If you know one thing about Doctor Who, that thing is probably that some crazy looking dude at some point in time played the lead role and wore a super long scarf.
Do me a favor. Google "Tom Baker". Right now.
Okay, did you do it? What's the first image that came up?
For me, it was this:
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One of the most iconic images in the history of a storied British television programme. (Hell yeah I put in the extra letters. British people love putting extra letters in words. That's why they always win at Scrabble.)
Over time many people have tried to replicate the scarf, using wonky yarns, inconsistent striping, and totally off-kilter colors. However, one tireless woman has spent the better part of her life hunting down scarves, measuring stripes, counting stitches, matching colors, taking pictures under an Ottlight, in the attempt to recreate this iconic scarf as faithfully as possible.
Her name is Tara Wheeler, and she is the real deal.
(Yes that's a real TARDIS tattoo with a scarf underneath. I was there and witnessed the whole thing. She even brought in paint chips for Jon Reed to match colors with. She is that badass.)
This isn't to say that she is the first, or the only, person to attempt recreating the Fourth (yes, he was the fourth) Doctor's scarf. Or, make that scarves. Nearly each season had its own unique scarf. Stripes were taken out, holes burned in, colors slightly altered. We even got a brand new scarf made with acrylic "suede" yarn (yikes) for his last season on the show.
And Tara, because she is that awesome (and that geeky) has hunted down original scarves all across the UK, using her amazing connections through working conventions to get close to the goods.
Now, this isn't to say that others haven't made great scarf resources and done their homework. Chris Brimelow, moderator of Doctor Who Scarf dot com, provided one of the first places on the internet for intrepid fans to go knit their own Fourth Doctor Scarf.
But Tara has taken what Brimelow accomplished and taken it to academic levels (like graduate level work in terms of geekery). She even recently discovered that the first scarf, from season 12, had minor alterations, making it the missing link between seasons 12 and 13.
Her tireless work has provided Doctor Who fans that knit (or know someone who loves them enough to knit 15 feet of garter stitch) with an unmatchable resource for recreating the scarf. She even has fantastic tips for finishing, blocking, care, and wearing of the scarf. You just can't find anything better.
In fact, her scarves are so good that two of them (yes, two!) were on the Doctor Who themed episode of The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson. Chris Hardwick even gave her a shout-out. Booyah.
So if you're in the market to make your own Fourth Doctor scarf (for fun, not profit, seeing as the scarf is intellectual property of the BBC) go to Tara's site and bask in her awesomeness. You won't regret it. Accept no substitutions.
Do me a favor. Google "Tom Baker". Right now.
Okay, did you do it? What's the first image that came up?
For me, it was this:
One of the most iconic images in the history of a storied British television programme. (Hell yeah I put in the extra letters. British people love putting extra letters in words. That's why they always win at Scrabble.)
Over time many people have tried to replicate the scarf, using wonky yarns, inconsistent striping, and totally off-kilter colors. However, one tireless woman has spent the better part of her life hunting down scarves, measuring stripes, counting stitches, matching colors, taking pictures under an Ottlight, in the attempt to recreate this iconic scarf as faithfully as possible.
Her name is Tara Wheeler, and she is the real deal.
(Yes that's a real TARDIS tattoo with a scarf underneath. I was there and witnessed the whole thing. She even brought in paint chips for Jon Reed to match colors with. She is that badass.)
This isn't to say that she is the first, or the only, person to attempt recreating the Fourth (yes, he was the fourth) Doctor's scarf. Or, make that scarves. Nearly each season had its own unique scarf. Stripes were taken out, holes burned in, colors slightly altered. We even got a brand new scarf made with acrylic "suede" yarn (yikes) for his last season on the show.
And Tara, because she is that awesome (and that geeky) has hunted down original scarves all across the UK, using her amazing connections through working conventions to get close to the goods.
Now, this isn't to say that others haven't made great scarf resources and done their homework. Chris Brimelow, moderator of Doctor Who Scarf dot com, provided one of the first places on the internet for intrepid fans to go knit their own Fourth Doctor Scarf.
But Tara has taken what Brimelow accomplished and taken it to academic levels (like graduate level work in terms of geekery). She even recently discovered that the first scarf, from season 12, had minor alterations, making it the missing link between seasons 12 and 13.
Her tireless work has provided Doctor Who fans that knit (or know someone who loves them enough to knit 15 feet of garter stitch) with an unmatchable resource for recreating the scarf. She even has fantastic tips for finishing, blocking, care, and wearing of the scarf. You just can't find anything better.
In fact, her scarves are so good that two of them (yes, two!) were on the Doctor Who themed episode of The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson. Chris Hardwick even gave her a shout-out. Booyah.
So if you're in the market to make your own Fourth Doctor scarf (for fun, not profit, seeing as the scarf is intellectual property of the BBC) go to Tara's site and bask in her awesomeness. You won't regret it. Accept no substitutions.
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