I tried telling people years ago that cross stitch was cool again... and I WAS RIGHT!
I'm in this crazy cross stitch group on Facebook that features non-traditional subject matter, from naughty words to feminist themes to potty humor and beyond. While I don't consider it my style to be crass or subversive, I do appreciate the modern approach to a very old craft that is normally associated with "grannies" (not that there's anything wrong with that, either).
This group has introduced me to a variety of interesting new project ideas, including the concept of a temperature stitch. Essentially, each day's high and low temperature are recorded in different colored stitches to provide a really interesting visual of our climate and seasons. This whole idea has my head spinning around ways to physically represent climate change in artsy-crafty form by going through the last hundred years and stitching a huge collection... but I figured a 100-year project is the last thing I need right now. So I started by simply recording the high and low temperature of each day of 2019 as it happens.
![]()
My first task was to establish a color spectrum for my project and decide how many degrees to represent with each color. I originally designed my scale to slide from less than 9 to 90+ degrees, and divided it into 5-degree increments. I quickly realized, however, that I must block out the dead of winter here in Wisconsin, because the mercury dips below zero quite often... I guess now I'll remember, thanks to this project. I had to add several shades of grey to the bottom of my thermometer to account for the week straight of sub-zero days. Yikes!
![]()
Deciding on a rainbow of 21 skeins from the sea of 500+ DMC floss colors took me the better part of an hour, crawling around on the floor at Michael's and swapping this blue-green for that green-blue. But I finally landed on a satisfactory gradient, and I love how my project is turning out!
![]()
I don't necessarily work on it every day, as each little chevron with the high and low temperature only takes about 15 minutes to stitch. I let a few days accumulate, then whip them out as I'm watching some show on Hulu or Netflix, and alternate with my other current work(s) in progress. The only bummer is that I can't really stitch and quilt at the same time... or do much of anything else for that matter. Oh well. There's a season for everything, right?
![]()
If you'd like to make your own version of the temperature stitch, without all the hassle of choosing colors, feel free to use my pattern! Just save it, print it on cardstock and punch some holes to hold the floss, and you've got an all-in-one project! I've even designed a few other motifs to stitch; I just really liked the look of the stacked chevrons.
![]()
Or, if you'd prefer a different look, or even a different craft, I found a few other alternatives on Pinterest that are pretty neat too!
This cross stitch pattern from 2018, originally published in Dutch (thank you, Google Translate!), makes a cute square sampler-type design.
If yarn craft is more your thing, here's a really easy pattern for a crocheted temperature blanket.
And if you'd prefer to avoid textile arts all together, you could give bullet journaling a shot! I've heard a lot about bullet journals recently, and people record all sorts of weird and interesting things. I'm intrigued and kind of want to try it myself... but again... another hobby is the very last thing I need!
 |
| Pay no attention to the random pet hairs... |
I'm in this crazy cross stitch group on Facebook that features non-traditional subject matter, from naughty words to feminist themes to potty humor and beyond. While I don't consider it my style to be crass or subversive, I do appreciate the modern approach to a very old craft that is normally associated with "grannies" (not that there's anything wrong with that, either).
This group has introduced me to a variety of interesting new project ideas, including the concept of a temperature stitch. Essentially, each day's high and low temperature are recorded in different colored stitches to provide a really interesting visual of our climate and seasons. This whole idea has my head spinning around ways to physically represent climate change in artsy-crafty form by going through the last hundred years and stitching a huge collection... but I figured a 100-year project is the last thing I need right now. So I started by simply recording the high and low temperature of each day of 2019 as it happens.
My first task was to establish a color spectrum for my project and decide how many degrees to represent with each color. I originally designed my scale to slide from less than 9 to 90+ degrees, and divided it into 5-degree increments. I quickly realized, however, that I must block out the dead of winter here in Wisconsin, because the mercury dips below zero quite often... I guess now I'll remember, thanks to this project. I had to add several shades of grey to the bottom of my thermometer to account for the week straight of sub-zero days. Yikes!
Deciding on a rainbow of 21 skeins from the sea of 500+ DMC floss colors took me the better part of an hour, crawling around on the floor at Michael's and swapping this blue-green for that green-blue. But I finally landed on a satisfactory gradient, and I love how my project is turning out!
I don't necessarily work on it every day, as each little chevron with the high and low temperature only takes about 15 minutes to stitch. I let a few days accumulate, then whip them out as I'm watching some show on Hulu or Netflix, and alternate with my other current work(s) in progress. The only bummer is that I can't really stitch and quilt at the same time... or do much of anything else for that matter. Oh well. There's a season for everything, right?
If you'd like to make your own version of the temperature stitch, without all the hassle of choosing colors, feel free to use my pattern! Just save it, print it on cardstock and punch some holes to hold the floss, and you've got an all-in-one project! I've even designed a few other motifs to stitch; I just really liked the look of the stacked chevrons.
Or, if you'd prefer a different look, or even a different craft, I found a few other alternatives on Pinterest that are pretty neat too!
This cross stitch pattern from 2018, originally published in Dutch (thank you, Google Translate!), makes a cute square sampler-type design.
 |
| Apricot Polkadot's in-progress version of the above-mentioned pattern. |
If yarn craft is more your thing, here's a really easy pattern for a crocheted temperature blanket.
 |
| This example is by ABCuteCreations on YouTube. |
You can even make a temperature quilt! I feel like this would be great to do as a "year-in-review" thing... I don't know if I could handle all the waiting to make that many quilt blocks.
 |
| A beautiful flying geese example by @erin_needs_a_new_username on Instagram. |
And if you'd prefer to avoid textile arts all together, you could give bullet journaling a shot! I've heard a lot about bullet journals recently, and people record all sorts of weird and interesting things. I'm intrigued and kind of want to try it myself... but again... another hobby is the very last thing I need!
 |
| A bit of #bujoinspo from BrookeRhi on Pinterest. |