Purling through space
If Lance was here, he'd be laughing his ass off.
By no means, did Keith see the humor of it; it was just something a soldier wasn't seen doing. Well, not every soldier. Keith knew a few, most were women, but one or two he had seen cast a stitch or two. It wasn't like he was making lace. He stuck to the simple stuff, anything that could be done with a knit or purl. A scarf here, a hat there, lost count with the baby blankets. Once done, he would pile them in a box, to wait for when he would sneak onto Arus and give them to a charity. And he was getting close to full. Arus was a long way to go.
Looking at his remaining stash of yarn, he couldn't help thinking of how long he had been doing this. What was it? Three… Four years now? How many runs across the stars was he making, chasing wild geese if not from Sky Marshall Wade's men? Trying to find Black Lion? He tried writing to handle the stress, but he sucked. His stories were considered bland, or at least the stories he liked. The one fantasy he had and wrote about was a hit, and some of his comedy at Lance's expense was enjoyed. Knitting was the only things that calmed him.
Knitting with double pointed needles gave him a little thrill. It was the thought of pricking himself that kept him on he's toes. Thinking back to when he started doing this, trying to cast the yarn on to the small, metal needles. They slid off so many times, falling into small cracks in the ship panels, pricking his legs when they fell. He had stabbed himself a couple of times reaching in the various places. He would send Cheddar after them, but Cheddar ate metal and the double point needles were not cheap. Thank God the yarn was.
He would buy it in bulk. The giggles he got from the ladies who hovered about the shops, the probing. It got to him. Wanting to know if he was getting the yarn for his mother, girlfriend or himself. If he knitted and if he did, his skill level. Did he need any patterns, etc. etc. It wasn't anyone's business. He just wanted the yarn, maybe a book of patterns and to get the HECK out.
Now he could pump out small projects like it was nothing. Blankets took the longest, but even that took him a couple of days. The stash was getting small. It was getting time to hit a yarn store. Keith scanned the nearby planets for any that might have one. Sadly, it looked like Pollux, the sister planet of Arus was the closet. A long way, but at least he had friends in good places there. Punching the destination into the computer, he started on his way, trying to figure on how to ask Sven or Romelle without having to state his trip was for yarn.