The only Doctor you'll ever need....

I've received the first shipment of wool for my Doctor Who scarves. Ten skeins of Brown Sheep yarn--Nervous Green and Bev's Bear in this lot, the other five colors are shipping today or tomorrow from another store. The horror of blogging for me is that I can't remember if I had this conversation on my blog or not--the one about the Doctor Who scarves. Flighty, scatter-shot, blonde.... Yes, all appropriate adjectives for me.

OK, I've reviewed my blog in another window (Gods, I love my new internets) and find we have not had this chat. So, yes, honey, the credit bill looks a bit large and scary this month. Let me 'splain.

My priest (he of the nephew with the mittens) is a large fellow. Tall, yes, round, yes. He asked me a few weeks ago if I would knit him a scarf, as he cannot find one that doesn't end up looking like a cravat on him once he gets it wrapped around the neck. He mentions one he's seen--long, lots of colors. I immediately recognize what he's talking about--a Doctor Who scarf.

The scarf worn by Tom Baker, who was, I do believe, the fourth Doctor, is the infamous Doctor Who Scarf (there were two, but most people only think of the first one in wool, not the chenille.) The original scarf was around 20 feet long, post blocking, and kept growing (as something so long and heavy is wont to do,) so they were constantly cutting the damaged chunks out instead of repairing them and it's had several lengths in it's long and storied history. But always over 14 feet. It's not crazy wild colorful, but it's got seven different colors (mustardy gold yellow, khaki green, wine purple, dark brown, tan, gray that's sort of blue-ish and red.) I know about these scarves, because I had been mentally dabbling in the idea of perhaps one day making one for myself. I am a bit of a pervy Who fancier myself (haven't seen Baker's Who yet, but my current favorite is Peter Troughton--he really set the pattern for the eccentricities that have come out in the role--don't get me wrong, I love both Christopher Eccleston's and David Tennant's turns at the role, but Troughton showed them how it's done, imho), and the notion of a 20 foot long scarf amuses me probably more than is socially acceptable. Of course, I kept telling myself, Self, that's 1,680 square inches of wool. That ain't gonna come cheap-like, or easy. And then Self would whisper back, Yes, but it will be fun. And it's all garter stitch! You could knit in the dark! You could knit in your sleep! Come on, we'll giggle like a couple of schoolgirls in kneesocks and manga hair while we're knitting it. You know you'd love to have one.

And, I confess, Self is most persuasive. So I was already pricing out yarn and trying to find the right colors in Brown Sheep yarn (the recommended colors on the Doctor Who Scarf website; as I've not seen the actual episodes yet in which said scarf stars, I must rely on the kindness, and visual acuity, of strangers), when I get the request for a second Doctor Who scarf, not because he's a fan, but because he's tired of inadequate neck coverage in cold weather. O, the Kismet!

So I decided to just go for it. What the hell! Self is right, we'll have fun with it. If nothing else, it will be a further sign of my extreme geekiness. I had to wait until I got my tax refund (ay, mio Dio, even the cheap wool ain't really all that cheap! Fangurlgeekdom comes at a steep price) before I could buy the wool, but once I got the go-ahead from my priest (ie, confirmed that it was the scarf he was talking about and that he was serious), I choked a bit and ordered 34 skeins of Brown Sheep Naturespun yarn in the seven colors needed. I won't go into details, but before shipping, the yarn for both scarves was a bit over $100. DO NOT PANIC. I am getting reimbursed for the part I'm doing for Fra A. My scarf I'm eating (but I'm also keeping, and as I've pointed out to someone, if I ever got caught in an avalanche, the water-proof and heat-retaining properties of the wool ensure I could safely line my snow cave and drink melt water in relative warmth and dryness until the dogs find me.)

I'm a sick, sick woman. I've been looking forward to getting this yarn for the past two weeks. I can't cast on yet, because the first color is one that is in the batch that shipped today. *twitch, twitch* Need. Yarn.

And how handy is this: When I started my mother's lace scarf (the blue one, two or three posts down) I bought size 5 needles, bamboo, 14 inches. I totally need size 5 needles, 14 inches long, for this scarf! It's fate, I tell you. Fate. We were meant to be.

Just like me and Javier Bardem. Woof.