Author's Note: FOUR DAYS! FOUR DAYS! FOUR DAYS!
…
Day Four: Knitting Projects for the Supersoldier in Your Life
In the days of their youth, during the cold-as-balls Brooklyn winters, Steve and Bucky didn't have much to do except for huddling together to keep warm in their shoebox apartment and play cards. To keep his mind from going as numb as his feet (and to keep Steve's twig-like body from freezing over all together—a fate, it seemed, that would catch up to him in the end), Bucky took up knitting to pass the time. Scarves, sweaters, blankets and mittens—you name it, he could knit it. He found the clicking of the needles soothing, and knowing that his best friend would shiver a little less in his sleep added to the enjoyment of the craft. Bucky knitted right up until the day he enlisted, and even in the moments of utter stillness on a stakeout he would find his fingers itching for a pair of needles instead of the trigger of his gun.
So if Steve could pick up a pencil and start sketching after seventy odd years on ice with no trouble, then what was to stop Bucky from doing the same with his knitting?
If only the Avengers had gotten to him before he had gotten to the yarn.
….
After a trip to the local craft store, Bucky returned to the tower with a set of knitting needles and enough purple wool to create a basic scarf. He was really looking forward to getting back into his old hobby, and thought that an easy project would be the best way to do it. Once he had settled himself on the couch in the common room and wound all the yarn into a ball, he began to cast on the stitches with some difficulty, because the wool kept sliding out of his slippery metal fingers. But, ever one for perseverance, Bucky kept at it until they were perfect, and he was finally able to start the actual knitting part of the process. He couldn't keep the smile off of his face from that point on; him, knitting! Even after such a long time, Bucky still remembered how to do it, even if his arm didn't really allow for the precise control that he used to have.
As the scarf took shape before him, Bucky decided that he would give it to Clint as a gift, because he seemed to have a fondness for the colour purple. It only took a couple of hours for him to complete it, and after adding a row of tassels to each end, he held up the finished product proudly. Overall, it wasn't bad; a little lumpy, and a little too loose in some places, while being too tight in others, but still! Not awful for a first attempt, right?
In fact, Bucky was so excited by his progress that after leaving the new scarf on the table with a sticky note for Clint, he immediately went back to the craft store to expand his yarn selection.
…
Over the next few weeks, Bucky spent almost all of his time rapidly producing knitted items to present to his friends. For Steve, he made a blue pullover sweater, except that the left arm was too short, and the right arm too long. Natasha received a pair of red-and-black striped gloves, each with an extra half-finger, and a matching beanie that was more of a chef's hat when it came to size. Sam became the owner of the world's first-ever Falcon-themed blanket that had five sides instead of four, and Tony, the recipient of a pair of Iron Man mittens that could each fit three hands inside them. For Bruce, Bucky knitted a green hat with a purple 'B' on the front of it, which ended up looking more like green brain with a crooked number 8 on it, and for Thor, another sweater; this time red with white polka dots and an unfortunate measuring mistake that led to it being a cropped sweater that only went to just above his bellybutton. Even Pepper had a knitted gift bestowed upon her- a pair of yellow socks always slid off of her feet, and looked inside-out no matter which way they were.
As soon as Bucky had left for his latest trip to the craft store, everyone gathered in the living room for the emergency meeting that they had organized.
"Okay," Steve began, after everyone was seated on couches and chairs. "You all know why we're here."
Natasha sighed and reached towards him, taking the left sleeve of his sweater between her fingers. "Because we all look like a knitting factory explosion."
"Yeah, pretty much."
Bruce stood up. "But what do we do about it? He's so happy."
"But so, so bad at knitting," Tony added, sending a glance at his mittens sitting on the coffee table.
Sam scratched his head, pondering. "We could hide all his knitting needles?"
"Steal his arm?" Clint suggested.
"Perhaps we can tie all of the wool in multiple complex knots," Thor added to the discussion. "To slow down the rate at which he knits?"
Steve ran a hand down his face, shaking his head. "These are all um… good suggestions? But, I feel like there's an obvious solution here…"
"He used to be really good, right?" Bruce asked.
"The best, actually. He could make anything."
Natasha crossed her arms, leaning back into the sofa. "I have an idea."
"I'm all ears," Steve said, sitting up straighter.
"Find him a knitting club. Old ladies have infinite patience; they'll help him re-learn how to do it."
Tony shot up out of his chair. "OR I CAN MAKE HIM A SPECIAL KNITTING HAND!"
Steve shot him a withering look, and Tony lowered himself back down.
"'No' on the knitting attachment then?"
Natasha shook her head. "How about just a glove or something; to help him grip the wool and needles better?"
"Sure, the less awesome thing sounds good too," Tony grumbled.
"Okay, well I like your plan, Natasha," Steve said. "Let's put it into action!"
…
Some weeks later, they had found Bucky a small knitting group on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, complete with five elderly women who aged from 68 to 84 and all absolutely loved the young man to bits. Together, Tony and Bruce had crafted a special glove that Bucky could wear over his prosthetic hand, which would allow him a finer, more precise grip on his crafts. All in all, the plan worked out better than anyone could have imagined. Bucky slowly re-learned all the techniques from patient teachers, and began to produce higher quality work, and as a bonus, he got stuffed full of cookies three times a week. The Avengers never stopped wearing the gifts they had received from him, even though it was difficult to be taken seriously in public when they did, and Clint somehow always managed to strangle himself on the lumpy purple scarf. Everyone loved their hand-knit Bucky originals all the same.
…..
As they all went their separate ways after that week's movie night, Bucky approached Thor with the item he had been knitting during Mrs. Doubtfire.
"One last thing," Bucky said, looking sheepish. He was holding something behind his back. "I made this for your brother."
Thor grinned, taking the knitted item from Bucky and holding it up to examine. "What did is it?"
"A horned helmet cozy."
Author's Note: I'm just picturing everyone standing in the living room, wearing all of the lopsided knitting and looking like a troupe of weird circus performers. Stay tuned- more tomorrow!