Doctor Who scarves

Aug 05, 2016 21:25

Below are photos of two of my newer scarves. Both are knit.



This first one is a commission. It was requested that I knit the "Ace" logo from the Seventh Doctor era on either end. The recipient plans to fill the long black space by sewing on replica badges similar to those that appear on Ace's leather jacket.

I decided that the best way to make this scarf was to use intarsia, which I had never tried before. Plus intarsia is usually done in stockinette stitch, and stockinette curls horribly. Frankly, I didn't want to fuss with trying to flatten it. So then I found out that you don't really have to knit intarsia in stockinette. It's also possible to knit it in garter/knit stitch.

I went to a local yarn store, presented my idea to (I believe she was) the owner, and was promptly shot down. "You can't knit intarsia that way," she stated. "Intarsia has to be done in stockinette." But I'd seen where other people online had used garter stitch for intarsia, I replied, and I added that I didn't want to do stockinette because it curls so much. "It's supposed to," the woman replied--really, did she think she was telling me something I didn't know? She also said that the "Ace" design I showed her was "impossible" to knit.

I left the store and haven't been back since. Of course, I promptly went to work learning how to do intarsia in garter stitch and trying to figure out a reasonable pattern for the Ace logo. That took quite a few attempts. Here's what I eventually came up with:




I made two versions of the double-knit scarf below. The design is heavily based on a paid pattern from Ravelry, so I can't share it. I did modify it quite a bit, though. As written, it calls for lace-weight yarn and US size 0 needles. No way was I doing that. I used worsted weight and size 3 needles for scarf #1, then switched to size 6 needles for scarf #2. As for the pattern, I cut out large chunks and changed other parts significantly. I'll probably knit another one soon with still more differences based on what I like best from these first two examples.

Scarf 1 is the left in the first picture, on the right in the second picture, and on the left in the third picture. This design was much easier to knit than the Ace intarsia scarf--took a lot less time/experimentation and was more straightforward. I've done so much double knitting, it feels odd when I use a different method.





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