As many of you are probably aware, since the beginning of 2022 we have been running a temperature project with Radiate arts. The project is called the Llyn Clywedog craft-a-long and aims to help you learn or develop your crafting skills as well as give you a visual representation of the temperatures throughout the year at the dam.
I can imagine that your wondering why in the middle of May I am telling you about this and it is simple really, it isn't too late to join in. Since the beginning we have been putting monthly temperature updates onto the Radiate arts website in case anyone missed a weekly update. But I also think it's a great way to show you the project so far and perhaps inspire some future creations for you.
For this project we decided to do three colourways in the end as well as a knitted and crochet version. The aim was to be inclusive but also great for beginners. As such both the knitted and crochet versions are done as a scarf so that there isn't too much work each day and feature the basic stitches so that by then end of the project you will be comfortable with them.
Temperature projects are not a new thing, they have been around for a few years however instead of a scarf they are usually blankets and more commonly crochet. I first came across temperature projects back in 2015 and I have done a variety of them over the years including knitting some temperature socks. Usually you take the temperature of the location you live and work from that. Just like the dam, most of mine are based in the Llanidloes area and the changes each year are very interesting to see. For example the year we had the beast from the east was quite a cool colour palette yet the first year of lockdown was rather warm. It's also a great way to look at the climate changes over the years, a few years stick out but as a general rule we seem to be on a trend of getting warmer and warmer summers each year.
I personally find temperature projects very valuable as not only do they give you this insight into your year but they are also fantastic for your mental health. Just knitting or crocheting one row on your project a day can do wonders for your mental health, not only that but it also gives you time to slow down and reflect.
There are other variants of the yearly temperature project if you don't fancy doing it on temperatures, for example you could do it on rainfall, winds or a common one is daily moods. We actually created a month long version of this in March to create a cushion.
Of course nothing says that you have to do an entire year of the project although I do recommend it. You could simply do a month and create a cushion or even a cowl.
If you would like to start then please pop over the the Radiate arts website and look at the free patterns available.
Charlotte
Below is the scarf progress so far in the knitted version using the Llyn Clywedog Naturals colourway.
