Delightful Detour: Knitting and Doctor Who

The first connection--and for many the strongest--is obvious: the quintessential SCARF.  Known universally (and in this case we really mean that word) as “the Dr. Who Scarf,” the uber-long strip of stripes was worn by the fourth Doctor in a host of seasons and manifestations.  Knitters have been replicating it for decades, and it is as much an icon as the TARDIS blue box.  It has a pretty decent pedigree, as the doctor claims it was knit by Madame Nostradamus, a “witty little knitter” who’d probably have her own blog were The Doctor to whisk her off to present times. And perhaps she has, for a lovely lady named Tara Wheeler has taken up the cause with admirable abandon.

If your tastes run more to current events, we’ve got that covered, too.  The Doctor has always stirred up controversy wherever he goes, so it should come as no surprise that he’s stirred it up in the knitting world as well.  Knitter Whovians made the news recently when BBC got supremely cranky about someone posting knitting patterns to create characters from the series.  When is knitting a TARDIS “fan crafting,” and when is it copyright infringement (or is that copyright intarsia)?  Us crafty types, we always fuse our passions.  Etsy is filled with Who goodies.  I can’t say I wouldn’t adore a plush little Adipose if I had the time and inclination to make one.  And yes, I did try and get a “TARDIS” vanity plate for my blue Honda pilot--it is a big blue box that travels, after all.  Is that worthy of lawyers descending on me like a herd of Daleks?

Most recently, we learned The Doctor takes an interest in yarn and needles.  How many of us KnitWhovians gasped in joy during “The Wedding of River Song” to see Matt Smith with his Doctoral nose in a copy of “Knitting for Girls”?  And why not?  Real men knit.  Creative, adventuresome, clever men knit.  Men who know “bowties are cool” would know knitting has been cool for centuries.  Maybe the Doctor knows knitting has been cool for millennia.  

Had I a time machine, I’d ratchet it back to give me enough time to knit you the yards of stripes a decent Dr. Who scarf requires.  But I don’t--I don’t even have a Honda Pilot with a “TARDIS” plate.  But I do have a copy of my most clever book with knitting in it, “My So-Called Love Life.”  Leave a comment with your email address (duly spelled out with [at] and [dot] for your protection) and I’ll draw a winner at 5pm CT Saturday.