Amy's scarf

It's possible I've mentioned this before, but I find the wealth of gorgeous knitted accessories in British TV and films delightful.  I am always filled with enthusiasm and the strong desire to rush out and knit ALL THE THINGS I see.  (Witness the number of Hogwarts house scarves I've knit.)  I wonder why American shows never seem to feature hand-knits.  Are we too cool for that?

Recently, it's been Doctor Who.  (You will have noticed this if you read my blog with any regularity.)  I came up with the pattern for Rose Tyler's fingerless mitts, I'm deep in the throes of the 4th Doctor's scarf (so. much. plain. knitting.), and now I've become fascinated by Amy Pond's red scarf.

Or actually, scarves.

I'm watching grainy images on Netflix which never, ever, ever pause in focus, and most of the photos I can find on the web are similarly pixellated.  But there are definitely two distinct scarves - one is a bit heavier and more solidly knit, with a narrow cabled border and the centre probably a wide "braided" fabric.  It also has long fringe at the ends.  She wears this in several episodes.

Definitely cables/braided fabric.  No lace in sight. 

The edging cable/twists are very prominent here (look at the right side, where it has folded up on itself.)

And this one has fringe.

Definitely fringe.

The other is lacy, with what seems to be a wheat-ear type stitch pattern and a slightly dressier feel (less "I need to stay warm outside" and more "a scarf might be a nice addition to this outfit.")  I don't know why her scarf changes.  Maybe one was damaged and they replaced it?  I'm not sure... The cably one shows up in earlier episodes, with the lacy one later, but only once or twice.  Both are quite long - long enough to go around the neck at least twice, or once with ends down to the knees.  And both seem to be fairly wide and of fairly thin fabric, since despite the width they're not bulky.

You can see the "wheat-ear" effect pretty well here.

Several people online have suggested that the lace pattern is "Frost Flowers" from Barbara Walker's A Treasury of Knitting Patterns, and someone else suggested "Tilting Ladders", which looks quite close except that the edges of Amy's scarf look straight, not wavy as they'd be with that pattern.  There's also your basic "Lace Ribbon Stitch", which is probably a bit lacier than the actual scarf, but would give a similar effect if knitted on a small enough gauge.  (All links go to Ravelry.)  However I also suspect that we're seeing the "wrong" side of the lace at least part of the time, so it's hard to decide what it should look like.  I would need to play around with swatches.  (Oooh, my favourite.  Sarcasm hand raised.)

I found one more photo which I am almost positive ID's the stitch pattern as Frost Flowers.  Certainly, it's so close that the overall look of the scarf would be almost identical!

Anyway, I like them both!  I originally was thinking cables, and I still love that scarf, but the more I look at pictures the more I am intrigued by the lace scarf and want to figure it out!  I guess my only choice is to knit two red scarves...

~~~~~

(Also, I have used/written/read/thought the words "scarf" and "scarves" so often in the course of this research and then writing the post, that they have ceased to look or sound right.)