I went ahead and made a spreadsheet. And then I added a page. And another page. Then I started doing math. Then I did more math. Then I corrected some math. Then I started playing with colors and the whole thing started to take on a life of its own. By evening my head was spinning with so many ideas that it was time to close the computer and go to bed.
This morning clearer heads prevailed. It turned out my math mistake was not a mistake at all but the correction was a HUGE mistake (thank you Kay), fixed the pages, cleaned them up and I’m ready to rock and roll.
So cats and kittens, I’m ready to share it if you want it. Drop me an email at kjt1211@optonline.net or dm me your email address and I’ll sent it along.
Here’s what’s in it:
There are three pages of dates. One for just a straight once day pattern. One for a pattern with dividers for each month. One with a pattern for a divider each season. Each has columns for High, Low, and Average Temperatures.
There’s some info at the top of each page. If you are doing the Kaffe Fasset Garter Strip Shawl there is a number for your total number of ridges for each of the date configurations and a cast on number to maintain the original proportions. They are all pretty close so feel free to cast on the original 252 stitches and run with it. I may have been getting a little obsessive last night. It happens sometimes.
The second set of numbers are for how many Granny Squares you would need to add to make a perfectly square blanket. The square route of 365 is 19.104blahblahblah. If you want make a square for every day, you’ll need to go to a 20 square by 20 square blanket. The number of extra squares that you need to make is there as well. Do what you will with them. You can commemorate a special day with an extra square or you can leave them all neutral to just fill in the gaps. It’s up to you. If that doesn’t tickle your fancy, you can just do a 19 x 19 blanket and give yourself a four days off.
The next few pages are sample temperature charts. These will determine how many colors you will use. It’s important to remember that these are just samples. There’s one for 10 colors, one for 19 colors, one for 21 colors (that would be Kay’s plan), and one for 25 colors which gives you the option to use different colors for spring and fall. On the one hand, 60 in April is very different from 60 in October. On the other hand I’m trying to show an annual heat map here and that could be confusing. I’m still deciding.
There are some notes to all these charts that I think would be helpful.
- These are just samples. I know I’m repeating myself but I don’t want you think you’re locked into these.
- If you’re meandering along the Garter Stripe Shawl pathway, each ridge (two rows) is a day. The original pattern has you doing half the ridges and then repeating them in reverse. The charts are for going straight through without and flipping and reversing (with a nod to Missy Elliott). I kind of feel like Kaffe Fassett would be tickled by this.
- These charts were all done as if you all lived in my apartment building. (That would be awesome!! We would have so much fun!) But, in real life, we all live in very different places. If you’re in, say, Miami, and you are hitting days between 20 and 25 degrees Fahrenheit you’ve got bigger fish to fry than working on your blanket. Your chart will be different than mine. So I put the location at the top of each temp chart.
- If you make a chart for where you live and want to add it, email it to me and I’ll put it in the workbook. Has anyone ever actually filled up an excel workbook? I think we should try.
- If you need help with making your chart, reach out to me via email at kjt1211@optonline.net and I will happily help you figure out your temperatures.
- To paraphrase the immortal words of Meatloaf, “I would do anything for love, but I won’t fill in your daily temperatures for you.” Would that I could but I have a full time job, a house to keep clean (you have no idea how funny that is!), and a Covid damaged social life that I need to at least try to safely maintain. Not to mention a house full of plants that I need to at least try to keep alive. Keeping track of your temperatures is on you. Unless you live in my zip code. Then I’ll share.
- There’s been lots of whispering about what to do/add/not do/not add etc. to this pattern. The answer to all of them is do what you want to do.
a. You can marl the high and low each day on your ridges. I don’t know what kind of witchcraft this would be but I’m glad we can invite Cecilia to the party.
b. You can add a row of eyelets for your dividers if you want to do dividers.
c. You could do your daily ridge in eyelets when there’s more than a set amount of precipitation on the day you’re working on. Half an inch of rain, an inch of snow, any amount of sleet or hail. You decide.
d. Any other kind of madness you can dream up. Just share it if it works. Or if it doesn’t work.
- I made a range of temperature charts because not all of us have the same budget or stash. And we certainly don’t all have access to a warehouse full of yarn. Well we kind of do because Kay and Ann have very generously offered 10% off Rowan Felted Tweed to help us all out. Just use the code TEMPERATURE at checkout between now and January 15th to take them up on their offer. Sometimes it’s easier for me to buy my yarn piecemeal instead of all at once. I’m not going to need to need Rage until summer (hopefully) so I can buy it in a few months when it won’t be as big a hit to my budget. Use whatever yarn and gauge works for you. Remember that if you are going to order from MDK, tomorrow is the last day for shipping between now and January 3rd. Rest easy Team Atlas and enjoy your eggnog. Which leads to:
- Just like every other time we knit together, there is no beginning and no end. Well there’s a beginning and an end to the year but start when you want to start, finish when you want to finish, and work at your own pace. Which leads to my list tip:
- The only rule is that there are no rules! Your house, your knitting, your rules.
I hope you’ll join in the fun. Now that I’ve gotten my “left brain” part of my process out of the way, my “right brain” has a million ideas. I’ll post them if they turn out to be worth sharing.
Maybe we can get Billy Idol to host a “Hot in the City” singalong zoom at our halfway point.
ETA: I forgot to mention that there are Celsius temperature charts as well. The dates are American style but I can make changes and additions as needed. Just let me know. And let me know if you find any typos or mistakes. I’m kind of winging it here.
