Showing posts with label Sirdar Hayfield Bonus DK. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sirdar Hayfield Bonus DK. Show all posts

Monday, March 16, 2015

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

Friday, May 23, 2014

Doctor Who S12 scarf

Here is the finished Doctor Who season 12 DK weight scarf. As noted in the previous entry, I think these colors will be the closest yet. They were suggested by doctorwhoscarf.com's Gene Fender at the Stitches Facebook group and I'm sure will be on the web site soon. 




Here are the DK/sport weight colors suggested by Gene (graphic used with permission) in different yarns. I added the text at the bottom of the graphic which was given in the original FB post.





In text:
BBC = new colors
Purple = Knit Picks Brava Sport Currant (F), alternate Stylecraft Special DK Burgundy (L)
Camel = Knit Picks Brava Sport Almond (D), alternate Stylecraft Special DK Camel (J)
Mustard = Sirdar Hayfield Bonus DK Pumpkin (A)
Rust = Knit Picks Brava Sport Paprika (C), alternate Stylecraft Special DK Copper (I)
Grey = Stylecraft Special DK Graphite (G), my alternate would be Knit Picks Brave Sport Cobblestone Heather (not in pic)
Greenish Brown = Sirdar Hayfield Bonus DK Moss Green (B), alternate Stylecraft Special DK Khaki (H)
Bronze = Knit Picks Brava Sport Brindle (E), alternate King Cole Big Value DK Taupe (K)

A Pumpkin
B Moss Green
C Paprika
D Almond
E Brindle
F Currant
G Graphite
H Khaki
I Copper
J Camel
K Taupe
L Burgundy

I have used all but the King Cole and agree with Gene that they are right on. The Cobblestone Heather was not in Gene's picks, but it is pretty close to the Graphite in my opinion, but heathered. The heathered doesn't bother me. I hardly see it, but then my eyes are not that great. LOL If you're unable to get the Stylecraft, it will work okay I think.

For this scarf, I used
Purple = Knit Picks Brava Sport Currant
Camel = Knit Picks Brava Sport Almond
Mustard = Sirdar Hayfield Bonus DK Pumpkin
Rust = Knit Picks Brava Sport Paprika
Grey = Stylecraft Special DK Graphite
Greenish Brown = Sirdar Hayfield Bonus DK Moss Green
Bronze = Knit Picks Brava Sport Brindle

In my opinion, the hardest color to get right is the mustard which is a goldish color. Most of the yellows are too yellow or too light or too orange. I have used those in the past, but am happy to have found a DK acrylic that is close to the correct gold color thanks to Gene. Because the scarves are so long, the DK weight helps with the heaviness of the scarf. 

I might note that if working with worsted yarn, the Bernat Waverly Gypsy Gold is to me a perfect color for the mustard.

In previous DK scarves and baby afghans I've used the Stylecraft Special DK Sunshine which is way bright and has a bit of an orange tint to it. I used it because it was all that I knew at the time but this Pumpkin beats it hands down for a more accurate Who scarf. For the baby afghans I think the Sunshine brightens it up a bit and for a baby, I think that is okay.




Stylecraft has a new color called gold but I haven't actually seen that one. I am in the U.S. and the Stylecraft yarn is ordered from the UK so I wait until I need a nice amount of yarn before placing an order. I'm pretty well stocked up right now. Deramores, where I order it from, is very quick and has free shipping with a certain amount purchase. I recommend them.

I like all the colors in this scarf. If I were to do another, I would use the same yarns with the possible exception of using the copper instead of the paprika because it is slightly more orange which says rust to me. The difference is miniscule, however. Both work quite fine and I am mightily pleased with this one.

For this scarf, I used the DK/sport weight yarn, a foundation chain of 36, and a G hook, making my scarf about 8" wide. 




For the detailed oriented, there are 53 stripes of colors and 658 rows. The number of rows of each color as follows: almond 145 , moss green 105 , paprika 94 , graphite 99 , brindle 81, pumpkin 57 , currant 77  = 658

Remember that although the number of stripes is the same regardless of what yarn you're using, the number of rows will change depending on what yarn (and what stitch) you are using. 

35 stitches x 658 rows = 23030 plus the foundation chain of 36 so 23066 single crochet and chain stitches in this scarf. That is not an insignificant number! LOL

I began working on May 15 and finished on the 22nd with the fringe.

My Who patterns are up at the Crochet Cabana web site and also over at Ravelry (free).