Craft, Knitting and Yarn Crafts

2023 Finished Temperature Scarf

Lily Gould

A temperature scarf is a great way to create a memento of the year by doing a little knitting each day.

Since it is 2024, I wanted to take a moment to look back on my big 2023 knitting craft: a temperature scarf. I chose to do a scarf because a scarf is a classic knitting staple. In 2022, I chose to do a shawl and that was a lot of effort. So, a scarf felt like the right step back.

But that doesn’t mean I didn’t do a fun design for it. I posted about this at the beginning of last year but I will also post the instructions at the bottom of this post as well. This scarf was an easy and fun project, but it was always looming in my living room, which I was not thrilled about. But I did love working on it.

Check out the Craft section of MCG for more fun patterns in strings and things or more unlimited ideas.

A Look Back

The fun part of a temperature scarf is that you can capture what each year looks like. The bad part is that global warming becomes kind of obvious. Seeing a 60°F day in January doesn’t feel right. And it stayed warm through September, into October. And we did not get as low of lows as I have seen in previous years.

Ending the Scarf

The one part of the pattern I was not sure how to approach was the end of the scarf. If I had been smart, I would have planned ahead by counting the number of rows. But I decided to just keep knitting a figure out how to approach that last week. The pattern did not neatly end, so I ended up just continuing to a RIB stitch until the end when I felt that made the most sense.

Reflections

The 2023 temperature scarf was a fun project even if I complained about it quite often. The project started going smoothly when I fully memorized the pattern. And constantly repeating the pattern drilled it into my brain. The scarf was a little difficult to keep up with when I traveled but I managed.

Lessons

Hiding the Loose Ends

One thing that I wish I had done differently was dealing with the loose ends. Constantly changing color means that I had a lot of ends to deal with. And I decided to ignore them until December. Then I was looking at an overwhelming number of ends.

If I assume that the color changed 250 times over the 365, that’s 500 ends that I would need to sew in. And it took a long time. What I should have done was sewn in the ends while I was knitting and doing the color changes.

Pattern

Print

2023 Temperature Scarf

Temperature Scarves are a great way to create a beautiful piece with random patterning that encapsulates the year!

Materials

  • 1 skein for temperatures < 9° black
  • 1 skein for temperature 10° – 19° dark purple
  • 1 skein for temperature 20° – 29° light purple
  • 1 skein for temperature 30° – 39° dark blue
  • 1 skein for temperature 40° – 49° light blue
  • 1 skein for temperature 50° – 59° green
  • 1 skein for temperature 60° – 69° yellow
  • 1 skein for temperature 70° – 79° orange
  • 1 skein for temperature 80° – 89° red
  • 1 skein for temperature > 90° pink

Instructions

  • CO35

Block One and Three

  • Row 1, 3, 5, 7: Knit all stitches
  • Row 2, 4, 6, 8: Knit all stitches

Block Two (Option A)

  • Row 1: K4, P2, K1, P2, K3, P11, K3, P2 K1, P2, K4
  • Row 2: K4, P1, K2, P1, K2, P3, K9, P3, K2, P1, K2, P1, K4
  • Row 3: K3, P2, K1, P2, K1, P2, K3, P7, K3, P2, K1, P2, K1, P2, K3
  • Row 4: K3, P1, K2, P1, K2, P1, K2, P3, K5, P3, K2, P1, K2, P1, K2, P1, K3
  • Row 5: K5, P2, K1, P2, K1, P2, K3, P3, K3, P2, K1, P2, K1, P2, K5
  • Row 6: K3, P3, K2, P1, K2, P1, K2, P3, K1, P3, K2, P1, K2, P1, K2, P3, K3
  • Row 7: K7, P2, K1, P2, K1, P2, K5, P2, K1, P2, K1, P2, K7
  • Row 8: K3, P5, K2, P1, K2, P1, K2, P3, K2, P1, K2, P1, K2, P5, K3
  • Row 9: K9, P2, K1, P2, K1, P2, K1, P2, K1, P2, K1, P2, K9
  • Row 10: K3, P5, K2, P1, K2, P1, K2, P3, K2, P1, K2, P1, K2, P5, K3
  • Row 11: K7, P2, K1, P2, K1, P2, K5, P2, K1, P2, K1, P2, K7
  • Row 12: K3, P3, K2, P1, K2, P1, K2, P3, K1, P3, K2, P1, K2, P1, K2, P3, K3
  • Row 13: K5, P2, K1, P2, K1, P2, K3, P3, K3, P2, K1, P2, K1, P2, K5
  • Row 14: K3, P1, K2, P1, K2, P1, K2, P3, K5, P3, K2, P1, K2, P1, K2, P1, K3
  • Row 15: K3, P2, K1, P2, K1, P2, K3, P7, K3, P2, K1, P2, K1, P2, K3
  • Row 16: K4, P1, K2, P1, K2, P3, K9, P3, K2, P1, K2, P1, K4

Block Two (Option B)

  • Row 1: K9, P2, K1, P2, K1, P2, K1, P2, K1, P2, K1, P2, K9
  • Row 2: K3, P5, K2, P1, K2, P1, K2, P3, K2, P1, K2, P1, K2, P5, K3
  • Row 3: K7, P2, K1, P2, K1, P2, K5, P2, K1, P2, K1, P2, K7
  • Row 4: K3, P3, K2, P1, K2, P1, K2, P3, K1, P3, K2, P1, K2, P1, K2, P3, K3
  • Row 5: K5, P2, K1, P2, K1, P2, K3, P3, K3, P2, K1, P2, K1, P2, K5
  • Row 6: K3, P1, K2, P1, K2, P1, K2, P3, K5, P3, K2, P1, K2, P1, K2, P1,K3
  • Row 7: K3, P2, K1, P2, K1, P2, K3, P7, K3, P2, K1, P2, K1, P2, K3
  • Row 8: K4, P1, K2, P1, K2, P3, K9, P3, K2, P1, K2, P1, K4
  • Row 9: K4, P2, K1, P2, K3, P11, K3, P2 K1, P2, K4
  • Row 10: K4, P1, K2, P1, K2, P3, K9, P3, K2, P1, K2, P1, K4
  • Row 11: K3, P2, K1, P2, K1, P2, K3, P7, K3, P2, K1, P2, K1, P2, K3
  • Row 12: K3, P1, K2, P1, K2, P1, K2, P3, K5, P3, K2, P1, K2, P1, K2, P1, K3
  • Row 13: K5, P2, K1, P2, K1, P2, K3, P3, K3, P2, K1, P2, K1, P2, K5
  • Row 14: K3, P3, K2, P1, K2, P1, K2, P3, K1, P3, K2, P1, K2, P1, K2, P3, K3
  • Row 15: K7, P2, K1, P2, K1, P2, K5, P2, K1, P2, K1, P2, K7
  • Row 16: K3, P5, K2, P1, K2, P1, K2, P3, K2, P1, K2, P1, K2, P5, K3

Block Four

  • Row 1: K3, *K1, YO2*, Repeat until last three stitches, K3
  • Row 2: K3, *P1, Drop YO stitches* repeat until last three stitches, K3

Notes

CO – Cast On
K – Knit
P – Purl 
YO – Yarn Over

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