February 2026 Crochet WIPs

06 Mar February 2026 Crochet WIPs

During February 2026, I worked on multiple crochet projects: one that I finished and three that are still works in progress (WIPs). Working on multiple WIPs wasn’t because I was project hoping but because of necessity. Let’s dive in!

WIP #1: A 1999 Temperature Blanket

The first project going into February 2026 is a temperature blanket for 1999: the year Kid2 (who is now a full-grown adult man, but he’ll still be my kid) was born. For those who don’t know, a temperature blanket is when you create a new row or square or number of stitches for each day of the year with colours that represents the temperature for that day. Typically, you choose 10 colours with one colour per temperature range. There is a great website to help you plan your temperature blanket.

I started this project at the end of January 2026 with the idea that I would have it complete by his birthday in April. That is not going to happen without putting my entire life on hold and without making the RSIs in my hands worse. I realised this after completing the first two rows, which took 12 hours and 18 minutes and 22 seconds, and that does not include the time to join all the squares. More on this in a bit.

Let’s talk about some of the details! After completing the first row of 18 squares with nothing but a traditional granny square, I realised I would get bored quickly with this project without change. So, I created a pattern that is made up of five different types of granny squares, one of which I designed myself because I wasn’t happy with any designs that are currently published and a couple others with patterns that are slightly modified from existing patterns. I will share the overall blanket pattern and the patterns for the square I created and those I modified once this blanket is complete. And I use different join methods to help enhance the pattern and different squares.

Also, I’m not using the traditional colours used for temperature ranges. Kid2 has a colour preference for both colour palette and colour value, which I am using.

Stitching this blanket has reminded me just how unusually cold it was in 1999. Average daytime temperatures during the winter for my part of Vancouver Island is 8° C. In 1999, the average was 4 to 5 ° C. That is a significant difference.

As for materials, I’m using Michael’s Loops & Threads Soft Classic Acrylic with a 5.0 mm hook. With my tension, I’m able to get 30 three-round squares per skein and just over three rows per skein for the colour I use for the fourth round and joining colour.

Back to the timing of this project. I started this project after I finished two other projects in January, while I waited on the yarn for my V-Stitch blanket. If I didn’t have OCD, like actually and not like how people like to throw around the term, I would have easily been able to ignore a self-imposed deadline and stitched at a leisurely pace. But that isn’t how my brain works. To reset the deadline, I had to temporarily walk away from the project so that I didn’t put my life on hold and destroy my hands and switch to a new project without a deadline. I will also be making a temperature blanket for the year Kid1 was born and I will go into it without any deadline to avoid playing Cognitive Olympics with my brain.

WIP #2: A Larksfoot Blanket

This project is a free pattern from Yarnspirations, with a few modifications. The first modification is yarn brand and colours. The second modification is hook size. The third modification is no chain three as first double crochet. And the final modification is stitch count.

This blanket is being made for another family member. While I was at their house, we were looking at the clearance yarn because I wanted to make them a blanket. They are paying for the yarn. They saw the above colours and jumped as it is one of their favourite colour combos. The Yarn is Red Heart Comfort 454-gram skein. I am not naming the colours because they are no longer available. The blanket will use the entire 454-gram skein of each other colour. While Comfort isn’t nearly as scratchy Super Saver, it’s still not the softest of acrylics. I will be treating it with a good wash using fabric softener to fix this before delivering the finished blanket.

I’m using a 5.0-mm hook instead of 5.5.

Final modifications have to do with the stitches. If you are like me and don’t like the gaps created by a chain three as the first double crochet, then changes need to be made. At the end of each row, I chain one for a turning chain, turn and make my first double crochet in the first stitch. You could also do stacked single crochet if you wanted for your first double crochet. To make a Larksfoot project, you need a stitch count that is a multiple of four plus three: three double crochet and chain one plus final set of three double crochet. To get the desire width of the blanket, my starting chain was 147: 36 groups of four plus three double crochet.

I love a Larksfoot stitch. It reminds me of a of the thing we use in Space Invaders to shoot the aliens.

I have just over an hour each evening to work on this blanket while I watch TV and cuddle with the dogs before we put them to bed. I’m hopeful I’ll be finished this project before the end of the month, at which time I’ll give more details about finished size, number of rows, and how much time it took to stitch.

WIP 3#: A 2026 Temperature Blanket

This blanket has undergone quite the journey since January. This is version number three!

The first version, I attempted a continuous granny square with 28 stitches per day. The problem with that is, it’s not mindless. You have to count your stitches as you go and use stitch markers when there is more than one day with the same colour. This isn’t the Touching Grass vibe I’m going for, so I frogged it.

Then for the second version, I began the square for each day method. I used the same yarn as I did the first version: Red Heart Super Saver because I already had it on hand. The Super Saver was not purchased for this particular project. This yarn is not something you want against your skin without a few washes with fabric softener. If you know, you know. Also, the plan for the second version was to use the same granny square for the entire project. And then I discovered Loops & Threads, which is cheaper than Red Heart by a lot, when I was planning Kid2’s blanket. And then I started to use Loops & Threads and was all, ‘This level of comfort exists in a budget yarn?!” And even though I had 30 squares already completed, I yeeted this sucker.

And now we have version number three which is using the same pattern as Kid2’s blanket.

This blanket has really illustrated how much warmer this winter has been, with average temps two to three degrees above normal, and multiple days in the 16° C to 19° C range. Those purple centres are for the only two days this year that it snowed. I went back and forth about whether I should add them since the snow didn’t stick to the road. And if it doesn’t stick, does it even count? This is so very bad. Such extremes. Also, like Kid2’s blanket, I’m not using the tradition colours and I’m using one colour that has a completely different value to highlight days are unusually hot to track these new extremes.

I work on this blanket in bed every night for about 25 minutes while my partner puts the dogs to bed, stitching and joining each square to its row. Once a row is complete, I put WIP #2 on hold while I join the new row to the previous rows during that TV time.

I really enjoy having one living room project and one bedroom project.

You’ll have to wait until 2027 to see this finished project, but I’ll share updated each month in this round ups.

The February 2026 Finished Project

Finally, there is the previously mentioned V Stitch blanket which you can read about by clicking the card below.

Crochet Project #4: V Stitch Blanket

Tell me in the comments below about which projects you worked on in February 2026!