Temperature Tracking

January is such a great time for new beginnings. On one hand, December 31st isn't all that different from January 1st, but there's still such a feeling of renewal and opportunity for a fresh start with the new year. Personally, I  don't go in much for "resolutions" but I do like to take stock and consider areas where I'd like to make changes. 

One of the things that I was feeling like could use some improvement in my life was using my time intentionally. Both my kids are in full-day school now and though my daytime hours are more flexible now, they are still finite. And I was feeling like I wasn't doing much despite all this extra flexibility. 

So I downloaded an app that helped me plan my day better.. and I started practicing guitar more, and I was remembering to do various tasks more easily and, overall, being more productive and having more fun. Yay!

During all this intentionality, a crochet project was suggested to me - a temperature blanket. You pick colors to represent temperatures and then keep track of the daily weather. Then, with the corresponding colors, stitch a line in the color representing the daily temperature. So fun! This seemed perfectly in line with my wanting to be intentional about how I used my time AND I'd have a pretty blanket in the end. Win-win. 

So, I made my color thermometer: 

It made a lovely rainbow. Then, I picked a pattern and got started: 

Here's January underway: 

Then, February:

March:

By April it was getting pretty long! 

So, I began considering when I'd call it good... sometime in May, for sure. Then, just after Mother's Day, we got a string of 90° days (which was the last of the colors on my thermometer) and that seemed like a sign! So, I stopped things at May 18th. 

Finally, I added a border as a final touch and, voilà!

Ah, Chicagoland... where, by May, there's been more 90° days than those that were 70°. Though, I wasn't very sad that there was only one day that went below zero that winter, so I guess it all balances out.