form of a knitted blanket! Isn't that just so British! I've searched online for evidence of it but can't find anything, I just think it's such a fun idea, I'd love to see the finished product! UPDATE: a lady on Facebook found the original article so here it is: Train Delay Scarf!

Along the same lines, this popped up on my Facebook feed a couple of weeks ago.... a Father has recorded his baby's first year of sleep, done some computer wizardry to convert it to a knitting pattern and produced this masterpiece! I love it! Read the full article here.

Another take on the temperature side of things is a temperature scarf - this appeals to me much more than a blanket or afghan, a row a day on a scarf sounds much more achievable! Here's an example of a lovely one from PippinPoppyCock...

Perhaps at this time of year (just after Christmas, getting prepared for a new year diet!) an appropriate option is a Weight Loss Blanket? I love this idea. Anything that helps keep us motivated when we're trying to shift a bit of weight gets a big thumbs up from me! I had a little think and plotted an idea out in my Crochet Project Bible...

I started at Slimming World back in October so I would probably begin with my starting weight and do a row for each week since then, up until I reach my target. A row a week is much more manageable than a row a day so I think this method would suit me! 

Without wanting to turn this blog into tooooo much of an advert (!) you could use our Diet Diary alongside our Project Bibles to help you make a weight loss project... 

Like any new project, the planning of the colours and choosing a pattern is my favourite part so I'll probably spend a couple of hours on Pinterest and in my local Yarn shop before I actually produce anything BUT, I enjoy it so that's what I'll do!

I would absolutely LOVE to hear some of your ideas for alternatives to a Temperature Blanket, do comment below and let me know if you can think of any more, or if you've come across any inspiration online!

Thanks to the sources I've tagged in this blog for the lovely pictures and patterns, happy project planning! Lucy xx