Doctor Who scarf complete

I have finished my Doctor Who scarf and it came out shorter than the knitted version would have so my 1 knit to 1 crochet did not work out as well as I'd hoped.

This one came out about 83" without fringe. The original knitted version is about 9' (108"). However, instructions say to make fringe with a 12" strand of all seven colors. I didn't add fringe to my scarf as I wanted to conserve the yarn for a possible second one - many skeins were only partially used.

To estimate how much longer the fringe would make the scarf, I took a couple of 12" strands and made one fringe on a swatch I had lying around. The fringe ended up being about 5 1/2". With 7 strands in each (one of each of the 7 colors), it might be a tad shorter. So let's say 5".

Fringe on both ends then might add 10" to the scarf. So it would then be about 93". Total length of 108" in the knitted scarf minus 93" would still leave me 15" short which is not as much as originally feared, but still not as close as I'd like.


Since there are 314 rows in Tara's version, adding length on each row by using a hdc might make it too long. Even if each row was only 1mm longer that would be 628mm which is almost 25", so too long.

Another possibility is to use a larger hook and a smaller foundation chain. That would really move away from the knitted look of the smaller stitches. Of course, if I knew how many inches there were of each color I could adjust number of rows as well, but I only have the finished size and the number of knitted rows.

For my purposes, which is just because I wanted to make it, this should be good enough. I thank Witty Little Knitter for all her hard work. Having the specific yarn colors was wonderful, and even though mine was short, having the knitted row numbers was a big help. It gave me a way to go and I'm pleased with the outcome.

Now I'm trying to finish that Jacob's Ladder lapghan I started a while back. Trouble is finding enough yarn in my stash to make 7 rows. Might have to use a creative bit of coloring as I go on. :-)


Happy crocheting!
Sandie

DW scarf progress / hyberbolic planes

Still working on the Doctor Who scarf. I had a couple of setbacks when my dog decided to pull skeins of yarn out of my bag and tangle them to bits. This surprised me as he doesn't generally fool with my yarn. Well, I think he now has gotten the message that this is NOT acceptable behavior. I was able to untangle and rewind the yarn into balls. I just had to remember which was which color for the scarf as I'm following the pattern for the color blocks.

I hope to be able to finish the crocheting in the next day or so, then have to tackle the tails. Here is a photo of where I stand right now. It is about 73" at this point. That is very approximate. I have about 30 rows left I think. I am on my second skein of beige and olive but have a good bit left of the other colors at this point.

If you're interested in all things Who, you might like to have a look at what Amazon has available Search Amazon.com for doctor who. I have four different Who wishlists from the classic to the new series. Particularly close to my heart right now are the The Sarah Jane Adventures since sweet Elisabeth Sladen passed away recently. Such a lovely lady and wonderful actress. She will be missed. Doctor #10 (my favorite, David Tennant) appeared in the The Sarah Jane Adventures: The Complete Third Season and #11 Matt Smith appeared in the 4th season which is not yet on DVD.

But I have taken a turn away from crochet, haven't I? :-) Big Who fan here.

But back to crochet - a couple of weeks ago I discovered the book Crocheting Adventures with Hyperbolic Planes. VERY interesting reading. I really enjoyed what I read. It does take some concentration and if you hate geometry and such this is probably something you'd prefer to skip. While I don't pretend to understand most of it, I did catch a bit and hope to crochet one of these interesting characters at some point. It had detailed instructions on how to crochet a hyperbolic plane. Someone at Eons also posted this link, at the University of Florida, to more patterns.

Just to let you know what you're in for - a hyperbolic plane has constant negative curvature. What is curvature? Good question. I can only explain it by example. A straight line or flat surface has zero curvature. Circles have constant curvature because they are curved everywhere in the same way. Curving outward is positive curvature - like an egg or a hill. A valley would be negative curvature. So if a surface has constant positive curvature it is a sphere.

To put this into practical use, if you made a crocheted pentagon and you surrounded it with crocheted hexagons (laying them side by side with no space between them), you would not be able to lay them flat. They will eventually form a sphere - a soccer ball is the example used in the book. The premise is that a surface with constant positive curvature will not be able to lie flat but will, in fact, close in on itself eventually, thus becoming a sphere or circle.

The book had examples of where this concept is found in nature and different ways to use it in crochet. I found it fascinating.

The Institute for Figuring is another site that I've mentioned before with more crocheted examples. 

If you're interested in this topic, I suggest you get the above book and do some research online, google hyperbolic plane + crochet, for example.

I don't know if I mentioned here before but I decided against making the Sweetheart Ripple Afghan in Reversible Ripple Afghans for the time being. I may do it later but am not doing the crochet-along. It's just a matter of time and priorities.

You might remember that this Sweetheart Ripple is the afghan by Kim Guzman. If you ARE working that sweetheart ripple afghan, do go have a look at the video demonstrating the special stitch. I thought it looked to be very helpful.


Happy crocheting!
Sandie

DW Scarf progress

Progress on the Who-scarf. I've done 21 color sections and it looks to be somewhere in the vicinity of 3' long.

If my figuring is correct, I've done 141 rows. There are 314 rows total so I have 173 left to go. If my estimate of the current size is correct, I am going to be a bit short on the nine feet. We'll see how it goes.

I chained 36, to account for the turning chain and worked each row in single crochet, changing colors as per the chart.

Of course, there is also the fringe to consider. It is supposed to have fringe. Haven't decided if I'll do the fringe or not. I generally don't add fringe, but for a little more authenticity in this case perhaps I will. I am not shooting for a totally authentic scarf. I could not get such without looking at the original scarf and also knitting it. But this will be close enough for my needs.

I would be further along, but had a little mishap earlier. My dog, who never messes with my yarn, decided this would be a good day to break his good habit. This is the result. That cost me a good bit of time as I had to untangle this mess. I was NOT a happy camper and Jack absolutely was aware of my ire by the tone and volume of my voice when he was caught. Then he was banished to the outdoors. No worries. My daughter was out there to watch him.

The yarn was salvaged and I continued to work as I watched TV. Jack went to sleep on the sofa.

That's all for today.

Happy crocheting!
Sandie