A couple years ago, I saw a Facebook post about a crochet temperature blanket (Weatherghan) and thought it was a really fun idea! When I finally decided to give it a go, I looked for an actual pattern or guide to follow, but I couldn’t find one. So I decided to put together this crochet Weatherghan tutorial to help you out!
A Weatherghan is a fun way to have a project you’re working on throughout the year to keep you crocheting on a daily basis. It gives you something unique as it won’t be like anyone else’s unless your neighbor is making the same thing.
Want something quick and easy to complete? Try these crochet Mason Jar Covers!
A few crochet Weatherghan tips first
It can end up being HUGE! If you do a double crochet blanket or even single crochet, it could easily end up being over 12′ long! For that reason, you’ll want to take certain measures. The following are some tips to keep it from being TOO big.
- Use a small stitch (more on this later)
- Use a fine yarn (baby weight or sport weight) and a small hook
- Crochet squares instead of rows (although this could still end up being large, but it might be more proportional)
- Crochet the average for the week instead of a daily temperature
- Make a blanket for each season
- Make a blanket for half the year (this is what I ended up doing)
Buy plenty of yarn! You do NOT want to run out of one color and then have to replace it with something else later on. That just defeats the purpose! That said, I didn’t go through more than two skeins of any one color. You can always use your leftovers to crochet something like these crochet twirly hair ties!
Smaller temperature variations make a more interesting blanket. If you have a week or two of weather in the 90’s, for example, your blanket can get quite boring.
Keep track of temperatures, but if you don’t… you can look up past weather! I used this a LOT. If you search Google for “yesterday’s weather” with your city and state, you should be able to find the information you need fairly easily. Even with that, I kept a document with each date and the high temp so that I could cross them off as I crocheted them. I didn’t want to get stuck counting rows to figure out what date I was on.
For past years… This website goes back even further. Many people like to make Weatherghans for the year they were born or the year of their marriage. Those years should all be available on this website.
Determine what temperature you’ll use. I used the daily high temperature. Some people do the daily low or the daily average. Just make that decision ahead of time and stick with it.
Choosing your yarn
As mentioned before, if you’re planning to crochet the entire year, you’ll want a very fine weight yarn. I chose to use worsted weight yarn (specifically Red Heart Super Saver because it was the most affordable) and only do half the year. When you go to the store, you’ll want to have written down what temperature ranges you’ll need colors for so you can be sure you don’t miss anything.
I originally chose these ten colors. We had a really hot summer, so I ended up adding a varigated yarn for 100+. I also really wished I had split up the hotter numbers. There was just a LOT of that pink as you can see in the next picture. I still love it! It just would have added more variety.
Choosing a stitch
No matter the size of yarn you’ve chosen, you’ll want to use a fairly small stitch. Here are some great options!
- Moss Stitch (this was my choice!)
- Grit Stitch
- Spike Stitch
- Picot Stitch
- Or even just a basic single crochet works!
Speaking of stitches… How many stitches should you start with? That is going to depend on your yarn choice, your stitch, and the size of finished blanket you want. Using worsted weight yarn and the moss stitch, I started with a chain of 180 and ended up with a blanket that is about twin sized. Perfect for a lap blanket!
Looking for a really simple project? Try this crochet chain scarf!
At this point, you’re ready to get started! If you’re seeing this and it’s past January 1st, don’t fret, there’s still plenty of time to catch up. Go get your yarn and your hooks and get crocheting!
If you like trying out new patterns and stitches, you’ll love these three dishcloths! They work up quickly and easily and the outcome is beautiful!
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