Today the new episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC America with Peter Capaldi, and so I am celebrating by knitting the scarf that Tom Baker wore when he was the doctor, so many years ago. I started making the scarf last year before Christmas, but never got it finished. It’s for my husband, and he’s eager to wear it this winter, so I have to start knitting it again.
It’s not a complicated pattern by any means, but it calls for a lot of color changes. And counting. One must count so many rows, then switch colors. Count again, cut, switch. Over and over again.
And it’s knit in a garter stitch, so it’s not like you have to do fancy cables or anything. It’s just a really long scarf.
I have 16 stripes done so far, and the one I’m on now has 54 rows in a color called Camel. I will be knitting this tonight when the new episode airs. My simple homage to one of the greatest Science Fiction series that has survived time, modernity, and cheesy sound effects.
The pattern I’m working from can be found here, in case you want to start making one of your own. There is also a website set up that documents all the variations of the scarf, here. I hope to make the red and black version at some point, for myself. This site also has some great resources on what yarns to use for the scarf, as color is very important. You need to have just the right colors that mimic the one that was used in the show.
I’m using a combination of yarns, some Vanna White’s yarns (which aren’t that bad to knit with and are very close to the correct colors) and a few others that I had to grab at the last minute because the colors I had were all wrong.
As I finish typing this post I’m watching the 50th anniversary episode of Doctor Who, and it’s the scene at the end with Tom Baker. Love him so much. He has always been my most favorite doctor (besides David Tennant, of course.)
“Gallifrey falls no more”
Love live Gallifrey! And long live long colorful scarves.