Natty knitting a hit with fans of Who, Star Wars

KNITTED HEROES: Featherston knitter Sandra Walters with some of her knitted characters -- including BB8 from Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

Sandra Walters has never watched an episode of Dr Who -- but she has memorised the trademark outfits of each of the famous timelords, down to their bowties and scarfs.

When not teaching technology at Featherston School, Sandra is usually knitting, her specialty being characters from science fiction and pop culture: from Mr Spock, to Lady Penelope to hordes of Ewoks and Daleks.

For the past year, she has supplied her cuddly heroes and villains, no more than 20cm tall, exclusively to Featherston gift shop Dandelion where they have been snapped up by sci-fi fans of all ages.

With mail orders for her characters coming in thick and fast, Sandra is often in front of the television, wool in hand, making pixie ears for Spock, sewing on Princess Leia's famous buns, or stitching lettering on a TARDIS.

But she's not likely to be watching any of the programmes her characters appear in, not being much of a sci-fi devotee.

"It's funny -- I've seen hardly any of these shows. I don't think I've seen one episode of Dr Who.

"Star Wars would be the only one -- we've been meaning to see the new one, but we haven't had time to go the movies."

Having learned to knit as a child, she returned to crafting as a hobby once her children left home, making a whole swag of soft toys from patterns by UK designer Jean Greenhowe.

With a surplus of toys, she began selling them at Featherston School markets. Later, she adapted the doll patterns, churning out knitted All Blacks, Teletubbies and, on suggestion from her pupils, Finn and Jake from Adventure Time.

In 2014, Dandelion founder Sharyl Skipsey approached Sandra at her stall at the Featherston Christmas Market and asked if she would knit characters from other popular franchises to sell in the shop.

"I went home, looked on Google Images and got knitting."

In the last year, Sandra's repertoire has grown to include characters from the Star Wars, Star Trek, Avengers, Thunderbirds and Dr Who franchises. Most popular have been the Ewoks, Yoda and droids from Star Wars, Thor and Loki from Marvel Comics, and the 12 doctors, weeping angels, Daleks and the TARDIS from Dr Who .

"I can't make enough Daleks -- they go flying out the door."

"This year, Dandelion put a whole lot in their Christmas display window -- I walked past several times in a day, and the Daleks kept disappearing."

Sandra said most of her toys, which she makes with mostly donated wool, are a variation on Jean Greenhowe's patterns, and are simple to make.

She has made close to 300 toys so far and, with a large mail order having just arrived from Dandelion, the demand for knitted droids and doctors shows no sign of letting up. "It can be hard work -- but it's great to be able to support a Featherston business."