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Post by aquabluejay on Jul 3, 2011 5:32:00 GMT
Because the darn thing's so long, it deserves to have it's name lengthened.
Yes, I am indeed making my own 4th doctor scarf! ^^
- A legendary, and probably suicidal project.
Although, according to my Grandmother, immediately after she showed me how to knit, I am a superb knitter.... I don't quite have the attention span for it. Not that I'm not happy to sit and knit for hours on end of whatever, but when I do hop up and or become distracted, I put down my knitting, and somehow manage to turn it backwards... Which it a lot more problematic than you'd imagine, believe me...
In order to overcome this obvious roadblock, my mother produced a magnificent, and glorious solution, as she is want to do. Knit-O'-Mattic! Yes, we do still have one of those old things from when they were Originally marketed as children's toys! XD
Not only does it solve my problem, it speeds up the entire process dramatically!
This thread will now be my project log... although, I'm actually almost done now, and it's been astonishingly quick! ^^
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Post by clocketpatch on Jul 3, 2011 13:59:09 GMT
I've never heard of this machine before but it sounds like a glorious solution to the scarf dilemma. I hope you post pics of the finished product (and of the machine. Google images wasn't particularly forthcoming)
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kirkg
Auton Daisy
"Hello, Sweetie!"
Posts: 442
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Post by kirkg on Jul 3, 2011 17:36:28 GMT
Never tell Aqua to post pictures... Of the 300 photos she snapped last night to document the "project", here is one. Fear her. Attachments:
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kirkg
Auton Daisy
"Hello, Sweetie!"
Posts: 442
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Post by kirkg on Jul 3, 2011 17:39:49 GMT
Scarf in progress... (i resisted the impulse to tell you all that a Knit0matic was a ficticious "timey-whimey" device invented to confound fans...  ) Attachments:
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Post by aquabluejay on Jul 3, 2011 19:56:38 GMT
Scarf is done!!!!
It has tassels and everything now! I just need look up how to wet-block it or whatever, to stop it curling. It's a bit too modern right now, looks like something a teenage girl Ought to have wrapped garishly around her neck! XD
Will ask Dad how to post pictures and begin logging the project... Right side up too, *cough* above picture *cough*...
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Post by aquabluejay on Jul 3, 2011 21:54:55 GMT
I used sever websites devoted to the scarf while selecting my colors. There are tons of recommendations for the yarn but in the end I mostly ended up using a mish-mash of the scarf factory's recommendations. www.lespaceplie.com/drwho/original.htmlI ended up using two different brand of yarn, which mixed quite well. For most of the colors, I used Plymouth Galway Worsted Wool, the colors that are recommended at the Scarf Factory. Cascade 220 Worsted Wool for the brown and the yellow, for a slightly better match. The brown turned out to be an absolute dream to work with on the machine, the yellow was a pain in the ass, comparatively to all the others but they were all quite nice. The pattern itself is from here: www.doctorwhoscarf.com/season12.phpReally an incredibly, and somewhat frighteningly detailed site, check it out, you'll learn more about the darn thing then you'd ever dream you wanted to! XD The pattern was really simple, visual, and overall really nice for someone like me who doesn't really have a clue about knitting! Attachments:
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Post by aquabluejay on Jul 4, 2011 4:48:12 GMT
For those not familiar with automatic knitting machines, here's a little info: The Knit-O-Matic was marketed as a toy for young girls in the 60's by Kenner's. My mom apparently got one as a kid, made a mitten while her dad was shaving, but then realized that due to a slight oversight in the mitten form, was never going to fit on a human hand. Then she ran out of yarn, which came with the machine, wound onto little cardboard spools to be compatible with the spindle on the shuttle. First off, they're not really automatic... Semi automatic at best. There's still some skill involved, mostly a knack at figuring out the tensioning manually, or else the thing drops stitches off the ends. Attachments:
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Post by aquabluejay on Jul 4, 2011 5:15:56 GMT
There are some obvious flaws, which I have just read someone who got one as a child griping about on their knitting blog, but frankly folks, this is what divides crafters I think: Having the ingenuity to MAKE it work. In that spirit, I've also mentioned that the yarn that come with the machine was wound onto custom cardboard spindles, so that you would have to order more kits in order to continue knitting. I solved this particular problem by saying "Well to hell with that!" After being regaled with tales of my mother's attempts to use spools, rewound with other yarn, I asked her why she was using the stupid things anyway. I just chucked the whole thing out the window and laid the skein of yarn on the table, unwinding several yards of it at a time, to pool on the table behind the machine. This works exceptionally well with the Cascade yarn, which comes in a twisted hank, which when unwound for use, becomes simply a large 2' diameter loop of yarn. All you have to do is lay it out on the table and you're good to go! Attachments:
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Post by aquabluejay on Jul 4, 2011 5:26:40 GMT
OK, so complete pictures up till now have been posted to a facebook album. Don't know if they'll be visible if you don't have an account, but they should be viewable to anyone who want's to hop on and look. www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.238084229554153.75401.100000577336381&l=a1023ea1af Le gasp!!! I'm actually using my facebook account! And LeArNinG how to use the darn thing?!!!! *****Also, could someone PLEASE tell me how to include images in my posts other than attaching them? HELP! DX***** |
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Post by aquabluejay on Jul 5, 2011 20:26:15 GMT
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Post by Maggadin on Jul 5, 2011 22:06:05 GMT
This Four fangirl approves!
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Post by aquabluejay on Jul 6, 2011 3:35:18 GMT
I had my Mp3 player, and handy Pringles can speaker to keep my company during the second half of the project, although I toughed out the first part without any other entertainment. Partly because it was a bit distracting sometimes while I was counting stitches, and partly because I was too lazy to go upstairs and get it. I have a lot of the music from the soundtrack to the specials, and a few of the songs from season five on there, so it was very appropriate. Also, a bunch of the songs from the music videos on DWlive, and some short story audio plays with eight! ^^ Attachments:
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Post by jjpor on Jul 7, 2011 20:16:55 GMT
I think that's excellent, aqua - a noble endeavour!  I remember when my aunty used to have one of those knitting machines - a great big thing, it was. You sort of adjusted things on it and put punch-card type things onto it to knit certain patterns, like some sort of hellish steampunk computer-cum-industrial artefact. I've always thought of it as being an object from a certain historical era, a bit like toasted cheese sandwich makers and those Sodastream fizzy-drink machines. And early-period John Nathan-Turner, possibly. She used to knit all of us kids nice little jumpers and things with various patterns and stuff on them. But never anything as awesome as your scarf, sad to say. |
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Post by johne on Jul 7, 2011 22:17:44 GMT
I've always thought of it as being an object from a certain historical era, a bit like toasted cheese sandwich makers and those Sodastream fizzy-drink machines. Toasted sandwich makers are cool dangerously hot  |
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Post by aquabluejay on Jul 8, 2011 4:14:50 GMT
And suddenly, this thread is about toasted cheese sandwich makers! XD
I've never actually heard of those. I have a grilled cheese sandwich press but... Oh wait, is that the same thing? Is that a regional name thing, or are those two things actually different?
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Post by aquabluejay on Jul 9, 2011 5:42:55 GMT
OK, so obviously this has all pretty much been retroactive, since the main part of the project only took an afternoon and a morning. I'm gonna go ahead and spotlight a few different parts of the scarf. The tassels ended up being much simpler than I had dared to hope. The instructions recommended using a crochet needle to pull the looped tassels through. I thought this would be a nightmare, and actually attempted to thread them into this crazy needle, before discovering how that completely screwed the whole thing up. XD I found this big crochet needle, and despite my fears, the most trouble I had, was actually putting it through the scarf where I wanted. If I had had trouble with it, I think I actually would have sought out a latch-hook tool from elsewhere in my house, and it would have solved any potential grabbing problems I might have had. As it was, I didn't need to. Due to mechanical, as well as practical restrictions (f- accuracy, I don't REALLY need an eleven inch scarf, or one that's quite 15 feet long) my scarf came out seven inches wide and approximately 12 feet, which is still plenty long for me as I'm only about 5' 5''. It's a bit of a scale model actually, scaled down to Sarah Jane size! XD For it's proportions, I determined that my scarf really only needed six tassels on each end, and instead of making them 5 inches long, I made mine around three. I grabbed the ends of all seven colors, and unrolled all the skeins at once, pulling all seven strands together into one length, tying a slip knot on the end attached to the skeins to keep lengths from shifting. Giving myself about an inch for knot allowance, I used a ruler to measure and cut 12 4 inch segments which became the tassels. Attachments:
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Post by aquabluejay on Jul 9, 2011 5:44:55 GMT
Here's a shot of Mr Steven Whales modeling the scarf before it was wet-blocked (wetted pressed to relax it and help keep it from rolling.) Attachments:
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kirkg
Auton Daisy
"Hello, Sweetie!"
Posts: 442
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Post by kirkg on Jul 9, 2011 6:35:51 GMT
Mr. Steven Whales as the fourth doctor.....now that's disturbing.
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Post by clocketpatch on Jul 9, 2011 13:20:12 GMT
I love that the whale isn't just a whale, he's Mr. Stephen Whale. ;D
The end result scarf is great.
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kirkg
Auton Daisy
"Hello, Sweetie!"
Posts: 442
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Post by kirkg on Jul 9, 2011 20:32:32 GMT
I love that the whale isn't just a whale, he's Mr. Stephen Whale. ;D. Who dat? |
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