I first heard of temperature blankets when we were still living in England. I loved the idea of incorporating your local weather into something for the home, especially with moving as often as we do. I started tracking the daily temperature when we were living in England to make myself a temperature scarf instead of a blanket, but I never did finish it. Story of my life. But I did end up finishing temperature scarves for both my mom (using Chattanooga, TN temperatures) and my sister (using Mishicot, WI temperatures).

Finally finishing those scarves motivated me to start a blanket once we moved to Texas. But I didn’t want a gigantic blanket of just some simple stitch, so I kept searching the internet for ideas. Then a friend of mine posted a picture of what she was doing for a temperature blanket: a square per month! I loved the pattern she was using, and asked for more information.

This led me to Sophie’s Garden, which you can see in process above. It is a mandala pattern, done in rounds, with frequent color changes. I fell in love with the pattern! The textures are just beautiful, and it’s both relaxing and challenging to work on. My biggest issue with crochet projects is getting bored, losing interest, and setting a project aside to start something new. So many times, those neglected projects stay neglected and never get finished. But there are so many different stitches and color changes in Sophie, that I have not gotten bored at all!

Even with other projects I’m working on, it’s easy to do my daily round of Sophie before switching to something else. And I love seeing the colors come together! I’m almost done with my September square now, and I’m so excited for the end of the year when I can sew them all together and see the finished blanket. It will be such a great reminder of our time in Texas.

I love the pattern so much, that I bought the book for Sophie’s Universe, a full blanket. I’m currently working on that project on the side as a gift for someone, but I can’t wait to share photos of that one to. It really is a work of art!

Sophie’s Garden has also inspired me to dig out my old notebook of temperatures from when we lived in England. I’ve decided to make that temperature blanket I had planned on, but I’m going to do mandala squares again instead of rows like most temperature blankets. I’ve settled on the Pondoland Sqaure, but I probably won’t have time to really get into this one until after Christmas. I can’t wait to share updates of that one though — she’s a beauty as well!