RECORDING THE WEATHER AS A VISUAL FOR NEXT YEAR

Getting Started

Temperature Blanket 2023. The idea of a temperature blanket is to crochet (or knit) a number of rows on a blanket each day for a full calendar year. The colors used each day correspond with the temperature outside.

I started crocheting last year with my daughter, we share our makes on instagram @ourcrochetlife, usually use super chunky & size 15mm hook. Using 2 strands of DK & a 10mm & HDC for this project as I love the rhythm of the stitch.

Picked just 5 colours as temperature doesn’t change much in Scotland. There are so many ideas you can do with these blankets so fun to see how the temperature changes in the garden over the year.

Pick your colours & decide on a stitch 

As the first permaculture principle is to Observe and Interact, I feel we’re covering that with the weather this year.

Using 2 strands of DK yarn with 10mm Hook and HDC – Half Double Crochet stitch as I love the rhythm of this stitch . Picked just 5 colours as I wanted to be able to look at a glance at what range it was next year.

Under 0° White (cold/snow)

1-6° Grey (winter)

7-13° Duck Egg (spring/autumn)

14-20° Vintage Peach (summer)

Over 21° Mustard (hot)

Taking the highest temperature from each day and using that as the temperature colour I use. For example if the highest temperature of the day was 6° then I would do 1 row of Grey

Adjusted my scale a little on the white though, to the average rather than the highest as some days it’s been -7° at night, then -3° most of the day, but for an hour or 2 its 1°, which would make it grey and I don’t feel that would represent the day.

I want to look back and see the days that were solid frozen ground outside that we couldn’t plant outside- these will be white days.

Starting Temperature Blanket Day 10 Video Reel

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A post shared by KATRINA & CLAYTON (@buildingafoodforest_scotland)

Temperature Blanket Day 20 Video Reel

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A post shared by KATRINA & CLAYTON (@buildingafoodforest_scotland)

Temperature Blanket Day January Completed Video Reel

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A post shared by KATRINA & CLAYTON (@buildingafoodforest_scotland)

It is a really fun way to see the whole year of weather, looking forward to seeing patterns that come up too.

Are you doing a temperature blanket or recording the weather of any kind?

Katrina & Clayton and family live in East Ayrshire and share their daily life in the garden on instagram. They practice permaculture principles in the garden, reducing & repurposing waste whenever they can. Katrina shows how home educating in nature has helped Clayton thrive.

Clayton Completed The Grow and Learn Course with the Royal Caledonian Horticultural Society Last Year. This year he started the Level 2 Nurture Course. Clayton is 15, Autistic, Non Verbal & has been Home Educated for the last 5yrs.