Loose Threads & Saggy Stitches

“Ready to work on our scarves?” Jessie asked as her cousin Emily opened the door.

“Yep!” said Emily. “Come on in.”

The girls sat on the sofa in Emily’s living room and pulled out the scarves they had been working on. They held their long, shiny knitting needles just the way Mrs. Bentley had shown them and continued where they’d left off the day before.

“This is fun!” said Emily. “I’m glad your teacher showed us how to knit during recess. I can’t wait to give this scarf to my mom.”

“I know,” said Jessie. “Won’t everyone be surprised at how good they look?”

“How good what looks?” said a familiar-sounding voice.

Both girls turned their heads. “Grandma!”

Grandma gave both of her granddaughters a big hug. “Would you like to stay for dinner, Jessie?” she asked.

“Sure, Grandma. I’d love to,” Jessie replied as she clumsily worked her yarn around the needles.

“Well, look at that. I didn’t know you girls knew how to knit!” Grandma exclaimed.

“Yes, isn’t it exciting?” said Emily, picking up the yarn loop that fell off her knitting needle.

“I’ve done quite a bit of knitting myself. Your moms both have two or three of my knitted afghans.”

“Afghans?” asked Jessie. “What are those?”

“You know, those warm blankets I sent for you to snuggle up in.” Grandma pointed to a basket in the corner of the room where several afghans were rolled up neatly.

“Oh, yeah. I forgot that you made those. I use mine all the time at home to keep my toes warm.”

“Good, that’s why I made them.” Grandma smiled.

“Well, we’ve gotten pretty good at knitting, too,” Emily said cheerfully. “Don’t tell, but we’re making scarves for our moms.”

“I see,” said Grandma. “Let’s have a look.”

Emily held up the clump of fuzzy yarn she was working on. It was kind of fat for a scarf, and the sides were wavy with loose threads sticking out here and there.

“Well,” said Grandma, putting on her glasses.

“And here’s mine,” said Jessie, holding up the end of a long, skinny scarf that drooped onto the floor. The light showed through a few holes where the stitches sagged.

“Hmm,” said Grandma as she looked at the loose threads and saggy stitches.

“What’s wrong?” Jessie frowned. “Don’t you like them?”

“Oh, I do, because you’ve worked so hard on them,” said Grandma. “But,” she cleared her throat then reached for Jessie’s scarf, “how about I give you a few pointers?”

Jessie pulled the needles back toward her. “No! I mean . . . thanks, Grandma, but I want to do it myself. I know how.”

“Oh, okay.” Grandma pursed her lips then turned to Emily. “How about you, Dear?”

“No thanks, Grandma. I know how. I can do it myself.”

“I see. Well, I’ll go make a cup of tea, then.” Grandma shuffled toward the kitchen.

The girls looked at each other, both feeling a little hurt. Emily held up her creation and wrapped it around her neck. “I still think Mommy will love this. Don’t you think so?” she asked Jessie.

“Sure,” Jessie assured her. “I know we can finish these by ourselves. We don’t need Grandma’s help.”

Just then, Jeremy and Justin came into the room. “What is that?” Jeremy pointed at the tangle of yarn around his sister’s neck.

“It’s a scarf!” Emily replied proudly. “What did you think it was?”

“It looks kinda like a giant centipede clinging to your neck!” said Jeremy, laughing.

“What’s a centipede?” asked Emily, scowling.

Jeremy and Justin looked at each other and grinned. “It’s a creepy bug with lots of legs,” said Jeremy.

“Eww! That’s a terrible thing to say! Besides, you don’t even know how to knit.”

“That’s true. But who said I wanted to?” Jeremy replied.

“What do you think of mine, Justin?” asked Jessie.

Justin looked at the long stringy scarf wrapped around Jessie’s neck. “Uh, well. If you’re making a fuzzy snake, then you’re doing a great job.”

“What?!” Jessie glared at her friend. “It’s supposed to be a scarf for my mom.”

“Oh, sorry.” Justin wasn’t sure what to say, but he could tell the girls weren’t happy.

“Come on, Jeremy. Let’s go play soccer.” He tugged on Jeremy’s sleeve, dragging him toward the back door.

Jeremy turned to go then looked back at the girls. “Seriously though,” he advised, “you might wanna get some help with those.”

Emily sighed and stared at the goofy-looking scarf in her lap. “Maybe they’re right, Jessie. We should’ve let Grandma help us.”

“Yeah,” Jessie replied gloomily. She examined her scarf’s saggy stitches and gaping holes. “Mine’s not very pretty. I guess we were just too excited to do it ourselves, so we didn’t see how much help we really needed.”

Just then Grandma came into the room with her cup of tea. Jessie and Emily looked at each other then Jessie said, “Grandma? We’re sorry about not letting you help us.”

“Yeah, we aren’t doing as great as we thought,” Emily added.

Grandma smiled then set her teacup down. “Well,” she said, squeezing in between the girls on the sofa. “Let’s see what we can do.”

“You mean you’ll still help us?” The girls’ faces brightened.

“Of course. All you had to do was ask. Now let’s straighten out these stitches.”

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