A Chain Reaction

“How do you not get bored of this?”

Jen glanced up from her project to look at the tv and shrugged. “I don’t know. Its not my favorite show but I like it enough. You can put on something else if you want.”

“No, not this. That.”

She looked to where he gestured down at the yarn in her lap. “This?”

“Yeah that. What is it even? Dog sweater?”

“Ooh. So close. Pillow covers for Aunt May.”

“Oh yeah, I see it now.”

She made a few more stitches and could see him still watching out of the corner of her eye.

“Would you like to try, Jared?”

“No, no. I’m good. I can’t do that.”

“Anyone can crochet.”

“Anyone can crochet that?”

“Well, this is a fancier stitch. You wouldn’t start here. You’d start at a beginning stitch.”

He watched her hands some more as if trying to decide if he really could, like someone looking across a gap and wondering if the could make the jump.

“Nah, it doesn’t look like a thing that I would do any way.”

“Now, Jared. It’s the 21st century. Anyone can crochet.”

He laughed. “That’s not what I—“

“I’ll even give you a good manly color.” She looked over the arm of the couch and dug into a basket full of yarn and rose back up with a skein and a flourish. “A dark manly forest green.”

 “So that’s why you keep all that yarn over there. Its so you can recruit people to your yarn cult.”

“I’ll teach you the Crochet Creed when you’re ready to start you membership.” She wiggled the yarn at him.

“Just watch your show and do your yarn stuff.” He laughed. “I didn’t come over for an Art class.”

“Oh come on. No one knows how to crochet so when I finish something I don’t have anyone to show it to that gets it. It’ll be fun knowing you at least get it.”

 He hesitated for a moment but eventually gave in to her and opened his hands to take the little wrapped bundle of yarn. He still wasn’t ready to admit to even himself that he wanted to learn a little too. She produced a hook and gave it to him as well.

“Where do I even start?”

“Well, first you don’t hold the hook like a pencil. More like a knife that your about to cut your meal with.” She moved his hand and adjusted the hook and after getting him to make a slip knot and getting him going on the chain stitch she let him work on his own. It wasn’t long before he had a decent sized chain in front of him.

“Huh. Cool. Now what?”

“Keep doing that for a couple more episodes of our show. You need a good long chain.”

Jared was worried that he was getting into more work than he had asked for. But the action became more familiar the longer he did it and soon he was able to look up at the tv without messing up every time.

“I’m getting the hang of this.” He said. “Though I still think I’m just one wrong pull of the yarn from tying it in knots.”

“That’s all that crocheting is really, one big knot.” Jen was looking at her hands but didn’t seem to be seeing them. Jared took a moment to watch them fly. “Its just continuous pulling and tugging and looping. One inside of the other but if you don’t do it just right then it makes the rest of the project go wrong like a ripple effect and sometimes you have to rip out the stitches, just unravel everything all the way back, and start over.” She set the hook and project in her lap and picked up her phone, taking only long enough to light the screen up before tossing it back down.

“Are…. Are we still talking about yarn?” Jared asked.

“She stared at the tv a moment before answering. “I’m gonna lose my job. I made a mistake somewhere that led to more mistakes elsewhere and now I’m going to have to get a new job with new people doing new work. I put so much effort into this place and now I have to undo it and start something new.” She sighed and before Jared could offer any kind of response she saw his chain and changed the subject. “Oh. Anyways, it looks like you’re done over there.”

“Done?”

“Yeah, I think that’s long enough. I’ll be right back.” When she came back she was holding a piece of scrap leather, a needle, and some thread. She cut the end knotted it before looping the chain up in a loose circle, making a stitch here, a knot there. When she wrapped the piece of leather around the coil and threaded the needle Jared took it from her.

“Now that I know how to do.”

“Really?”

“Don’t look so surprised. We used to come home with so many holes in our clothes that mom finally said fix these yourself or go to school in your underwear. We thought she was joking until she started hiding the pants from us. Randy tried to call her bluff once and go to the bus in a pair of dad’s boxers. He lived but wasn’t happy for a week and a half after that so we learned how to sew.”

When he was finished Jared had himself a stylish little scarf. He was kind of proud of it.

“Huh. Well look at that. It’s not my style but its good.”

“You did good. See? Not so hard to crochet.”

“Yeah, I messed up a little back there. I probably could have done better but I finished it, and I’m proud of it.” He studied his little project then put the scarf over Jen’s head and adjusted it neatly at her neck. “Starting something new isn’t so bad after all.”

She side-eyed him for a moment and then went back to her project as if she didn’t understand, though the smirk she tried to hide told on her. She’d never admit it to him.

“I’m bored of this now.” She said after awhile.

“Already? I was just about ready to ask about this creed I have to take.”

She elbowed him. “I meant of the show.”

“Oh that.”