Sunday, January 5, 2014

Doctor Who Scarf Saga: Season 18 Realness

This client contacted me right around the same time as I was ordering the yarn for the 1st monochrome scarf, but it took me a lot longer to finish this project, because I had drama trying to match the yarn for screen accuracy. I initially ordered some chenille yarn that I thought would do the trick (and was also a chunky enough weight that I thought I could cheat the gauge a bit. However, I didn't realize how much  variation there was in the color of the yarn until they arrived & I worked with them for a bit:

Gorgeous, but not screen accurate

I sent my client the pic above & he was pretty much like "this is cute but not what I asked for." So I consulted with Facebook groups and http://www.doctorwhoscarf.com/ found that Lion Brand Jiffy in the colors Paprika, Wine & Grape are meant to be screen accurate. Of course, the Paprika is discontinued (#TrickedBirch) but I found a Paprika of a different type of yarn & thought maybe I could "cheat" the difference in the gauges by increasing or decreasing when I changed colors, but NOPE. Imagine my chagrin when this showed up:

Womp-womp...
After several twirls on the bus to the local yarn store, I was blessed enough to come across a fellow knitter who had access to a car & after 3 yarn stores and a frankly terrifying trip to Wal-Mart (UGH), I managed to find a flavor of LB Jiffy that would work!! It's actually called True Red, but it "reads" quite orangey against the Wine & the Grape:

Praise BE!!! Time to set it FREE!!


Believe me, when I came across that Jiffy Yarn at the very last store on our list, I had a whole Praise Break up in the aisle. My fingers were trembling with eagerness to get started as I cast 40 stitches onto a pair of US 8 (6mm) needles and let the magic happen!

Day 1









Day2
Day 3, at my Grandma's for Christmas. Don't you love her floors?
This transition drove me insane. I hate the way the stitches pucker out right there. Yes, I know I'm neurotic.
Day 4

Day 5
Day 6
Day 7
Day 8, bound off but unblocked & tassels not woven in
After blocking, with slip stitch border added
Glam!!
All finished & ready to ship!!

In one sense, this was my least profitable project (due to having to re-purchase yarn) and longest from order to shipping, but it was a pure joy to step out of my comfort zone a little & work on something screen accurate. In case you're wondering what I have up my sleeve for all that leftover yarn, well....watch this space, as they say in showbiz....