History Main / ThisIsNoTimeForKnitting

* ''Series/{{Arrow}}''. While marooned on Lian-Yu, Oliver Queen discovers some HealingHerbs that seem to cure just about anything. Felicity Smoak first finds out about them when Oliver whips up a cure for the drug Vertigo to deal with a junkie who has taken hostages. Felicity is rather confused as to why Oliver is responding to the crisis by making tea.

* ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'': In ''Discworld/TheFifthElephant'', Sybil discovers [[spoiler:a secret door]] while measuring some rooms for carpets. She later explains her discovery to Vimes:

* ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'': In ''Literature/SummerKnight'', when Harry Dresden first encounters the eldest queens of Faerie, Mother Winter is quietly knitting a small gray square despite the fact that the rest of their kind are marching to war. This turns out to be a powerful form of AntiMagic that, once unraveled, will take any spell it touches with it, [[spoiler:including the one that turned Lily to stone]].
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* The [[TropeNamers Trope Namer]] is ''WesternAnimation/ChickenRun'', taken from a scene in which Bunty, the barnyard cynic, finally gets fed up with Babs' love of knitting after [[spoiler: it's been revealed [[FakeUltimateHero Rocky the rooster]] had been lying about his ability to fly, and is actually just an escaped circus act rooster whose gimmick was "flying" by being shot out of a cannon]]. The trope-naming scene, however, is Administrivia/NotAnExample, because it does indeed come at a time where knitting would be of no help whatever.

** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS38E1E2Spyfall "Spyfall"]]: The Doctor is sent a picture of a fish by her old [=MI6=] contact in response to a request for his location, to the confusion of other characters. She pays an inordinate amount of attention to the message even as she and her companions are fleeing from an attack by {{intangib|ility}}le aliens, before revealing that the image has her contact's coordinates encoded into it.

* As Simon lists off things they need to save Alvin in ''WesternAnimation/AlvinAndTheChipmunksMeetFrankenstein'', Theodore goes to the snack table, to get the items Simon was asking for.

* In the ''{{Tintin}}'' book ''Prisoners of the Sun'', Tintin and his companions were captured by the Incas and were thrown into prison. Haddock was looking for a way to escape while Tintin was just sitting down reading a newspaper. Haddock called him out but it turned out he was reading about a coming eclipse that he used to fool the Incas into letting Tintin and co. go.
* In a ''TheSmurfs'' comic book story, Papa Smurf, facing a WeatherControlMachine gone amok, hastily makes a kite. The onlooking Smurfs comment that the old man is probably trying to cheer himself up in the dire situation, and proceed to hesitantly engage in some games themselves. Papa Smurf, meanwhile, uses the kite to bring down lightning and destroy the machine.

[[folder:Film -- Animated]]

[[folder:Film -- Live-Action]]

** In [[Recap/DoctorWhoS12E1Robot "Robot"]] (the first Creator/TomBaker episode), the Brigadier, Harry Sullivan and the Doctor are investigating the scene of a robbery, only to have the Doctor play a seemingly inordinate amount of attention to a squashed flower on the lawn. However, the Doctor explains that he is investigating an important clue, considering that flower was near pulverized by being stepped on by something that apparently weighed a quarter ton, a piece of information that the officers definitely find interesting.
** In [[Recap/DoctorWhoS28E2ToothAndClaw "Tooth and Claw"]], the Doctor asks Rose to help him with a giant telescope as they're being chased by a werewolf. Rose comments that it's hardly the time for stargazing. The Doctor replies, "Yes it is!" and uses the telescope to defeat the werewolf.

* In the ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'' episode, "[[Recap/StarTrekS1E20CourtMartial Court Martial]]," Dr. [=McCoy=] is aghast to find Mr. Spock playing chess against the computer while Capt. Kirk is losing a court martial for criminal negligence. However, Spock reveals that he has been using the chess games to confirm that the ship's computer's memory banks have been tampered with to frame Kirk. He knew that there was no way he would win consistently if the computer was working as intended.
--->'''Spock''': I am about to win my third game (with the computer).
--->'''[=McCoy=]''' (stops halfway out the door and turns with a 'say what?' look on his face.)
* ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'':
** In the episode "Past Prologue", there are Bajoran terrorists up to no good on the station. In the middle of surveilling them, Bashir is baffled by Garak completely switching the topic to discuss Bashir coming to the shop to get a new suit. What Garak was really doing was giving a Federation officer a cover story to be in his shop when a clandestine meeting occurred to pass on vital information to the Federation about the Bajoran terrorists via unofficial back channels because Cardassia couldn't officially ask the Federation for help in apprehending them.
** Sisko returns the favor much later. In "The Way Of The Warrior", the Klingons have decided to "annex" parts of the Cardassian Empire. Knowing he can't inform the Cardassians through proper channels, Sisko brings Garak into an operations meeting because he needs "correct measurements" for his ceremonial suit. Garak catches on really quick why he's really there, and soon after informs the Cardassians about the upcoming invasion.

* People whose work is secret may face this. Charles Fraser-Smith -- who worked for the British Ministry of Supply in [=WW2=] procuring secret items and ended up becoming Creator/IanFleming's real-life inspiration for [[Characters/JamesBondQ James Bond's Q]] -- once had an invoice from one of his suppliers, marked simply "razor blades", rejected as too expensive more or less in the terms "There's a war on, this is no time for fancy razor blades." The blades were magnetized, and when floated on a leaf functioned as a compass, which was a design feature intended to help [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special_Operations_Executive SOE agents]] with escape and evasion. After taking an official from the obstructing department and signing him into secrecy, a complete audit showed that the supplier had in fact not taken the full allowed percentage of profit. Smith tore up the invoice on the spot and insisted it be re-submitted with the full margin of profit. Understandingly, Fraser-Smith never had a bill queried by HM Treasury after that.

* The [[TropeNamers Trope Namer]] is ''WesternAnimation/ChickenRun'', taken from a scene in which Bunty, the barnyard cynic, finally gets fed up with Babs' love of knitting after [[spoiler: it's been revealed [[FakeUltimateHero Rocky the rooster]] had been lying about his ability to fly, and is actually just an escaped circus act rooster whose gimmick was "flying" by being shot out of a cannon]]. The trope-naming scene, however, is NotAnExample, because it does indeed come at a time where knitting would be of no help whatever.

* In the ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'' episode, "[[Recap/StarTrekS1E20CourtMartial Court Martial]]," Dr. [=McCoy=] is aghast to find Mr. Spock playing chess against the computer while Capt. Kirk is losing a court martial for criminal negligence. However, Spock reveals that he has been using the chess games to confirm that the ship's computer's memory banks have been tampered with to frame Kirk.

** To explain: Spock programmed the computer's chess routines personally and knows that, when set at its hardest, the computer should ''not'' be letting him win so often.

** In the episode "Flood Warning" ([[CaptainObvious in which there is an impending flood]]), Nigel begins working on his "cabalito" even when Marianne informs him of what's happening, including the fact that their children's lives are in danger. However, Nigel reveals that he had known about it, and a "cabalito" is actually a [[spoiler: boat]].

'''Herbert 'Daring' Dashwood:''' It's not what he's taking out, my dear, but rather what he's putting in! DUCK AND COVER!\\

* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/MuppetBabies'', Pee-Wee, a pet mouse the kids are watching gets away. While everyone else tries to figure out how to find him, Animal is playing with a toy police car. It's eventually revealed that Pee-Wee is trained to go back into his cage whenever he hears a siren.

* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/MuppetBabies1987'', Pee-Wee, a pet mouse the kids are watching gets away. While everyone else tries to figure out how to find him, Animal is playing with a toy police car. It's eventually revealed that Pee-Wee is trained to go back into his cage whenever he hears a siren.

* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/MuppetBabies1986'', Pee-Wee, a pet mouse the kids are watching gets away. While everyone else tries to figure out how to find him, Animal is playing with a toy police car. It's eventually revealed that Pee-Wee is trained to go back into his cage whenever he hears a siren.

* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/MuppetBabbies1987'', Pee-Wee, a pet mouse the kids are watching gets away. While everyone else tries to figure out how to find him, Animal is playing with a toy police car. It's eventually revealed that Pee-Wee is trained to go back into his cage whenever he hears a siren.

* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/MuppetBabbies1986'', Pee-Wee, a pet mouse the kids are watching gets away. While everyone else tries to figure out how to find him, Animal is playing with a toy police car. It's eventually revealed that Pee-Wee is trained to go back into his cage whenever he hears a siren.

* In ''Film/ScoobyDooMonstersUnleashed'', after springing a trap and getting stuck in it, when Velma sees the fingerprint scanner needed to get out (it was withing their reach), Daphne started to get into her makeup kit. As it turns out some of the stuff there were essential in activating the lock so they could get out.

** Sisko returns the favor much later. In "The Way Of The Warrior", the Klingons have decided to "annex" parts of the Cardassian Empire. Knowing he can't inform the Cardassians through proper channels, Sisko brings Garak into an operations meeting beacuse he needs "correct measurements" for his ceremonial suit. Garak catches on really quick why he's really there, and soon after informs the Cardassians about the upcoming invasion.

** The Doctor pulls this on ''himself'' in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS28E12ArmyOfGhosts "Army of Ghosts"]]/[[Recap/DoctorWhoS28E13Doomsday "Doomsday"]]. While fighting the Cybermen and Daleks, he repeatedly dons a pair of 3D glasses to look at them. Eventually he demands to know why no one has asked what is up with the glasses yet -- they allow him to see the "void stuff" surrounding the invaders, which provide the key to sending them back where they came from.
** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS33E1AsylumOfTheDaleks "Asylum of the Daleks"]]: The Doctor keeps asking VoiceWithAnInternetConnection Oswin, who's been stuck in the Asylum for a year after the spaceship she was on crashed, where she gets the milk and eggs for the soufflés she likes to make. [[spoiler:It's a clue that Oswin couldn't have actually been making those soufflés, as milk and eggs are perishable ingredients -- she was actually forcibly converted into a Dalek and is in (understandable) denial about it.]]

* Hilariously parodied in the ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000'' short ''Film/YoungMansFancy''
-->'''Judy:''' "How can you think of food at a time like this?"
-->'''Crow:''' "You mean lunchtime?"

* People whose work is secret may face this. Charles Fraser Smith, who worked for the British Ministry of Supply in [=WW2=] procuring secret items, once had an invoice from one of his suppliers, marked simply "razor blades", rejected as too expensive, more or less in the terms "There's a war on, this is no time for fancy razor blades." The blades were magnetized, and when floated on a leaf functioned as a compass. After taking an official from the obstructing department in to his confidence, a complete audit showed that the supplier had in fact not taken the full allowed percentage of profit. Smith tore up the invoice on the spot and insisted it be re-submitted with the full margin of profit.

* ''Series/TheOffice'', "Traveling Salesmen": Jim and Dwight are on a sales call together. While Jim is talking to a prospective client, Dwight asks if he can use the phone and subsequently starts yelling numbers loudly into the phone. At first, this seems like Dwight's usual bizarre behavior, perhaps even ''more'' bizarre than usual -- [[BunnyEarsLawyer however weird he is, he's always appeared to be a good salesman]]. However, when it comes time for Jim to demonstrate Dunder Mifflin's phone customer service, we find out that Dwight has been demonstrating [[ForInconveniencePressOne a rival company's phone customer service]] the whole time. Jim then proceeds to call Dunder Mifflin's customer service line, and has Kelly on the line within a couple seconds, thus successfully demonstrating the difference between a large impersonal company and a smaller company.

* PlayedForDrama in [[http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/sixswans/index.html "The Six Swans,"]] by Creator/HansChristianAndersen - it is indeed literally a time for knitting, since that is the only way the heroine can break her brothers free of their BalefulPolymorph, but because one of the provisos of the CurseEscapeClause is that she cannot speak until her work is done, she can't explain why her activity is the solution to the problem...which leads to her almost being burned as a witch for her strange behavior. She continues knitting till just before they light the flames, then tosses the shirts over the swans' heads, [[BigDamnHeroes and her brothers save her]]. The shirt of the youngest brother, however, isn't quite finished - she still needed to finish the sleeve, but had no time left to do so. For the rest of his life, he had a wing where that arm should've been. Some versions say that the shirt didn't have sleeves at all, so people thought he was an angel when he turned back.

* People whose work is secret may face this. Charles Fraser Smith, who worked for the British Ministry of Supply in WW2 procuring secret items, once had an invoice from one of his suppliers, marked simply "razor blades", rejected as too expensive, more or less in the terms "There's a war on, this is no time for fancy razor blades." The blades were magnetized, and when floated on a leaf functioned as a compass. After taking an official from the obstructing department in to his confidence, a complete audit showed that the supplier had in fact not taken the full allowed percentage of profit. Smith tore up the invoice on the spot and insisted it be re-submitted with the full margin of profit.

-->'''Marge:''' [[NotNowKiddo Maggie, not now!]] ''(Maggie keeps pointing)'' We'll play later!

-->'''Marge:''' [[NotNowKiddo Maggie, not now!]] *''Maggie keeps pointing''* We'll play later. *''{{Facepalm}}''*\\
''*Maggie then jumps into the sandbox and appears on the other side of the dome where the mob can't see her.''*\\
'''Marge''': The sinkhole! *''They all jump after her into safety.''*