New Year’s Resolutions: Knit/Crochet Habit Tracker Blanket!

Kathryn here with a guest post for you today. This habit tracker blanket idea is a riff on the classic temperature blanket that many people start at the beginning of a new year. However, instead of tracking temperatures, you track something much more personal: your goals! This is a brand new exercise similar to some that you would find in my book, Hook To Heal: 100 Crochet Exercises For Health, Growth, Connection, Inspiration and Honoring Your Inner Artist.

Have you ever made a temperature blanket? The knit or crochet habit tracker blanket is a fresh variation on that classic New Year’s Project. You create a very similar blanket (or scarf, or whatever your project is) with strategically assigned colors and daily/weekly crafting goals. However, it’s a much more personal project.

What Is a Temperature Blanket?

In case you’re not familiar with the idea of a temperature blanket, or you need a refresher, let’s review. In fact, you can start by reading What Is a Temperature Blanket. But the gist is this:

• You choose a blanket design, usually one that’s either motif-based or striped.
• Then you assign a color to each temperature range. For example, if that day’s high temp is between 80 and 90, then you might work in red. If it’s between 70 and 80 then you might work in purple. You assign the colors to the temperatures in advance.
• Each day or week you track the temperature. You knit or crochet one motif or one round for that day or week. (It’s designed as a daily project but some people find that a weekly temperature average works better for them.)
• Then you keep it up until the end of the year. At that time, you have a finished blanket that chronicles the temperature throughout the year.

A temperature blanket gives you a daily or weekly craft goal. This inspires you to keep crafting even when you’re otherwise losing momentum. It’s fun to see those colors develop over time. It’s a great record of the year.

What Is a Habit Tracker Knit or Crochet Blanket?

This year, make that temperature blanket more personal than just whatever temperature it happens to be where you live. Instead, tie it to a goal. The basic idea remains the same. Here’s how to do it:

How to Knit or Crochet a Habit Tracker Blanket, Option 1 (Colorful)

• Choose a New Year’s resolution (or goal or intention.) In fact, you can start a habit tracker blanket anytime. It can be any measurable goal. Reading more, eating more vegetables, exercising, etc. Choose something you really want to do.
• Choose a blanket design. Here are some good basic stitch patterns that work. And here are some good temperature blanket patterns.
• Select a time frame. (One year, one quarter, one month.) Decide if you’re making one row/round/motif per day or per week.
• Divide your goal into measurable increments and assign a yarn color to each goal. For example, let’s say that your goal is to walk more. If you walk 0-10 minutes that day, then use blue. If you walk 10-20 minutes that day, then knit or crochet with green. If you walk 20-30 minutes per day then work with yellow. Etc. (Of course, you might use different shades of the same color instead of totally different colors. This is up to you!)

How to Knit or Crochet a Habit Tracker Blanket, Option 2 (2 Colors)

The basic idea of this version of the habit tracker blanket is the same. However, instead of having a bunch of colors correlating to increments of your goal, you just choose two colors. One is for “I met my goal today.” The other is for “oops, I didn’t meet my goal today.”

So, let’s say that your goal is to write every day. You choose a granny square blanket, with blue squares for days you write and purple squares for days that you don’t. At the end of each day you make your square. At the end of the year, you can visually see how often you met your goal. And even if you have an entirely purple blanket, well, you still made a new blanket!

Why A Habit Tracker Blanket Is Better Than a Temperature Blanket

A temperature blanket is a perfectly wonderful project. It provides you with a daily knit or crochet goal. When you achieve that goal, you feel good about yourself. That’s a terrific thing. Moreover, it does give you an interesting record of the year. You see visually how the temperatures changed throughout the year.

However, a habit tracker blanket is even better because it’s tied to something really personal to you. You not only set and achieve the goal of making the blanket but also another goal that you really care about. You might find that you push yourself to walk that extra ten minutes to use the color you want to use next.

At the end of the year, you can look back and see patterns. Sure, you see how much you did or didn’t meet your goal, which is helpful information. More than that, though, you see useful patterns such as that you read less during the busy season at work or you were more likely to walk in the summer than the winter.

Helpful Information For Your Habit Tracker Blanket

The posts we have here about temperature blankets will also help you if you decide to knit or crochet a habit tracker blanket:

• Choosing Yarn and Colors for a Temperature Blanket
• Granny Square Blanket Patterns (which work well for this type of project)
• Location and Time Period Options for Temperature Blankets
• 7 Crafty Ways to Kick The New Year Off Right

We want to encourage you along the way. Share your goals, chosen designs, and progress photos in the Marly’s Minions Facebook Group and on Instagram with hashtags #marlybird and #habittrackerblanket