Keeping the Work Going: Goals, growth, and staying with the work

This past week has brought a level of attention to my project that I haven’t experienced before. After a few years of quietly working away on my temperature blanket data, I suddenly found myself having more public conversations, media features, and questions than usual. It’s been exciting, a little strange, and something I’m still adjusting to in real time.

It felt like a good moment to pause and talk about what my goals actually are. My goals haven’t shifted or changed, but what I’ve been working towards through all of this, and where I see things going from here.

Where the Project Stands Now

My goals have always been fairly simple and consistent. In the short term, I want to get the project in front of people locally, while continuing to build the dataset itself. That means working toward talks in schools, community spaces, and ideally museums or galleries, alongside the ongoing knitting process. It’s a balance between making the work and sharing it, while still holding a full-time job outside of the project.

Longer term, I want to complete the full dataset and make it accessible to a wider audience. I would also like to explore adding two additional mediums to represent the hottest and coldest daily temperatures, since the current scope is daily average temperature. I think using different mediums will keep it fresh, for me, and maybe others.

There is also a bigger idea forming around connecting similar projects from different places around the world. I’m interested in what it would look like to create a shared space where climate data is shown through craft. This is still in the dream stage of planning, so we’ll see if that’s possible. But people are already sending me their work, so it feels like it could be something I can make happen.

Momentum and Media Attention

The recent attention hasn’t changed what I’m doing, but it has changed how visible it is. After a long stretch of very little external engagement, having several public-facing moments in a short period of time feels new. There’s momentum there, but I’m still learning how to move with it without losing focus on the actual work.

At the same time, it has been genuinely encouraging. It’s been interesting to see people respond to the project in real time, and to have conversations about something that, until recently, lived mostly in my own space. That kind of engagement is something I value, even if I’m still figuring out how to hold it alongside everything else.

Sharing the Work Locally

A big part of my short-term focus is still rooted locally. I would like to do more public talks and bring finished pieces with me when I do. Schools, community groups, and eventually museums or galleries are all spaces where I think the work can live in a more meaningful way than it does online alone.

I still have a day job, so this project will always exist alongside that reality. Because of that, I’m trying to be thoughtful about how I show up in public spaces, and how often. It’s important to me that sharing the work doesn’t come at the cost of actually continuing to knit.

What I Want People to Take Away

At its core, the goal of this project is accessibility. I want people to be able to look at climate data and feel like it is something they can understand, rather than something that sits behind a layer of technical language or distance. The blankets are one way to open that door - by turning numbers into something visible and familiar.

If there’s a wider outcome I hope for, it’s that people feel less overwhelmed by the topic and more willing to engage with it in their own way. That could mean learning more, talking about it with others, or even exploring their own creative responses to data and climate information.

Balancing Opportunity and Energy

This recent attention has brought both opportunity and pressure at the same time. It’s the most media interest I’ve had in any project, and that alone makes it feel a bit odd. There’s excitement in that, but also a learning curve in terms of how to respond, what to take on, and what to step back from.

I’m also very aware of my time and energy. Over the years, I’ve learned that constant output doesn’t work for me, including social media spaces. I need space to actually do the work, not just talk about it. So I’m trying to keep a balance that allows both visibility and continuity, without pushing myself into something that makes me lose momentum or interest.

Where Things Are Going

Success, for me, isn’t one single outcome. It’s completing the dataset, but it’s also being able to share the work in ways that feel grounded and accessible. Talks, exhibitions, and community engagement all sit alongside the ongoing making process as part of that.

For now, I’m still knitting, still building the dataset, and still trying to find ways to share the work that feel honest. The difference now is simply that more people are paying attention, and I’m learning how to hold that alongside the quiet, repetitive work that started it all.

If you’d like to follow along as the project develops, you can find me on my social channels (Instagram, TikTok, Bluesky) where I share updates and progress. And if you’re part of a school, organization, or community group interested in talks or collaborations, you’re welcome to reach out - I’m always open to conversations about bringing the work into new spaces.