This is the second temperature blanket from 2017. You can see the first one here. I'm not planning to make the third. I don't need to. I've done two. That's enough for me.
The pattern for both is the Moss Stitch, or Granite Stitch, or Linen Stitch. Same stitch, different names. Very easy. Single crochet and chain, repeated all the way across. Then in the subsequent rows you single crochet into the space where the chain was in the previous row. This way the colors from one row dip into the next. On one hand I feel like I need to branch out and use different patterns, but on the other hand, I really, really like the effect.
I've actually got a couple other blankets in the works. One will eventually be a sampler, and the color scheme is warmer - reds, oranges, peaches, yellows - I take yarn with me when I go to Julia's softball games, and learn a stitch and make some squares with that stitch or pattern in a few different colors. Small, portable projects.
I've also got a blanket I started for a family member who was in a bad car accident and that's a long story which I'll tell some day but not yet.
And, because I need to pursue the temperature blanket in Moss stitch but not in 2017 any more, I came up with another idea. And, like most of my ideas, there is a long preamble.
A while back I crocheted an afghan for each of my kids.
This is Alex's:
And this is Julia's:
For Julia's, she picked the color scheme and we both picked yarns. The whole thing is just in single crochet, and I used up a whole skein at a time. The yarn is Red Heart Super Saver.
For Alex's, I used a bulkier yarn. He gave the ok on the colors, and I made up the layout. I used half double crochet, back loop only. It's a heavy blanket. And Alex's bedroom is small and in the winter, it's actually pretty warm in there. So the blanket is too heavy. He didn't use it, and eventually Julia snagged it. She likes to take them. At the moment she also has the second temperature blanket in her room, even though she doesn't need it now that the weather is warm and she already has a comforter, a fleece blanket, and, now, three afghans in her possession.
Anyway, I told Alex I still want to make him a blanket, and he said he liked the weight and feel of the temperature blankets. He likes blues, so I picked out a variety of shades for him to choose from. And I am using the moss stitch again, because.
Here's a bit of it:
Rather than do a whole year, like the year he was born, I decided to do something more personal. I'm using the high temperatures from my pregnancy. It's approximate, based on my original due date and the 40 weeks leading up to that, plus the few days past the due date until his actual birth date. So it's 40 weeks and three days of temperatures. 283 days. 283 rows. 12 colors, plus a black foundation chain. I'll use black as the border around the other three sides, too.
The blues are soothing and the yarn is soft. As I crochet the rows, I think about when I was pregnant with Alex, and try to work the joy of memory into every stitch.
Oh, and the yarns I'm using are Caron Simply Soft, Premiere Deborah Norville Everyday, and Bernat Simply Soft. Yeah, the Everyday is thicker than the other two, but not by much and it's not noticeable in the afghans. (Same combination of brands were used in the other temperature blankets.) And the hook is Susan Bates, H/5mm. I like this one because the tip is a little pointier than some of the other brands and it pokes into the yarn smoothly.
That's about it.
I briefly - very briefly - thought about writing a tutorial, with lots of pictures of course (like my old cooking posts), about doing the moss stitch, but there are plenty of tutorials out there that are easy to follow. I used this one from Moogly.
I'll post more pictures as this afghan grows.
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