Poem: "With a Hook and Some Yarn"
This poem came out of the March 19, 2024 Bonus Fishbowl. It was inspired by prompts from Dreamwidth users Dialecticdreamer and Acelightning73. It also fills the "Crochet Hooks" square in my 3-1-24 card for the National Crafting Month Bingo fest. This poem has been sponsored by a pool with Fuzzyred. It belongs to the Shiv thread of the Polychrome Heroics series.
"With a Hook and Some Yarn"
[Monday, July 11, 2016]
Halley was restless and irritable,
and that set Shiv on edge too.
Granted Shiv had his own reasons
for being uneasy, only some of
which had to do with the Big One.
Halley was upset about not getting
to go home for a visit this summer,
home meaning Mercedes, because
the whole West Coast was in chaos
even where it wasn't totally wrecked.
Shiv didn't have anything close to
Halley's sense of home, but he could
sort of predict that if he couldn't come
here to Raleigh or back to Omaha,
that would probably upset him.
Now that he actually had places
he could call something like "home."
Tolli and Simon had gone out to get
more groceries, and let Shiv and Halley
stay home because neither of them
wanted to be around strangers today.
When Halley started kicking the couch,
Shiv finally ran out of patience for it.
"Here, let's find something to do,"
said Shiv. He reached over the arm
of the couch and dragged his bag of
fibercraft supplies around to the front.
It was big and kinda heavy, a foot
high and well over a foot long, full of
yarn and tools and pattern books.
It had a largecentral compartment
for yarn, with a protective cover that
had grommets to feed yarn through.
The sides all had big zippered pockets
to hold tools. Shiv unzipped them.
"Okay, I got regular knitting needles,
double-pointed, and circular ones, plus
regular or Tunisian crochet hooks,"
said Shiv. "Which would you rather
do today, knitting or crochet?"
"Uh, crochet. At least that only
needs one tool," Halley said,
looking flustered. "I've fiddled
around with both of them but I'm
not really any good at either one."
"Crochet is such a wonderful craft,"
said Shiv. "There are so many
facets and variations to explore
with a hook and some yarn.
The creative possibilities are
endless. You should try it."
"But I don't even know
which hook to pick,"
Halley protested. "There
are all these different kinds
and I don't know why!"
Yeah, Shiv had noticed that
about brains: they tended to get
caught up in details, and then
not get started on the project.
"You just grab one and try it,"
said Shiv. "If the yarn falls off,
get one with more drag. If it snags,
use a smoother hook. If the gauge
is wrong, switch to a different size."
"Um ... okay ..." Halley said, without
making a move to pick out a hook.
"Start with something simple," Shiv said,
pulling out medium hooks made from
aluminum and wood in different shapes.
Halley tried them, and seemed to prefer
an aluminum hook with inline shape,
but still seemed dubious about it.
"Talk to me," said Shiv. "What
don't you like about that? I've
got a ton of options, but I need
to know what's not working for you."
"Something about the grip, maybe?"
Halley said, trying different ways
to hold the hook but still frowning.
"Yeah, let me see what I have for
that," Shiv said, digging in the bag.
He took out his accessibility kit. It
had all kinds of slip-on tube handles,
straps, universal grips, vrip strips, rolls
of different grip tapes, typing aids,
yarn guides and tension tools.
"What kind of handle do you
think might work better
for you?" Shiv asked.
"I don't know, something
squishy but with good grip?"
Halley said, looking at them.
Shiv sorted out some of
the softer grip amendments.
"Wait, is that one a tentacle?"
Halley said with a laugh.
"Yeah, there are several
of these designs that I got
from Kraken," said Shiv. "You
hold the bump in your palm
and let the hook stick out."
Halley tried it, then shook
thon's head. "It's too big."
"Let's see what else I have
along those lines that might
be thinner," said Shiv. "Here,
what about this? It's made by
loom-knitting rubber bands."
"I like the size, but the texture
of the rubber bands isn't great,"
said Halley. "Did you make these?"
"No, not those," said Shiv. "Mine
are here, crocheted with yarn."
"Oh, neat," said Halley. "Could
I try one of those, please?"
"Sure," said Shiv. He offered
a few of them to Halley.
"This works," Halley said.
"I like the way this padding
feels between my fingers."
They moved on to yarn,
but it was a disaster.
Halley could not seem
to keep the tension steady
or the yarn where it belonged.
"I told you that I've dabbled
but I'm not any good at
this," Halley grumbled.
"That's why I haven't
really done much with it."
"Let's switch to cotton yarn.
It's not as stretchy as acrylic,"
Shiv said diplomatically. "It
also makes good dishcloths."
Halley liked the cotton yarn
well enough, but still struggled
to keep it in the right position.
Thon tried the typing aids,
which had a peg that worked
like a finger for wrapping yarn
around to maintain tension.
"Interesting to try, but it's not
helping much," Halley said.
Shiv brought out a yarn guide
that had a wristband and
a couple of metal rings.
"Try this, it'll make the yarn
stay put," he suggested.
He helped Halley put it on
and thread the yarn through it.
"Now try a few stitches and
see how that works," said Shiv.
Halley made one row, and
then another row, slow
and methodical about it.
"Hey, it's working!"
thon exclaimed. "I
can actually crochet."
"I knew you'd get it,"
said Shiv. "You just
needed the right tools."
"I don't have dexterity issues
like Edison does, but I'm still
particular about my hands,"
said Halley. "There are just
textures that I don't like."
Shiv shrugged. "Most folks
are like that," he said. "I can't
stand the scrubby yarn, it
feels too rough on my skin,
so I used cotton instead."
"Yeah, Mum likes to use
cotton for dishcloths,"
Halley said, nodding.
"Then we can make
some for her," Shiv said.
The nice thing about
dishcloths was that they
didn't need to be very big.
You could finish one in
about half an hour if you
used a simple stitch.
In fact, by the time that
Tolli and Simon got home
and hollered for help with
the grocery haul, Shiv had
finished one and started
another, while Halley was
just finishing thon's first.
Shiv tucked the hook through
the yarn and got up to go help.
Halley ran into the kitchen
waving thon's project.
"Look, I made a dishcloth!"
thon crowed. "I actually
crocheted and it worked."
"You did a good job," Tolli said,
but he was looking over the top of
Halley's head at Shiv when he said it.
Somehow, it seemed almost normal.
* * *
Notes:
This poem is long, so its notes appear elsewhere.
"With a Hook and Some Yarn"
[Monday, July 11, 2016]
Halley was restless and irritable,
and that set Shiv on edge too.
Granted Shiv had his own reasons
for being uneasy, only some of
which had to do with the Big One.
Halley was upset about not getting
to go home for a visit this summer,
home meaning Mercedes, because
the whole West Coast was in chaos
even where it wasn't totally wrecked.
Shiv didn't have anything close to
Halley's sense of home, but he could
sort of predict that if he couldn't come
here to Raleigh or back to Omaha,
that would probably upset him.
Now that he actually had places
he could call something like "home."
Tolli and Simon had gone out to get
more groceries, and let Shiv and Halley
stay home because neither of them
wanted to be around strangers today.
When Halley started kicking the couch,
Shiv finally ran out of patience for it.
"Here, let's find something to do,"
said Shiv. He reached over the arm
of the couch and dragged his bag of
fibercraft supplies around to the front.
It was big and kinda heavy, a foot
high and well over a foot long, full of
yarn and tools and pattern books.
It had a largecentral compartment
for yarn, with a protective cover that
had grommets to feed yarn through.
The sides all had big zippered pockets
to hold tools. Shiv unzipped them.
"Okay, I got regular knitting needles,
double-pointed, and circular ones, plus
regular or Tunisian crochet hooks,"
said Shiv. "Which would you rather
do today, knitting or crochet?"
"Uh, crochet. At least that only
needs one tool," Halley said,
looking flustered. "I've fiddled
around with both of them but I'm
not really any good at either one."
"Crochet is such a wonderful craft,"
said Shiv. "There are so many
facets and variations to explore
with a hook and some yarn.
The creative possibilities are
endless. You should try it."
"But I don't even know
which hook to pick,"
Halley protested. "There
are all these different kinds
and I don't know why!"
Yeah, Shiv had noticed that
about brains: they tended to get
caught up in details, and then
not get started on the project.
"You just grab one and try it,"
said Shiv. "If the yarn falls off,
get one with more drag. If it snags,
use a smoother hook. If the gauge
is wrong, switch to a different size."
"Um ... okay ..." Halley said, without
making a move to pick out a hook.
"Start with something simple," Shiv said,
pulling out medium hooks made from
aluminum and wood in different shapes.
Halley tried them, and seemed to prefer
an aluminum hook with inline shape,
but still seemed dubious about it.
"Talk to me," said Shiv. "What
don't you like about that? I've
got a ton of options, but I need
to know what's not working for you."
"Something about the grip, maybe?"
Halley said, trying different ways
to hold the hook but still frowning.
"Yeah, let me see what I have for
that," Shiv said, digging in the bag.
He took out his accessibility kit. It
had all kinds of slip-on tube handles,
straps, universal grips, vrip strips, rolls
of different grip tapes, typing aids,
yarn guides and tension tools.
"What kind of handle do you
think might work better
for you?" Shiv asked.
"I don't know, something
squishy but with good grip?"
Halley said, looking at them.
Shiv sorted out some of
the softer grip amendments.
"Wait, is that one a tentacle?"
Halley said with a laugh.
"Yeah, there are several
of these designs that I got
from Kraken," said Shiv. "You
hold the bump in your palm
and let the hook stick out."
Halley tried it, then shook
thon's head. "It's too big."
"Let's see what else I have
along those lines that might
be thinner," said Shiv. "Here,
what about this? It's made by
loom-knitting rubber bands."
"I like the size, but the texture
of the rubber bands isn't great,"
said Halley. "Did you make these?"
"No, not those," said Shiv. "Mine
are here, crocheted with yarn."
"Oh, neat," said Halley. "Could
I try one of those, please?"
"Sure," said Shiv. He offered
a few of them to Halley.
"This works," Halley said.
"I like the way this padding
feels between my fingers."
They moved on to yarn,
but it was a disaster.
Halley could not seem
to keep the tension steady
or the yarn where it belonged.
"I told you that I've dabbled
but I'm not any good at
this," Halley grumbled.
"That's why I haven't
really done much with it."
"Let's switch to cotton yarn.
It's not as stretchy as acrylic,"
Shiv said diplomatically. "It
also makes good dishcloths."
Halley liked the cotton yarn
well enough, but still struggled
to keep it in the right position.
Thon tried the typing aids,
which had a peg that worked
like a finger for wrapping yarn
around to maintain tension.
"Interesting to try, but it's not
helping much," Halley said.
Shiv brought out a yarn guide
that had a wristband and
a couple of metal rings.
"Try this, it'll make the yarn
stay put," he suggested.
He helped Halley put it on
and thread the yarn through it.
"Now try a few stitches and
see how that works," said Shiv.
Halley made one row, and
then another row, slow
and methodical about it.
"Hey, it's working!"
thon exclaimed. "I
can actually crochet."
"I knew you'd get it,"
said Shiv. "You just
needed the right tools."
"I don't have dexterity issues
like Edison does, but I'm still
particular about my hands,"
said Halley. "There are just
textures that I don't like."
Shiv shrugged. "Most folks
are like that," he said. "I can't
stand the scrubby yarn, it
feels too rough on my skin,
so I used cotton instead."
"Yeah, Mum likes to use
cotton for dishcloths,"
Halley said, nodding.
"Then we can make
some for her," Shiv said.
The nice thing about
dishcloths was that they
didn't need to be very big.
You could finish one in
about half an hour if you
used a simple stitch.
In fact, by the time that
Tolli and Simon got home
and hollered for help with
the grocery haul, Shiv had
finished one and started
another, while Halley was
just finishing thon's first.
Shiv tucked the hook through
the yarn and got up to go help.
Halley ran into the kitchen
waving thon's project.
"Look, I made a dishcloth!"
thon crowed. "I actually
crocheted and it worked."
"You did a good job," Tolli said,
but he was looking over the top of
Halley's head at Shiv when he said it.
Somehow, it seemed almost normal.
* * *
Notes:
This poem is long, so its notes appear elsewhere.