Sherlock Mania~~In Wool

The return last weekend (at least here in Canada and the U.S.) of the Sherlock series from the BBC starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman, brings Sherlock mania back into full swing. PBS ran several hours of programming about Sherlock Holmes, his creator Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and their combined contributions to forensic science to this run up. Additionally programs about the faces and voices of the numerous actors who have played Sherlock and Watson in the theatre and on the big and little screens were available before last week's return.

Full disclosure here, I didn't read the entire series of Sherlock when I was a kid, but I live with someone who did. I like very much the versions of recent Sherlock actors, Jeremy Brett, Jonathon Pryce, Robert Downy Jr. and Jonny Lee Miller in Elementary and have become a true fan of the video versions.

Cumberbatch has brought a special flair to the role of a modern Sherlock using a smart phone while Freeman's Watson blogs about their cases. A new generation seems to becoming excited about Sherlock all over again. That includes a new generation of knitters as well. Note Cumberbatch's Sherlock with the two-tone striped scarf on the left and someone's knitted version of the same on the right.

And who could forget the more sexualized Robert Downey, Jr's Sherlock. There were two full-length movies of Downey paired with Jude Law playing Watson with whispers of a third. Perhaps because of their more equal acting chops I found Law's Watson playing a much more vital part in the sleuthing than other versions. (However last evening at John and Mary's wedding, Cumberbatch was very complementary to Freeman's human side of solving crimes. So perhaps the modern version will have a much more involved Watson as well. Time will tell.) Below is Law's Watson wearing a brown, blue and cream scarf from the movie and a knitter's version of the same.

Not to leave crocheters out the loop (pun intended) here's a version of the pair done in the crocheted amigurumi technique made popular in Japan. It's a bit hard to determine exactly which set of actors are being portrayed here. Perhaps Cumberbatch and Freeman, perhaps Downey and Law.

And who could resist the prototypical deerstalker hat Sherlock wears. This one done for a baby is so beyond cute I can't find the words to describe it, so I won't.

No patterns for any of these offerings, you are on your own. Perhaps in the words of Sherlock they are "elementary" enough anyone could make them up without a pattern, well, perhaps not the deerstalker, but all the rest.

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Flagel Knitting Files

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