Anniversary Temperature Blanket

Today has been a tough day for me emotionally. Lots of old memories cropping up this morning, after some time at my mother's house. I got the pleasure of looking at some old pictures of many family members and friends. I learned that my mom and her friend gave birth on the same day, at the same hospital. My mom's friend had a son named Jacob. I got to see a lot of pictures of all my grandparents and extended family. Some wonderful pictures of my father, who I miss dearly.

Even though, yesterday I worked on the Anniversary Temperature Blanket (for my mother), today I still felt the need to work on it. It's a bit theraputic to work on this particular blanket.

So far, this is what I have done for the blanket. The colors you see on the left are the highs for approximately 11/20/1984 to 12/28/1984 in Phoenix, AZ. The colors on the right are the lows for that time frame. I'm really liking the uniqueness of this project. I like that I don't have to plan as much for it, but it will still come out looking beautiful. Even my OCD is okay with this blanket, which surprises me. I love watching the rows develop in different colors.

This is my current list of temperature ranges for this blanket. I decided to work from end to beginning. The OCD in me said the top row of the blanket had to be the first day of the time frame I'm working with and that I couldn't make the bottom row into the top row, simply by flipping the blanket over. I marked holidays, their marriage and anniversary, and their birthdays, so that I could change up the stitches accordingly. Normal days are worked in single crochet. Holidays are worked in half-double crochet. Their birthdays, day they were married, and their one-year anniversary will be in double crochet.

This is my thermometer paper. I would never be able to keep track of this in my head. So I taped a small piece of yarn to the paper and wrote down the corresponding temperatures next to it. Hopefully this paper survives the duration of this project, as it isn't attached to a notebook. So far, so good though.

This is the basket full of yarn and supplies for this blanket. So far, as you can tell from the blanket, I've only used the same general colors over and over for each side (the high and the low), but I had one row of bright green randomly and as I approach the middle of November 1984, I'm adding some more green.

I am using various brands of yarn. I just grabbed a variety out of my stockpile. Some of it is Red Heart Super Saver, some of it is Impeccable brand, and I'm sure there are a couple of other brands in there. I am using an I hook. I wanted the blanket to be a bit more moveable, but didn't want it to become lacey-like, so I thought an I hook was good. I am a huge fan of an I hook for blankets.

Weather Underground is where I obtained the weather history for Phoenix, AZ. All you have to do is put in the dates, location, and bam!, it gives you all sorts of weather related information. If you are thinking about doing a temperature blanket, I highly recommend using Weather Underground to gather the information you require.

Thanks for checking out the blog. I will continue to update this blanket as time goes on. If you have any questions about it, feel free to ask me. You can use the comments section or email me at wednesdayscrafts@gmail.com.

Baby Booties Pattern

I thoroughly checked this pattern for typing errors and general pattern errors. If you find any though, PLEASE leave a comment or feel free to email me at wednesdayscrafts@gmail.com and let me know.

Items needed:

• small amount of worsted weight yarn in 1-2 colors
• G hook
• yarn needle
• scissors

Abbreviations used:

• ch(s): chain(s)
• sc: single crochet
• hdc: half-double crochet
• st(s): stich(es)
• sl st: slip stitch
• hdc2tog: half-double crochet 2 stitches together

Notes: This pattern is worked in rounds. You do not need to turn your work at the end of each round. Ch 1 at the beginning of a round does not count as a stitch/single crochet. Ch 2 at the beginning of a round does count as a hdc, though.

Color changes: You can decide where to make color changes for this pattern, if you want to make them at all. I will have notations in the pattern where I made my color changes, when I created these booties initially. Everyone has their own technique for color changes. In this pattern I do so by bringing up the new color in the slip stitch used to close each round, cut the old color, tie the ends together, and crochet over the ends.

Ch 10

Round 1: sc in 2nd ch from hook, sc in next 5 ch, hdc in next xh, 2 hdc in next ch, 4 hdc in last ch, working on opposite side of ch, 2 hdc in next ch, hdc in next ch, sc in next 5 ch, 2 sc in last ch, sl st to 1st sc, ch 1. Remember, do not turn work. [stitch total: 13 sc, 10 hdc]

Round 2: 2 sc in 1st st (same st as ch 1), sc in next 5 sts, hdc in next 2 sts, 2 hdc in next st, hdc in next st, 2 hdc in next 2 sts, hdc in next st, 2 hdc in next st, hdc in next 2 sts, sc in next 5 sts, 2 sc in next 2 sts, sl st to 1st sch, ch 1. [stitch total: 16 sc, 14 hdc]

Round 3: sc in 1st st, 2 sc in next st, sc in next 7 sts, *2 sc in next st, sc in next 2 sts*, repeat from * to * 2 more times, 2 sc in next st, sc in next 7 sts, 2 sc in next st, sc in next st, 2 sc in next 2 sts, sl st to 1st sc. [stitch total: 38 sc]

Round 4: ch 2 (remember, this counts as 1st hdc), working in back loops only hdc in next 37 sts, sl st to top of ch 2. [stitch total: 38 hdc (37 hdc + ch 2)]

Color change at end of round 4 if desired.

Round 5: ch 2, hdc in next 10 sts, *hdc2tog over next 2 sts*, repeat from * to * 5 more times, hdc in next 15 sts, sl st to top of ch 2. [stitch total: 26 hdc, 6 hdc2tog]

Round 6: ch 2, hdc in next 9 sts, *hdc2tog over next 2 sts*, repeat from * to * 3 more times, hdc in next 14 sts, sl st to top of ch 2. [stitch total: 24 hdc, 4 hdc2tog]

Round 7: ch 2, hdc in next 6 sts, 8hdc2tog over next 2 sts*, repeat from * to * 4 more times, hdc in next 11 sts, sl st to top of ch 2. [stitch total: 18 hdc, 5 hdc2tog]

Color change at end of round 7 if desired.

Round 8: ch 1, sc in 1st st and next 22 sts, sl st to 1st st. [stitch total: 23 sc]

Rounds 9-14: repeat row 8.

Round 15: ch 1, sc in 1st st and next 6 sts, 3 hdc in next st, sc in next 11 sts, 3 hdc in next st, sc in next 3 sts, sl st in 1st st. [stitch total: 21 sc, 6 hdc]

Round 16: ch 1, sc in 1st st and next 7 sts, 3 sc in next st, sc in next 13 sts, 3 sc in next st, sc in next 4 sts. [stitch total: 31 sc]

Tie off and weave in ends.

The hat pictured can be found here. When I initially made the hat, I followed the directions exactly. The hat did not come out very deep for me, so I added a few more rounds to deepen it. I was much happier with it.

The pattern for the star embellishment on the booties can be found here. It's super easy.

Revitalizing Wednesday's Crafts

Many years ago I had this blog up and running. For a while I was quite consistent with it. I have decided it needs to be revitalized. I removed all the old patterns I had on here. Fear not, there are many patterns to come and possibly some old ones will be returning.

My skills as a crocheter, have vastly improved. I wasn't terrible before, but I am much better now. My yarn collection is a bit overwhelming. I recently moved it from a couple locations (long story) to my home. It is organized (a huge thank you to my other half for most of that) and has been calling my name.

I currently have 3 major projects going on, all blankets. One is a blanket for my step-son, C. He picked the pattern and the colors. He'd been asking me for a while to make him one, because he'd seen the smaller, older ones I had made for my children. I started it about a month ago and it is coming along nicely. I am also working on a solid granny square-pixel-skull blanket for a friend. I've had the materials for quite a while, but I got distracted with life and put off working on it. But, I have been rotating it with my other projects, that way I don't get bored with any of them and they all get worked on, on a regular basis.

I am also working on a temperature blanket for my mother. It covers December 28, 1983 to December 28, 1984, from the day my parents got married to their first anniversary. It took me a while, but I managed to gather the highs and lows for each day. Which was 367 days. It happened to be a leap year and I wanted to include their 1 year anniversary, so I ended up with a couple extra days. My parents were married in Phoenix, Arizona. Because of that, the temperature range for the highs (54F to 111F) didn't give me quite as much range as I wanted in the color. I decided to do half a row in the lows for each day and the other half is the high for that day. I also went in increments of 5 degrees. I picked this project because I wanted to give my mother a gift to remember my father by. He passed away February 4th. I figured it would be theraputic for me and would give my mom a nice HUGE warm blanket that she's been asking for. But, that's enough details on that project. I promise you will get updates and pictures of it on a regular basis.

I will be posting a baby bootie pattern very shortly. It is the first baby bootie pattern I have ever written and I am quite proud of it.

Thank you so much for coming back to my blog!

Ashley