Skein of the Crime Read Online Free

“Can I still use my size eight needles?”
    “Absolutely,” Mimi reassured her, giving Holly a pat on the arm.
    “I hear you’re taking another of Mimi’s classes. You’ll be passing me before you know it,” Kelly teased.
    “Are you kidding?” Holly retorted. “I’m just hoping I don’t screw up as badly as I did on the first scarf.”
    “Don’t worry. It’ll turn out wonderfully,” Mimi said, giving Holly another squeeze. “Come on, let’s head to class.”
    “Oops, thanks for reminding me. I’ve got to get coffee before my class starts. Barbara will think I bailed on her.” Kelly gave a wave, then raced down the hallway to the café at the rear of the shop.
     
     
     
    “Okay, your head measures twenty-one inches,” Kelly said, examining the tape measure. “So look at the pattern and tell me which size hat you’d be knitting. Do you know how to figure out how many stitches to cast on?”
    The young woman stared at the pattern and replied, “That would be medium-sized, so I’d cast on sixty-three stitches. Three times the measurement.”
    “That’s right. Now get your circular needles and settle back and start casting on. There are some stitch markers on the table. I’d advise putting one every twenty stitches as a guide. It’ll help later when you’re finishing the hat.”
    The young woman, who appeared to be in her early thirties, like Kelly, peered at the metal needles attached to each other by a round piece of plastic approximately the same size as the needles. “I’m trying to remember how I cast on for the scarf. That was several weeks ago.”
    Instead of jumping in right away and casting on for the woman, Kelly held back. She remembered how well-meaning friends often “helped” her out when she was starting by casting on stitches for her. But that actually slowed down her learning. Sometimes it was better to struggle along for a bit and see if the stitch “memory” came back. If not, she’d gladly show the woman how to cast on again.
    “Well, take a few minutes and see if it comes back. If not, just give a yell.”
    Kelly glanced over at the other five students seated around the table, all in various early stages. One older woman was slowly casting on with methodical, neat stitches. Another younger woman, college-aged, sat on the other side of Kelly. She’d cast on her first row and was busily knitting away on the next row. There was always a “star” in every class, Kelly noted. The other three were middle-aged and were still casting on their first row of stitches. Barbara was helping the last woman learn how to cast on.
    Kelly noticed that each one used a different method. She’d been told early that there were scores of ways to cast on stitches, and whatever worked for an individual knitter was fine. As long as the stitches got onto the needle and stayed, you were good to go.
    She glanced back to the young woman she’d been helping and saw several stitches appear on her needle. Success. “Hey, you remembered. Good job,” Kelly praised as she pulled up a chair beside the girl.
    “Patty reminded me how to wrap the yarn around my fingers,” she said with a nod to the college-aged girl on the other side of Kelly. “So, I kept fiddling with it until it came back.” Her fingers slowly formed the twisting motion, needle going over and under to form a stitch.
    “Thanks for stepping in, Patty,” Kelly said to the other girl.
    “No problem,” Patty replied, her needles forming more stitches.
    Kelly watched the first girl cast on several more stitches, then leaned back and took a big drink of the dark, rich coffee. Having a café at the rear of the knitting shop was too convenient. Plus the grill cook, Eduardo, made his coffee as black and strong as Kelly liked it. She couldn’t do better herself. Consequently, Kelly had a running tab at Pete’s Porch Café.
    Kelly took another sip, then spoke. “I saw Holly a few minutes ago. She’s taking Mimi’s beginner class