The Commitment I Didn’t See Coming
One Year of Daily Highs: An Update
Knitting a Temperature Blanket was a new concept to me (thank you, Linda Cangiano), though in the knitting world it’s a fairly common project. The idea is simple yet very clever: a knitted or crocheted blanket that records the temperature of a specific location over the course of a year. Each row represents a day, with its yarn* colour corresponding to that day’s temperature. (For more on the blanket process, visit my prior blog, My Temperature Blanket.)
Keeping track of the daily high temperature for an entire year turned out to be the strangest part of making the blanket. I’m not sure I’ve ever had reason to notice one specific thing every single day for a full year straight. At the beginning of this knitting journey, completing a row felt satisfying and I couldn’t wait to see the pattern emerge. As time wore on, it grew tedious, and occasionally felt a bit ridiculous. Over time, however, it made me absurdly aware of the rhythm of the year. There were long plateaus of the same hue, sudden swings, and stretches of predictability. That level of daily attention felt unusual, yet maybe a little profound, in its own quiet, repetitive way. Completing the project was extremely gratifying. Not only was it a delight to accomplish a goal and see something come full circle, but it was a much bigger undertaking than I anticipated, and getting it “done” was also a relief.
Staring at the finished blanket made me reflect on how rarely we commit to observing one specific thing, consistently, for a full year. Most of what we notice in daily life is reactive or accidental. This was neither. We likely all already have something like this in our lives, even if we’ve never named it: a moment, a check-in, a small daily noticing that repeats quietly in the background.
If this thought experiment intrigues you, consider what might happen if you chose one ordinary thing to notice for a year. Not to fix it or measure progress, but simply to see it clearly.
For me, this was a one-time endeavour. The blanket was enormous and took time I would rather have spent working on other projects. I would, however, consider a scarf version: shorter rows and far less of a time commitment. Instead of recording temperature, I might track another variable altogether, perhaps the stock market, my daily step count, or even my mood. The possibilities are endless.
For now, I’m enjoying the freedom of knitting what I want, when I want. Perhaps by next January I’ll be ready to start another project rooted in daily noticing. Until then, I’m content to let this one stand as a reminder of what can happen when you pay attention, one day at a time.
*Yarn purchased in Toronto at Ewe Knit and Knit-O-Matic