The Doctor is in.

This was a Christmas gift I made for my husband's niece, a Whovian of massive proportions. Meet the Eleventh Doctor, complete with fez (Fezzes are cool!) and his most constant companion, the TARDIS.

This was Utilitarian crochet at its finest and they were a blast to make. I used patterns exclusively, but did have to spend a little time making revisions to get the coat to fit the doll properly. Other than that, you reads the pattern, you gets the Doctor. Nice. Oh, the hair was a little different. But the instructions are actually quite good and if you just do what they say, you will get good hair. Peasy!

Matt Smith Big and Cuddly Doctor Who by Nyss Parkes
Various acrylic scraps, size US D hook

The TARDIS was ultimately just a box, but it really benefitted from plastic canvas reinforcement to keep the edges sharp when stuffed. I cut four pieces, tacked them together at the corners so they wouldn't bulge, then affixed them to the top of the sides before I attached the roof. The roof was a simple square, which naturally peaked (with a little tug of the top "light") once the stuffing was complete.

TARDIS amigurumi by Army of Owls
Red Heart Super Saver and a size US G hook

We were out of town at my sister's on Christmas Day and didn't get to see our niece open it. A phone call and her post about it to Facebook were all the evidence we needed to know that it was a huge hit and that I apparently still have the fangirl touch. :)

And speaking of being a fangirl, she inspired me to give Doctor Who a try last fall and I have totally succumbed. I've watched all of the "new" Who (2005 - present) via Netflix and Amazon streaming at least twice per episode and some of them I think I've seen four or five times. Such good handwork watching. And I don't have any indication yet that The X-files are getting jealous.

Yes, it's a sickness.

Oh my, I just might need a Doctor...

Hehe.

Starting in again

Hello! I’ve missed you!

I’ve been knitting a crocheting a lot lately and I’ve been thinking about knitting and crocheting a lot lately. Like, why I select the projects I do, what I get out of the process as a whole, and how any of this is fulfilling to me. I’ve decided that, for me, there are basically four kinds of knitting/crochet and any given project falls into one or more of these categories.

• Pure Process. For me, this means mindless knitting but YMMV. I want to move my hands in the comforting way of pulling one loop through another with the help of an implement. Almost, but now always, this happens for me in the form of dishcloths. K1 forever. Okay, a YO once a row and some K2togs on the way back down. Watch a movie (or Misfits or Downton Abbey, lately), pull some loops without really thinking about it, and I end up with some dishcloths. Don’t really need the dishcloths, but then I’ve got them and I can send some to a friend at a moment’s notice.
  
  
• Utilitarian. I want thing. I can make thing. I do make thing. Maybe is an awesome experience and I have a blast *and* I get thing. Or, maybe does not get my creative juices flowing. Maybe is boring and tedious but not in a nice, mindless (see #1) way that comforts. Maybe is fiddly and difficult and not fun at all. But I want thing! Enough to put up with the crap. Oh thing, I hope I still love you when I am done.
  
  
• Knitting Class. Other than my Grandma Black teaching me to chain and perform a single and double crochet when I was about 6, I am a completely self-taught handcrafter. Most everything I’ve learned about crochet and knitting is from working other people’s patterns and seeing how things were done. Usually this is a great deal of fun. Sometimes it becomes Utilitarian crafting. But, sometimes Utilitarian crafting becomes a Knitting class. It almost always works out in the end. The most important thing about Knitting Class crafting is that it often ends up leading to the next category…
  
  
• Dripping With Creativity. Well, *dripping* may be a bit much. What I really wish for is that this was some sort of process that I just couldn’t help. As if I would just explode if I weren’t creating things from scratch and my own head and soul and my whole life was just about vomiting up some awesome. But it’s not like that. I’m sure it’s not like that, really, for *anyone* but there are some artsy types out there that make you believe that they’re actually that way. I’m really, really not. In fact, even when I do get creative and make things from scratch, I’m *very* systematic about it. And, usually I’m not doing it nearly so much because I will explode if I don’t, but because I had an idea and I want to be the one who does it and puts it out there. I don’t want to get scooped. I want it to be *me*. Me, me, ego, ego, blah blah blah. Sheesh, aren’t you bored of me yet, because I am.

I’m hoping to start talking about some of the projects I’ve been working on in terms of these categories. It will almost certainly be more interesting than straight-up show-and-tell and it just might start some conversations about why we do what we do as crafters. And maybe I’ll learn something about myself.

Oh self, I hope I still love you when I’m done.