I went to the yarn store today.  I do LOVE my local yarn store, Red Fox Yarns, in Vienna, VA.  

I realized as soon as I got there, however, that I was not going to find 17 different colors that I would like all put together in one blanket.  I had somewhat suspected that.  So I spent more time than I would like to admit sorting through ​the wide selection and narrowing it down.  Personally, I don't want a full rainbow on my blanket.  I want something that suits my general taste and will work in either my family room or office.

Ultimately, I decided on 8 colors, which I would spread across my vaccine range in roughly 500,000 increments.

Okay... to do this, there are a few things that have to be planned out.

1.  I need a pattern.  I am still a beginner crochet-er.  I want someone to tell me how to stitch each stitch.  Plus, why invent a wheel when there is a whole internet of wheels already invented.  I like the look of this one, and the pattern is simple.

https://www.wyldflowercrochet.com/blog/2020/1/2/the-key-to-the-perfect-temperature-blanket

2.  I need to find my data source.  It took a bit of hunting, but I knew it had to be out there.   I found it at the CDC.

To easily see the raw data, just expand the "Data Table for Trends in Number of COVID-19 Vaccinations in the US" section below the lovely chart.

3.   I need to define my range of colors.  

Hold on.... while it may be pretty reasonable to assume that in Fairfax, Virginia, the temperature will never go above a high of 110 degrees Fahrenheit, I really don't know what the maximum number of people vaccinated each day will be.  But I want to pre-define my range so I can really pick out a suite of colors that I like.  Dilemma.

I found a few articles that discussed this.  Washington Post quotes Eric Tobal and says "We can get to 3 [million per day]. https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/interactive/2021/vaccination-pace-herd-immunity/.

CNBC quotes Dr. Carlos del Rio of Emory University as saying "we need to start vaccinating about 3 million people a day".  https://www.cnbc.com/2020/12/30/covid-us-needs-to-vaccinate-3-million-people-per-day-to-hit-goal.html

Since I really don't want to fall off the end of my range, I have decided to plan up to 4 million doses a day.  I decided to break it down into 250,000 vaccine increments.  I am not yet sure what colors I will actually use, but I assigned a rainbow of colors for now, so you get the idea.

For those not paying attention, there has been a global pandemic ravaging the world for the past year.  In late 2020, some vaccines emerged that have offered some hope.  The United States, and really the world, is now in a big push to jab needles into arms and hopefully stymie this terrible virus.

I have decided to document this effort with a “2021 United States Vaccination Blanket”.  The idea?  To stitch each row in a color that represents the number of vaccinations applied in the United States on each day of 2021.     Lets Get Vaccinated!!

While you are here, check out the CDC Key Things To Know about COVID-19 Vaccines page and learn everything you need to know!