Adventures of a Laura: Crochet Blanket Inspiration: A Finished Project!

It seems like ages since I finished a crochet project and that has everything to do with the fact that I cannot finish things, I can only start them. I must have six or seven projects on the hook at the moment, some huge and some tiny. But!! I have finally finished something! It’s been a long project – a year long, in fact - I have finished my Temperature Blanket project!

I started this on my 30^th birthday – you can read about the beginning here. I started the blanket on holiday to Norfolk. The aim was to make one year long blanket to get a full change of temperature for my 30^th year. However what actually happened is that I didn’t plan it very well and I had to split the project into two smaller, six-month blankets instead. The second blog I wrote about it is here; after less than two months I already had a list of things that I would do differently.

My birthday and Davids birthday, in crochet temperature blanket form.

A row of sparkly gold for the day we got engaged

The third main update on the blanket was in February, when I was halfway through the first part. These blankets have been great to pick up when I have been anxious as I could just focus on a few rows and get them done without worrying about complicated stitches or patterns.

I finished the first six-month blanket in April and you can read about it here. I do love this blanket – I really dislike the colour green which is just _great_ as I work outdoors and have an allotment, but the blend of blues and greens on this blanket is very earthy, natural and soothing. It is muted and calm and is very interesting to see the daily fluctuations in temperature over time. Each colour had only three degrees attached to it (for example, 36+, 35-33, 32-30, 29-27 etc) so the colours represent a narrow range.

In May 2019 I had started the second half of the Temperature Blanket project. I had a slight stitch-counting issue and I had to make a patch for it – read about that here. I haven’t blogged much about the blanket since May, probably because it was a scorcher of a summer and thus not blanket making weather! It is great being able to cosy up under a blanket as you make it, but not when temperatures are around 30 degrees.

I took this blanket away with me to the Isle of Wight for our annual birthday holiday getaway trip. I was determined to get it done by the time we got home! When we went, I had about seven weeks to catch up on, so I had my work cut out. Fueled by hot chocolates with mini marshmallows and whippy cream, I nearly did it! By the time we left I think I only had a week left to do on the blanket. I finished it that weekend, only a week later than planned.

The two blankets, side by side. October is at the bottom of both pieces.

So my year-long blanket project is over and I nearly finished it in a year. I stopped counting how many balls of yarn I used but it was a lot. I learnt so much doing this project and will probably never make another one (or two!) for lots of reasons. However, saying that, it has been fun, I have two new blankets out of it, and they are both so different yet I somehow managed to get them the same size.

Only two more blankets to finish before I can start a Sophies Universe…….