Mandalas for Marinke and Osgood scarf

Just over a year ago, Kathryn Vercillo began the project #mandalasformarinke in honor of sweet Marinke (also called Wink) who lost her battle with depression the end of June 2015. Kathryn has been sharing the mandalas collected throughout the past year. I missed the post that featured my own mandalas and happened across it today so I thought I'd share the link. You can find it on the June 12th posting. She did a lovely job combining the pictures of the mandalas along with important facts to help those suffering from depression.

I've really fallen down on my crocheting lately. I started a hat weeks ago and this is as far as I've gotten. LOL  The yarn is made in Italy and is fingering weight Knit Picks Felici in the colorway Time Traveler. I wonder why I chose it? :-)  This yarn is a limited time offering. The wrapper says "special reserve". It's a very nice yarn and I do recommend it if you have fingering weight yarn needs.

The hat pattern I'm using is Big Button Beret. It's not a difficult pattern. I've just been spending too much time away from my hooks and at my coloring desk.

I do have big plans to make another Doctor Who scarf. This time it will be the Osgood which I've not done before. I've been collecting yarn trying to match the pictures I've been able to find online. There is no "official" pattern that I'm aware of but there are a couple out there that have been posted on Ravelry. They are not crocheted, of course.

You can find Chris Starfire's pattern here. (You have to sign in to see it.)

You can find Sonya Shelton's pattern here. It's set to public so you can see it without signing in.

From all accounts, the Osgood is based on the second half of the former Witty Little Knitter's Season 16 scarf. (Witty Little Knitter domain was let go by Tara Carstensen and has been taken over by Gene Fender of doctorwhoscarf.com . There's nothing there right now but there will be at some point.) The reason we think this is the pattern is because that particular scarf pattern had a one stripe color error in it which is shown in the Osgood - yellow, red, yellow, green, yellow instead of yellow, red, purple, green, yellow. Many, many hours of looking went into figuring that out. LOL

I've accumulated a number of skeins to try and find good colors for the Osgood. At this time, Vanna's Choice Mustard is the lead contender for the yellow. Red Heart with Love Pewter is the lead contender for the grey and the I Love This Yarn Mixed Berry for the purple and Fire Red for the red. I have Vanna's Choice Dusty Green currently for the green but will have a look at the Loops and Thread Fern to see if it fits better as I've not seen it in person yet. The tan is giving me fits. I've found a few light tans but none have that pink tinge it looks like in the photo. I may have to settle for one that comes close. We'll see which yarns win. Since there are two online patterns, maybe I'll do two of them. :-) I've still never worked a Season 15 though, nor a Romana S16 scarf.

All that said, it will not be perfect because lighting and other factors affect how the colors look on TV and online. Not having seen the scarf in person, it's all guesswork. And of course the original is not crocheted.

If you're interested in more details about Doctor Who scarves, you know where to go ... my own Gallifreyan Crochetin'.

Happy crocheting!
Sandie

Doctor Who Season 14 dc scarf

Now that I remembered about it, I finished up that Season 14 scarf. I sewn in all the tails in one night and put the fringe on today.

Details:
Yarn: 
Stylecraft Special DK Copper, Khaki, Burgundy, Graphite, and Almond
Knit Picks Brava Sport Brindle
Hayfield Bonus DK Extra Value Shade 0766 Pumpkin

Size 8 1/2" x 114" (9 1/2') including fringe

Stitches: ch 37 for 35 double crochets across. 

Hook: G

I cut my thumb the other day so haven't been doing any actual crocheting. That won't stop me for long though. :-)

Happy crocheting!
Sandie

recent projects

A little while ago I pulled up the blog to begin a new post and discovered that it's been a month since my last post! I also saw that I said I was going to make a Season 14 double crochet scarf. Well, I did. But I put it aside to sew the tails in and forgot about it. I looked all over the house for it and finally found it - in my basket right by my chair! LOL Yes, I am going crazy.

Here is the scarf, tails and all. The yarn used is: 
Stylecraft Special DK Copper, Khaki, Burgundy, Graphite, and Almond, Knit Picks Brava Sport Brindle, Hayfield Bonus DK Shade 0766 Pumpkin

It's about 8 1/2" wide. Length is approx. 102" (8 1/2') without fringe. Fringe would add about another foot. I chained 37 for 35 double crochets across. I used S12-14 double crochet pattern here. You can also find it here. And it is at Ravelry here. 

Since I finished that scarf, except for sewing in the tails and adding fringe if I decide to do so, I have completed several other small projects. 

My sis asked me to make her some bottle koozies (or huggies or whatever you want to call them). I had never made any but didn't think it would be very difficult, and it wasn't. In fact, I made a whole bunch of them. I forgot to take a photo of the others before sending them off, but here are two. 

This the first one I made. She gave me the size of the bottle and told me how tall she wanted the koozie to be. I didn't have a bottle that size but used my water bottle to judge my work.

I made these just as though I were making a hat but just went higher. I used an H hook and worsted weight yarn. I think this is Red Heart Super Saver light sage, but not sure. It was a huge skein, 14 ozs.

I worked two rounds. First round is 12 dc in adjustable ring. Second round, 2 dc in each of those 12 to make 24 stitches. This came out to be about 2 1/2". Then I worked even (dc in each stitch) for 10 rounds. This made it 5" high. Different yarn, different number of rows can easily adjust this in size. In fact, I'm planning to make one a little taller today. 

The bottle pictured here is a Dasani 16 oz water bottle.

This is the actual container my sister is using. It is taller than my water bottle as you can see. This is Red Heart Super Saver Camo, color Mirage. It is about the same size as the green one.

I also made one with Knit Picks soft cotton yarn which I don't have a picture of. I found it slid around a bit more on the bottle. Possibly cheaper yarn, which would be rougher, might actually cling to the cup better.

Besides the koozies and scarf, I also made a couple squares using my daughter's cross-stitch square pattern which I love. I intended to make a bunch but got sidetracked. I will get back to this eventually. They are 8" using an H hook and the above green yarn.

I have a couple of other projects in progress and, of course, I have to finish that scarf!

Happy crocheting!
Sandie

Doctor Who scarves

Two Doctor Who Season 12 crocheted scarves are completed. Here is a pic of them before tails were sewn in and fringe/tassels added.

Details:
658 rows per scarf for a total of 1316 rows.
23030 stitches (35 per row) for each scarf for a total of 46060 stitches.
53 stripes of color per scarf for a total of 106 stripes done.

Just as a matter of curiosity I timed myself working a row and it took about 90 seconds. So 987 minutes per scarf or 1974 minutes for both. That is 16.45 hours per scarf or almost 33 hours of work for both scarves (if worked continuously and if I did my math correctly). So if you wanted to make one of these and you had only say a weekend to make it, you could do it if you worked really hard at it. :-)

Remember you have to sew all those tails in and add the fringe too. The fringe will straighten that curly section. Let's say add 3 hours for that. I don't know how long it took. (BTW, there were in the area of 100 tails on EACH scarf!) I watched several episodes of Smallville while I took care of those things. ;-)

Let's estimate then that it took about 20 hours per scarf or 40 hours for two.

If one were to purchase one of these scarves at the minimum hourly wage ($7.25) it would cost $145 per scarf or $290 for two scarves, not counting materials. 

Material cost was $20.83 for yarn plus shipping/handling for one scarf. Let's conservatively say that shipping was about 6. So materials and labor would amount to approximately $172 for one scarf and $317 for two.

To summarize - for one scarf, about 8" wide - 20 hours @ $7.25 plus $27 for materials = $172.

Why am I telling you all this? Well, because people balk at paying over $200 for a custom made Doctor Who scarf, not to mention prices for other handmade items. By breaking it down, you can see that you are not getting fleeced. This is actually what it costs to make these items.

I might also mention that this scarf is a bit more than half the width of the actual 4th Doctor scarf so these figures are conservative if you were to hire out a screen accurate scarf. I also did not use the more expensive wool, but rather used a medium priced acrylic yarn.

Both scarves are exactly the same in color. 

Yarn used was:
Stylecraft Special DK Burgundy
Stylecraft Special DK Camel
Sirdar Hayfield Bonus DK Pumpkin
Stylecraft Special DK Copper
Knit Picks Brava Sport Cobblestone Heather
Stylecraft Special DK Khaki
Knit Picks Brava Sport Brindle

If you are working a scarf all these colors are good but I would suggest replacing Cobblestone Heather with Stylecraft Special DK Graphite. The heather works but the original was not heathered.

Each scarf used 1 skein of the above colors for the body. Fringe uses quite a bit of yarn, but I was able to do 9 "tassels" on each end with the leftover from the two scarves. The original scarf had 12 but it was also wider.

I used a G hook and single crochet throughout, starting with a chain of 36. The finished width is about 8". (Original scarf was more in the 10-12" range and knitted). As always with yarn, even with the same manufacturer the thickness is not exactly the same which makes them work up slightly different.

Gauge is approx. 5 sc rows in 1".

The first two stripes of the first scarf were worked February 21. Then I had to wait for yarn. I really consider them begun February 28. They were completed as in picture 1 (with tails dangling) on Thursday, 3-12-2015 with fringe attached last night (March 15, 2015). That said, it really took 2 weeks working my little fingers steadily each day. That's pretty quick! I amazed even myself, but I did want to get these out quickly and I like having a goal in mind when I'm working.

Both scarves in my hall

Measurement was 11'5" relaxed, 11'7" stretched

Laid out on sofa

Closeup

I'm pretty happy with the way these two turned out. Next up, I'm going to use the rest of my yarn to make a double crochet Season 14 version. After that, I hope to make a Season 15 - which I've never done - probably using Vanna's Choice yarn since it's readily available, but we'll see how it goes.

Happy crocheting!
Sandie

dw scarf

I'm still alive. heh I am using the excuse that I got a new camera and am not proficient in its use, not that I'll ever be!

Anyway, I took a few photos of recent projects and hope they will show up okay.

Here are some prayer cloths I completed.

And here is a hat that I made during the January challenge at Crochet Crowd on Facebook. The ends are supposed to turn up and a button put on but that never happened.

I started it with one skein of yarn (even though the instructions clearly said two) and had to get another skein to finish it. Then I needed to get buttons, which I did, but I never put them on. I know. I'm just pathetic. Or lazy. Or both. I don't often do challenges because of just this reason. I am lazy. LOL

The yarn is Vanna's Choice Cranberry. I only had a couple rounds left so I am using the rest to attempt another hat. LOL 

Currently, I am working on a requested Doctor Who Season 12 scarf. It's mindless work, single crochet rows. I just have to keep track of how many rows per color in the correct order. I am using a G hook.

I am using Stylecraft Special DK Copper, Camel, Khaki and Burgundy, Knit Picks Brava Sport Cobblestone Heather and Brindle; and Bonus DK Extra Value 0766 pumpkin (it's goldish). The grey is actually not supposed to be heather but it is the closest to the non-heathered grey I have used in the past.

You can find the Who patterns at Crochet Cabana or at my Gallifreyan Crochetin Weebly Who site. Patterns based on Gene Fender's patterns at doctorwhoscarf.com (used with permission).

Happy crocheting!
Sandie

DC Doctor Who scarf

Someone on the Stitches group showed a picture of their Doctor Who scarf worked in dc. I have been saying I wanted to do a 4th Doctor scarf in dc and this inspired me so I began one Sunday (June 1). I have about four and a half feet done so far. I would guess I am maybe a third of the way but that is just a guess.

Here is a comparison between the dc, knitted, and sc look. The colors do not show up well in these photos, but you should be able to see the difference in stitches. The original scarf was knitted.

The top one is Stylecraft Special DK Camel in double crochet. The one in the middle is I Love This Yarn Lt. Taupe in knit The bottom one is Knit Picks Brava Sport Almond in single crochet (the one I finished recently). 

Here is what I've done so far on this one. Again, the colors in the photo are not really accurate. The grey, for example, is not as blue as in the picture.

I will of course give you an update when it's completed.

Happy crocheting!
Sandie

hats and DW scarf

I finally finished sewing in those tails. What a job! But it's done and I'm very pleased with the finished scarf. Again, I haven't measured it but I'm guessing between 18 and 19' without fringe. I don't normally add fringe though I guess I should if I want to be authentic. :-)

Here are a couple pics. See previous post for details on this Season 16-17 scarf. Now I need to make a Season 15 and I will have one from each season. That still won't be ALL the scarves as there is a duplicate that was used sometimes and Romana wore a scarf similar to the Doctor's in one episode.

The pattern is up at the Cabana and at Ravelry and at the Stitches Facebook group. The Cabana page has issues but you should be able to download the patterns okay. If you have a problem holler out to me using the form here.

I also made several hats recently. These are various sizes and colors. I made up the patterns using the basic hat increases. I used fpdc and fphdc on one and cross-stitch on another. Finished a couple with single crochet rounds and one is made long enough to double up. I also used DK weight yarn for some and worsted for some. So the word is variety!

That's about it.

Happy crocheting!
Sandie

on my hook

The most exciting thing to happen in the past weeks was the birth of my sweet grandson, two weeks early. He was born October 9, 5# 14 ozs. 19 1/4" long.

Here he is meeting his great-grandmother.

The past weeks have also been busy due to my mom's failing health. She is now on hospice care.

I've had some health issues of my own to deal with as well. It's been busy around here.

My hooks have perhaps not been as busy as normal but they haven't been idle either.

Here's what I've been working on.

Firstly, still working on the Season 16-17 scarf. I'm more than halfway done with this super long scarf.

I also was asked to make a baby afghan for another first time grandma. I decided to make a nameghan for this special guy. I deleted the last name to protect his privacy but it came out really well I thought.

I also worked on a pet snuggle with a new hook that my husband made for me. I'll have pictures of it soon.

Happy crocheting!
Sandie

Doctor Who Season 18 scarf and free ebooks

I was reminded recently about this free ebook available at Crochet Me/Interweave. It is an Advanced Crochet Stitches guide.

There is also another free ebook available This one is Crochet Lace Patterns.

Hopefully both those links still work. I first posted about them a few months ago on Facebook.

With the Who babyghans done, I decided to tackle the Season 18 with Lion Brand Suede I'd begun some time ago. I discovered why I stopped working on it. Those single color rows one after the other with the suede is a pain but sewing in the suede is even worse. I think I will stop when I get to an appropriate length for a scarf rather than going to the 20+ feet. It's close to 6' now. The scarf uses 3 colors - Lion Brand Suede - garnet, eggplant, and spice. These are discontinued yarns. I found some at Ebay and got some from a friend.

I did enjoy the Season 18 I did previously with the Red Heart Soft yarn though. Here's a reminder pic. It is the one I use over at Gallifreyan Crochetin'.

In between working on the suede scarf, I started another pet snuggle for our local animal shelter.

Happy crocheting!
Sandie

Who scarves

I am able to crochet though not for a lengthy period of time at one go. It's much better though and I am hopeful to finish the Who babyghan soon.

Everyone knows I've made a number of Doctor Who scarves. A member of the Stitches group at Facebook posted a link to a blog post at Kaleidoscope yarns which relates to the yarn used for these scarves. I know some of you have expressed interest in the scarves so I thought I'd pass it on. You can find the blog post here at KY Yarns.

Also, there was a wool kit available at Little Red Mitten in Canada but I can't find the listing on their web site so maybe they've discontinued it. If you're wanting a kit, holler out to them and maybe they can help you. I have a kit here but I haven't used it yet. The kit is based on a knitting pattern and crochet uses more yarn than knitting. That said, I generally make my scarves less wide than the original so it will likely work. I also could work a Season 14 which is shorter than the Season 12.

If you know someone who wants to learn crochet, you might like to recommend Kim Guzman's Learn to Crochet videos. Kim goes very slowly which many new crocheters find helpful. If you're interested in Tunisian crochet, Kim's the gal to go to as well. Check out her channel for more videos.

I have videos featuring the basics of crochet but my playlist is not as nicely organized as Kim's. You can find my beginner videos here.

I will hopefully have pics for you next post. Remember a few years ago I challenged myself to use every hook in my collection for a project? I am thinking of doing that again. Last time I was interrupted by a hurricane and got the hooks mixed up. Hopefully that wouldn't happen this time. I'll let you know when I start the project.

Happy crocheting!
Sandie

scrap pillow and SHADA scarf completed

That multi-colored piece I was working on using my leftover balls has now become a pillow. You might call it a pet snuggle as I'm thinking to use it for the dogs since it can be removed and washed easily.

Having the color change right in the middle made it really easy to assemble the two sides and run a bit along the folded edge. See how I planned that? hahaha

In other news, I finally sewed the tails in on the SHADA Doctor Who scarf I finished about a month ago! Yay!

This scarf took about two to three weeks to make (post of May 16), barring those tails. It took two days to sew in all the tails.


Details. I chained 31 with an I (5.5mm) hook (single crochet) and followed the pattern at doctorwhoscarf.com (which is a knit pattern). The finished size is about 19' long and 9" wide.

Here is the yarn I used:
Purple - Vanna's Choice Purple
Camel - I Love This Yarn light taupe (2 skeins)
Mustard - Bernat Gypsy Gold
Rust - I Love This Yarn Terra Cotta
Grey - Vanna's Choice Taupe (2 skeins)
Greenish brown - Bernat Waverly Bark (2 skeins)
Bronze - Vanna's Choice Toffee (2 skeins)
Light grey -  ILTY greybeard (it's a little dark, but it's what I had)

I think that's about it. Now to finish the Season 18 I have begun in Lion Brand Suede!

Happy crocheting!
Sandie

the stash

As I've mentioned before, I'm working through my stash. As I'm sure anyone reading this knows, every time you work a project, there are balls of yarn left over. These eventually fill every nook and cranny available. What to do with these? There are lots of projects that you can make with these leftover balls, but what I've chosen to do is make yo-yos and perhaps squares. Daughter has been collecting yo-yos for a while and I contribute these to the cause. 

Besides that you know how you plan to make something and then change your mind. Yeah, I have some of those skeins. Then there are the skeins that you actually hold in your hand and think "I must try this" or "Surely I can find something to make with this lovely yarn!" Yeah, I have some of those. Then there are the "one more skein" to make sure you have enough yarn to complete the project in the proper dye lot. The JIC (just in case) yarn.

So here's what I have on hand ...

The four bins are loosely organized by color. (Three here and one in the other pic). The top one is my Deramores DK yarn from the UK. It's for another baby blanket.

The big bag is filled with ziploc bags of relatively small balls of different sizes. The round basket on the floor has two levels and both are filled with small balls. The basket on the glider is the one I'm working through now, rolling loose yarn and putting the items in their proper place. I found a whole bunch of yarn labels and even a pack of stitch markers. :-)

There is also my ruler for making sure I have enough yarn to make a yo yo (8 wraps). When I have a bit that's too small, it gets tied into my scrap ball for a kitty pad.

Here are the yo-yos I've made so far, one 8" square for the Bridge, and part of the V stitch scarf I started.  For some reason, I am having a problem keeping my tension even on this one. Let's blame it on the yarn. ;-) The pattern is my daughter's V stitch scarf.

These are items I found in one bag which were made by my husband and son when they kindly agreed to help me with my certification by allowing me to teach them some basics. One of these was made during commercials of a football game! They were created in 2005.

The bottom bin here is some donated yarn and a few other things. I haven't gone through it yet as any donated yarn is used for charity items so I keep it separate as much as possible.

The bag on top is a bunch of completed things that are up for grabs which I posted about previously.

This bag contains some wool yarn I got off Ebay and ended up not enjoying so it sits.

These are skeins and balls which are not worsted weight. I have a bin for DK yarn which is all Who scarf colors so these did not go with those. They will probably get used soon so I can clear this space.

Here is the completed SHADA scarf still waiting for me to sew in ends and the WIP or UFO, depending on how you look at it, Season 18 scarf made with Lion Brand Suede. Both need to be completed by November 23 for the challenge.

While I'm working on paring down my stash I have been watching Doctor Who Trial of a Time Lord featuring Colin Baker as the 6th Doctor and Michael Jayston as the Valeyard (the dark elements of the Doctor in an incarnation between his 12th and last). I've finished those 14 episodes now (including all special features which were excellent) and will be starting a couple of Tom Baker's episodes, including his final one, and Peter Davison's first.

I am also looking for a good series I've not seen before that is available on Netflix instant view (or Hulu) that I can use while I walk on the treadmill. If you have a suggestion, holler out to me. 

Happy crocheting!
Sandie

SHADA progress

I continue to work on the really long SHADA scarf. Here's my progress.

No real details to add on this. I didn't measure it but I know I am presently working stripe 50 which makes me more than half done. I am still on the first skein of all colors except the bark (brownish green). I started the second skein of bark this afternoon. Of course, the I Love This Yarn is twice the ounces in the other skeins.

I'll keep you all posted.

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there!


Happy crocheting!
Sandie

Doctor Who baby lapghan

I have not been good about keeping the blog up these days. I am sorry about that. It was so busy for a while and these are quiet days. I guess I am grateful for the lull. :-)

I thought I'd update on the lapghan/baby afghan. I've finished two strips and begun the last one.

The basic pattern I am using was inspired by the "inches" pattern on DoctorWhoScarf . I did not measure inches. I just took the idea and chose to use 4 rows for every inch Gene listed, even though that was not going to be a physical inch in my strip. It gave me a guide to start which was very helpful. (Gene's pattern is for knitted scarves, fyi.)

The main thing to remember in making this particular afghan is that you have to follow the stripe pattern remembering that you are working "up" so to speak. I rewrote my pattern with that in mind. I'm not explaining that well. The pattern starts with the purple/burgundy. For my first strip I began there and worked through to a camel stripe. I didn't finish that stripe but ended the first strip there. For the second strip, I had to work backwards. So I began with graphite and ended with the finish of the camel stripe. That way the camel stripes were next to one another and continued the "scarf" pattern. Then for the last strip I began by finishing the graphite section which was at the "bottom" of my 2nd scarf strip. It sounds complex when you read it but in reality it is obvious when you're working it.

Perhaps the picture can explain it better.

I have a few things in mind to try next. I want to make a one piece following the stripe pattern. The tricky thing with that will be to figure out how wide to make it so it looks right.

I also want to do one with double crochet. I have several ideas about how to do that.

I am enjoying working with the lighter weight yarn. I think it does justice to the pattern better than the worsted yarns. The smaller stitches, to me, are more closely in line with the knitted stitches. Of course, this particular yarn comes from the UK and mailing costs are much higher when buying from overseas. I lucked out with these skeins as they were had a free shipping offer at the time. I wouldn't hesitate to buy from Deramores again though. They were fast and accurate. The yarn is wonderful. No problems with it at all thus far.

You'll notice in the picture there is some turning at the corners. This will be fixed as the strips are joined together and an edging added.

Happy crocheting!
Sandie

Doctor Who scarf

If you are not a Doctor Who fan this post will be extremely boring to you. If you are an avid fan of the Doctor Who scarf in particular, I hope you will enjoy it and find something of use.

Some days the Internet is just wonderful. My friends are always wonderful.

The other day Hubby went to Home Depot to pick up some Behr paint color chips for me. I wanted to use them to match yarn for a new Doctor Who scarf. As you may know, I've made three previously.

I've wanted to do this for a while, but we are planning a future trip to Tennessee during which I may have opportunity to visit an actual yarn shop, so I really wanted to have these before then so I could color match. I'd like to do a scarf (or two) with sport yarn, possibly wool though I don't work much with wool. Louisiana is just not built for it. :-)

Sadly, hubby was unable to find the colors needed at our local Home Depot. (I wrote to Behr and they suggested I buy a $40 book. They did not specify if the colors I wanted - which I sent them - would be in the book. I chose not to go that route.)

Wednesday, I mentioned this on Facebook and I'd hardly finished typing before four people replied. Two of them found all the colors that same day and have already mailed them off to me. I got one in the mail on Saturday. *dancing with glee*

Let me expand on what I am doing. You know I love to talk about the Doctor and particularly about this scarf, about which I have a fascination.

There are two definitive web sites with details on the Doctor Who scarf. These are my go-to sites and I'm often over there going from one to the other, examining differences.

Keep in mind that computers will show color differently and if you try to print them, even more difference. This is particularly important if you are trying to match shades which have subtle differences and that is the purpose of these references.

Also, yarn and paper reflect color in different ways.

I often get curious about things and go to great lengths in my investigative technique. LOL While I waited for the chips to come in, I thought I'd do some color matching and investigating by computer.

My husband told me he read online that men and women actually physically see color differently so I had to look that up too. One article I read said that men and women MIGHT see differently or men might just not care as much about the differences in color. Another said that some women have four photopigments and can see more of a range of colors. Yet another said women see the color RED better. Whichever it is, you might not see the same colors I'm seeing or the same that Tara or Gene or Chris or anyone else sees. So please yourself!



Regards to colors, really does any of it matter? In my opinion, no. Nobody is going to look at your scarf and say hey, this is not EXACTLY the same shade as the original Tom Baker scarf from 1974 to 1981. In the first place even the original scarf is not the original colors now! So, again, please yourself! I made one of my scarves half the width of the original because it is more comfortable to wear that way. (Of course if you happen across someone else wearing a scarf, you might have a comparison ...)

My scarves are also crocheted rather than knitted. Do I care? No. If I knitted, I would certainly do a knitted one, but I like my crocheted ones just fine.

I have two favorite Who scarf sites. They make different suggestions as to colors and chips. That is perfectly fine. They come at it from different perspectives and experiences and provide information they glean to other fans. I appreciate all those who have offered up info for us to use.


The first site is The Witty Little Knitter run by Tara Wheeler. For the three scarves I have made in the past I used Tara's Vanna's Choice colors (because they are less expensive and readily available) and I've been really pleased with the resulting look. (Be sure to check out her "odd uses" page!)

The second is The Doctor Who Scarf site, which used to be Chris Brimelow's site but is now run by Gene Fender (of the Scarf Factory). The turnover occurred only recently so the site is still being updated, but looks like it will be a good resource. One of the things I have already noticed is a version where inches are given instead of rows. I think that will be really handy if one is crocheting and not knitting scarves, as I am. I used Chris' row counts for two of my scarves and the size came out pretty close to what it is "supposed" to be. (I don't add fringe to my scarves because well, I don't care for fringe and it's my scarf. This means it is not precisely a replica of the Who scarf, but that is okay with me.)

Both sites give Pantone and Behr color chip numbers for reference to color match your yarn purchases. The Witty Little Knitter had one Glidden also. Hubby was able to get the Glidden one, which was large so I cut it into two for both sets I wanted. I don't know where to get Pantone chips (other than buying a very expensive book), so I went with Behr.

I went to the Behr web site and chose the colors indicated at the two Who sites. One color was exactly the same on both sites - Delicious Berry (purple). The other colors are different though in the same color vein.

Why the difference in shades, you might ask? Well, first off the colors on the Behr web site may not be exactly the same as the color cards. Think dye lot in yarn. Secondly, the color matches may be chosen in different light settings, looking at different original scarves and such. They may also have access to different color books. Neither is wrong or right. They are just as close as they can figure based on the information they had at the time. Choose the one you prefer for your own scarf or go in a completely different direction. (Tara even shows a blue scarf on her site.)

In looking at both the Pantone and the Behr for each site, The Witty Little Knitter's Pantone and Behr matched most closely to one another. In other words, the Pantone shade of mustard, for example, was close to the one she chose in Behr. With that in mind, I feet safe in using the Behr color chips.

I did make different picture matches for myself, matching up the colors in different ways, but no need to bore you with my compulsive behavior heh. This gives you an idea of what I'm talking about without being too boring, I hope.

Does it matter that there's a slight difference in shades between the two sites or between the Pantone and Behr? Not a whit. You will never get a perfect yarn match anyway unless you have a time machine and can go back to 1974 and see the original yarns. Even if you could do that and you could purchase the exact same yarns used then, it won't look the same because no two knitters or crocheters work exactly alike. Of course, if you DID have a time machine, maybe the original knitter would let you sit by her side and work on yours. :-)

There are many things that would make your scarf uniquely yours - and that is a GOOD thing!

I also want to mention two other sites that I ran across. The first has a picture of the author wearing a scarf knitted for him by his aunt in 1997 using the original Whovian Times pattern instructions. You can find his site here .

The second site, owned by Laura Gjovaag, also uses the pattern from the Whovian Times as well as the one from the Doctor Who pattern book by Joy Gammon. I owned the pattern book at one time, but passed it on to another fan as I don't sew or knit. You can find Laura's site here.

According to Wikipedia, Whovian Times was published by a Doctor Who fan club and there were 20 issues. To my knowledge, both of those books are out of print though with some diligent searching, I'm sure you could find them in used book places, likely at a nicely elevated price. LOL

I will not list the line counts themselves here because I have not gotten permission to reprint them.

The colors listed in the Doctor Who Pattern book are

grey
cream
maroon
dark brown
beige
rust
brick

The colors listed in the Whovian pattern are
purple
camel
bronze
mustard
rust
grey
greenish brown

On the two sites that list all the line rows by color from the Whovian Times newsletter, there is one difference. Towards the end, 9th row from bottom, one has 16 rust and the other has 18 rust. I can't say which is right as I don't have the newsletter itself.

Through the seasons the scarf changed, particularly in length. Season 15 scarf also uses different colors than the original scarf, though they are similar.

Season 18 scarf is very different - Terra Cotta, Deep Purple, and Claret. Lion Brand Suede was a suggested yarn, but it has been discontinued so one must look for a substitute. I haven't made one yet so I can't show it to you. The S18 scarf was also the longest at 26 feet.

Now what to do with these colors? Why make a scarf, of course! So you need yarn. Tara and Gene have given their suggestions for yarn and they are good ones. I hope to find my own matches soon.

The thing about yarn is that manufacturers have no consideration. They discontinue yarns without asking us! Also, some stores will carry some brands and some stores others, and even if they carry the brand, they may not carry all the colors. I was recently looking for a particular color in a very commonly found brand, but could not find that one color in all our local stores.

When I made my Season 14 Who scarves I had to adapt from knit to crochet. I ended up using a ch 36 for the wide scarves and ch 21 for my 6" scarf which I wear. I used an I hook, Vanna's Choice yarn, and worked in single crochet. For one I used Witty Little Knitter's row counts. For the other two I used Chris' row counts.

Row counts somewhat would depend on personal tension while working and on the materials used - worsted weight and sport weight yarns would work up differently. Using a G hook or a J hook would also give a different finished size.

That is why I think I will like trying Gene's pattern notes about inches.

Anyway, that is the Doctor Who scarf as I know it. :-)

You can see my Doctor Who crocheted items with details at Crochet Cabana.

Happy crocheting!
Sandie