Knit Temperature Blanket – Free Tutorial

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Creating a temperature blanket is a fun and personalized knitting project that allows you to capture the year’s weather patterns in a beautiful, cozy keepsake. Whether you live in a hot and sunny climate or enjoy milder temperatures, this blanket can reflect the unique weather of your area. So let me guide you through how to knit your very own temperature blanket, including the custom color scheme I chose to represent warmer climates, like mine. Plus, I’ll share links to the exact knitting tools, yarns, and accessories I used to bring my project to life—so you can easily gather everything you need to make your own masterpiece!

So, What is a Temperature Blanket Anyway?

A temperature blanket is a special knit or crochet blanket where you create one row each day throughout the year, using a different color of yarn to represent the high temperature of that day. It’s a beautiful way to capture the changing seasons and create a unique, colorful blanket as the year progresses.

…ok, let’s get started with the basics and dive into the materials you’ll need.

Knit Temperature Blanket – Free Tutorial

The Yarn

Before you begin, you’ll need to choose your yarn. While there are many temperature blanket color keys available online, I found that most of them didn’t quite suit the weather in my area. After working on my blanket for two months, I realized I wouldn’t even get to use half of the rainbow! I wanted a full spectrum of vibrant colors that truly represented the climate where I live. So, I created my own color key, specifically designed for areas where the high temperature rarely dips below 50°F (10°C) but often soars above 100°F (37°C). If that sounds like your climate, you’ll love this color scheme!

Here’s the yarn I used for each temperature range:

Temperature Color Key

High Temperature	Yarn Color	Yarn I Used (Link)
>32°F (0°C)	White	Caron Simply Soft in White
40°-44°F (4°-6°C)	Light Pink	Caron Simply Soft in Strawberry
45°-49°F (7°-9°C)	Hot Pink	Caron Simply Soft in Neon Pink
50°-54°F (10°-12°C)	Light Purple	Caron Simply Soft in Orchid
55°-59°F (13°-15°C)	Dark Purple	Caron Simply Soft in Iris*
60°-64°F (16°-18°C)	Light Blue	Caron Simply Soft in Robin’s Egg
65°-69°F (19°-20°C)	Bright Blue	Caron Simply Soft in Cobalt Blue
70°-74°F (21°-23°C)	Light Green	Caron Simply Soft in Lime Light
75°-79°F (24°-26°C)	Bright Green	Caron Simply Soft in Kelly Green
80°-84°F (27°-28°C)	Light Yellow	Bernat Super Value in Yellow**
85°-89°F (29°-31°C)	Bright Yellow	Caron Simply Soft in Lemonade
90°-94°F (32°-34°C)	Light Orange	Caron One Pound Yarn in Peach***
95°-99°F (35°-37°C)	Bright Orange	Caron Simply Soft in Neon Orange
100°-104°F (38°-40°C)	Bright Red	Caron Simply Soft in Red
105°-109°F (41°-42°C)	Dark Red	Caron Simply Soft in Autumn Red
<110°F (43°C)	Black	Caron Simply Soft in Black****

Yarn changes I would make if I knit a temperature blanket again using this color key:

* I would use Caron Simply Soft in Grape. I think it would have been a prettier purple.

** I would use Caron Simply Soft in Sunshine. I should have used the same brand yarn throughout the whole blanket. The yarn I chose was just a little thicker and stiffer than I like, and I had to use quite a bit of it so you can feel and see the difference in yarn.

*** I would have used Caron Simply Soft in Light Country Peach for all the same reason I just mentioned above. I just happened to have a ton of this yarn already so I figured I would use it.

**** I did not use black for my over 110°F (43°C) days and I wish I did! I used the bright red and dark red together and it is so thick and bulky, I hate it!

Fun Fact: Even though I made this color key myself, I still did not have a single white or light pink row on my knit temperature blanket!

Knit Temperature Blanket – Free Tutorial

The Needles

Next, you’ll need the right tools for knitting. The needle you are going to be using is circular 40 inch (102cm) knitting needle size US 3 (3.25mm). For this blanket pattern, I used my favorite needles—ChiaoGoo Red Lace Knitting Needles in US Size 3 (3.25mm). After trying many types, from plastic to bamboo to cheap metal ones, these ChiaoGoo needles are by far my top choice. If you’re building your knitting supply collection, I highly recommend the ChiaoGoo Twist Stainless Steel Interchangeable Set. While they are a bit pricey, they’re truly the only set of needles you’ll ever need.

The Other Stuff

A few additional tools can make this knit temperature blanket even easier. You’ll likely want to have some stitch markers on hand. Placing a marker after a set number of stitches helps you count in smaller sections, especially helpful when knitting blankets. A yarn bowl keeps my yarn from tangling, a yarn winder makes perfect center-pull yarn cakes, and a fabric shaver helps create crisp lines and makes the pattern really pop!

Knit Temperature Blanket – Free Tutorial

Temperature Tracking

You’ll also need a method to track your daily temperatures. Choose whichever tracking method suits you best. To help you begin your temperature blanket project, I’ve created a free PDF temperature tracker that you can download and use. This tracker will make it easier to record the daily temperatures and keep your project organized. Just download the file below, print it out or import it into your favorite digital notebook (I used Good Notes) and start noting the temperatures to create your own unique, beautiful blanket! Download the file below.

There are several ways you can track the temperature for your area. Personally, I used a mix of my local weather forecast on the morning news, my weather app, and, when I fell behind on recording, I would check wunderground.com for the weather history of the days I missed. One great feature of this website (which I have no affiliation with, by the way, I just really like it) is that it allows you to look up weather data from any year. For example, if you wanted to make a temperature blanket as a gift for someone’s birthday, you could go back to the year they were born and create a blanket that reflects the temperatures from that year!

Me too! Lets do this…

Knit Temperature Blanket – Free Tutorial

Skill Level: Beginner! Make this your first knitting project!

Materials:

• 1-3 skeins of yarn in each color (use your best judgement for the average temps in your area)
• Circular 40 inch (102cm) Knitting Needle Size US 3 (3.25mm)
• Stitch Markers

Abbreviations

• K – Knit
• P – Purl
• RS – Right Side (the front of the blanket)
• WS – Wrong Side (the back of the blanket)
• S – Stockinette Stitch (Knit the RS, Purl the WS)
• x – Times the stitch is repeated
• * – Stitch Repeat

Knit Temperature Blanket – Free Tutorial

Disclaimer: This blanket took me 18 months to knit, and I learned a ton along the way! In this tutorial, I’ll be sharing my experience, including what I did and what I would do differently if I were to knit this blanket again. Keep in mind, this is intended as a guide, not a full pattern, and your blanket may vary.

Cast on: Between 300-350 stitches depending on how wide you want it. I did 290 stitches and it is pretty narrow. As long as there is an even number of stitches for this border, you can cast on as many stitches as you like.

The border for my temperature blanket is a simple 1×1 rib as follows:

(RS) Row 1: K1, P1*

(WS) Row 2: K1, P1*

Repeat this for the first 16 days of your blanket.

From here to the last 16 days, you’ll be working in stockinette stitch (Knit on the right side, Purl on the wrong side) with a 1×1 rib border on the first and last 20 stitches of each row. Make sure to add your new colors on the right side (RS) of the blanket so that all the ends are on the wrong side (WS). On days where the temperature is the same color as the previous day, simply work back and forth as you would in regular blanket knitting.

When I made my temperature blanket, I wanted clean, distinct lines between colors, so I chose to knit two rows per day—one knit row and one purl row. This approach ended up making my blanket over 7 feet long! In hindsight, I should have only done one row per color.

Knit Temperature Blanket – Free Tutorial

The Unofficial “Pattern”

Cast On between 300-350 Stitches

Rows 1-16: (K1, P1)*

Rows 17-333: (K1, P1*)20x , S*310x, (K1, P1*)20x

Rows 334-365: (K1, P1)*

Bind off, weave in ends! I prefer to weave in my ends as I go, but for a 1×1 rib, this can make the border stitches a bit stiff. Feel free to weave in your ends in whatever way works best for you.

I hope you enjoy creating your knit temperature blanket as much as I did! If you make one, I’d love to see your finished work—feel free to tag me on Instagram (@amandahknitanddesign). There, you can also find 30-second video tutorials demonstrating how to do every stitch, cast-on, and end-weaving technique used in this temperature blanket.

If you have any questions about my pattern or anything in this post, don’t hesitate to reach out—I’d be happy to chat! Be sure to sign up for blog notifications so you never miss an update.

Happy knitting!