For many is Tom Baker THE Doctor and for many more the 4th Doctors Scarf is the best known symbol of the whole series. And now when winter is coming, why not knit your very own one? It’s super easy!
Your first thing to do will be be a visit to your favourite handicrafts shop to get the right wool. Of course, you can buy it via the internet, but personally I like to know how it feels before I buy it to preserve myself from any scratchy surprises.
You’ll need:
Knitting needles , size depending of your wool (I’ve used 5mm / US 8 / UK 6)
Wool of the same make in 7 colours:
1 x 50g RED (best would be “red Pepper”)
3 x 50g GREEN (nice would be a light olive colour or the greenish brown of pears)
2 x 50g YELLOW (a bright curry colour)
3 x 50g BEIGE (like peanut shells)
2 x 50g BROWN (a red-brown, like old copper coins)
3 x 50g VIOLET (like red onions)
2 x 50g GREY (like steel wool)
Of course there are thousands of websites discussing the right colour shades. But my experience in the handicraft shop was, that it’s difficult enough to find seven roughly right colours of the same brand & size. Here you have to trust your own sense of colour, to find what you like best.
You are knitting only plain stitches. With this you get this slightly rough look. Start with 60 stitches, turn the piece around and knit 60 plain stitches back. Again turn around. and so on. All colour-blocks have even numbers of rows. That means that the “double line” which appears, when you change the colour, should be always on the same side of your scarf.
Tom Bakes scarf changed over time because of repairs. So you don’t have to be to strict about the rows. And if you see that there’s not enough left of your wool, you can change the last colours. Only hardcore fans will see… Here’s my pattern:
8 rows violet
52 rows beige
16 rows red
10 rows yellow
22 rows brown
8 rows violet
20 rows green
8 rows yellow
28 rows beige
14 rows brown
8 rows red
10 rows violet
42 rows green
8 rows yellow
16 rows grey
8 rows brown
54 rows beige
10 rows violet
12 rows green
8 rows yellow
18 rows brown
8 rows violet
38 rows red
10 rows beige
8 rows grey
40 rows brown
14 rows yellow
20 rows green
8 rows violet
42 rows beige
12 rows red
20 rows grey
8 rows brown
12 rows violet
6 rows beige
14 rows yellow
54 rows green
16 rows brown
12 rows grey
8 rows yellow
20 rows red
10 rows violet
12 rows beige
22 rows grey
10 rows brown
16 rows yellow
At this point my scarf was 2,5m long, and for me that’s enough. If you want it longer you can either wait (it’ll turn longer because of its own weight) or you can use blocking.
For your perfect replika you’ll have to add tassels. 12 tassels on each end, here you can use your leftover wool. For each tassel use appr. 14 threads (20cm long). Knot them with a loop into the stitches of your scarf.
And finished. Now would you like a Jelly Baby?!
