Maat S'chn T'gai

Chapter Twenty-five - Knitting Lessons

New Vulcan

Late October 2264

T'Pau

She wandered down the dusty path to visit with Durra, leaving the two girls behind. They got to visit whenever they felt like it. This was her day. When she arrived, the first afternoon class was just leaving. Durra saw her on the walkway and smiled, inviting her in. They walked into the kitchen and Durra told her to take a seat while she made tea. As she sat and waited, she saw something interesting laying on the table. Carefully, she drew it closer to her and looked at it. This was some sort of handcraft, that was obvious. There were several small balls of brightly colored yarn and two long sticks with knobs on one end and points on the other. There were loops of yarn tight over one of the sticks, and a short piece of - well, she guess it was a type of fabric - that hung down below the loops. It had all the colors in it, and it looked like some sort of complicated pattern. There was not enough of it for her to tell what it would look like when it was finished.

When Durra came back to the table, with the teapot and cups, and a plate of small dainties of some sort, T'Pau was still examining the knitting. She held it up carefully, not wanting to damage it in any way. "What is this that you are doing?"

"It's called knitting. My grandmother taught me when I was quite small. You can make all sorts of garments this way. It's especially nice to make things for babies, because it is so soft."

"And what is this particular thing that you are making?"

"It's part of a blanket I am making for my son. The blanket is composed of several squares, with a different pattern on each one. Let me get the pattern and show you." She rose from the table and went into the living room, coming back with a large bag, which she set down beside the table. She reached into the bag and brought out a large, brightly colored page, which showed what the completed blanket would look like. There were several animals on it, cavorting about, with flowers strewn here and there. T'Pau remembered the curtains that had been chosen for the window in the nursery. Obviously, this pattern had been the reason for the design of the curtains.

Next Durra reached into the bag and pulled out two completed squares, which she spread out on the table. "I haven't blocked these yet, so they will curl." T'Pau looked at them with great interest. She looked from the picture to the squares on the table and saw that Durra had changed some of the colors. Ah, she had adapted the pattern to match the curtain fabric!

"Can you teach this?"

"The basic skill set, yes. This, working with several colors at once, is a more advanced technique. One cannot start there."

"I can see that, yes. What do you need for lessons?"

"Well, I would need the needles, and yarn. Actually, I do have a bag of leftover yarn that would be quite acceptable for practice, but I don't have any spare needles. I didn't think to buy extras to bring with me."

"Can they be made of wood?"

"Oh, yes, of course. Many times they are."

"I will send Varun to examine the needles and ask questions."

Durra just nodded.

Durra

That evening, after supper, Varun showed up at the door. Selek let him in and he explained that he had been sent by T'Pau to examine the needles. He obviously had no idea what that meant. Durra giggled, and held up her knitting, showing him the needles. He was amazed. She dug down in her bag and found another set of needles, in a different size and handed them to him. She explained that needles came in many sizes, depending on the heaviness of the yarn, and how tight and thick the finished fabric was to be. Varun was quite intrigued, just as Selek had been when he first saw her knitting. Further digging produced her needle sizer - a square of lightweight metal with different sized holes in it, with a number etched beside each hole. She explained that the number was the traditional 'size' of the needle that was that diameter, but that they were also sized by the diameter of the needle. If you did not know what size a needle was, you inserted it in each hole until you found the first one that it would not fit through. The proper size was the last one that it fit in. Both men were intrigued now, as she had never explained this to Selek.

Varun noticed that the knobs on the ends of the needles he held were different than the ones on the needles she was using, and she explained that the shape was not that important - the purpose of the knob was to keep the stitches from slipping off the back end of the needle. The knob could not be too big, however, or it would interfere with holding the needles. He felt how smooth the needles were, and examined the shape of the pointed end. He asked how sharp they should be. "Oh, not sharp at all. You wouldn't want to stab yourself with them, after all. But not too dull, or they will not slip through the stitches easily. Here, let me show you."

And she picked up the blanket square that she was working on and worked several rows, while he watched in total amazement. "I have never seen anything like this. You are creating fabric from this yarn."

"Yes, and you can make many things this way. This is part of a blanket for my son's bed. You can also make sweaters, and hats, and socks, and mittens, and scarves. Of course, most of these things are not much use in a desert, except at night in the winter time, when it does get chilly."

He nodded, understanding. "May I borrow your sizer for a day, so that I may copy it?"

"Certainly. Just, please, don't lose it, for I would have to order another from Earth."

"I do promise not to lose it or damage it in any way." He looked so solemn that she reached over and tapped his hand with one finger.

"I am sure that you will not."

He relaxed then. "If I could also borrow these needles that do not have any yarn on them? I will return them tomorrow after measuring them."

"Certainly. I am not using those for this project at all."

He rose then, and took his leave.

When Varun returned the next night, he showed her the copy of the sizer that he had made, and she was astonished. She could not tell the two apart, the duplicate so closely approximated the original. And then he gave her back her needles, and showed her the ones that he had made. He had etched the size into the end of the knob, and rubbed ink into the indentations, so that the size showed plainly. She felt the needles, and was amazed at the smoothness. She congratulated him, saying that he had done an excellent job. And then he asked her which size he should make for the classes. She looked at him in confusion. Classes? Yes, he assured her. T'Pau had said there would be classes, and he was to make the needles. She laughed then. Of course, if T'Pau said there would be classes, there would definitely be classes. She picked the best size needles for the scrap yarn that she had, and he thanked her and went away.

Three days later, T'Boh came scurrying in just after her morning class left, and told her that T'Pau had said that they would start their knitting lessons the next morning. She and T'Sura would bring honeycakes. Durra had her help gather together all the little balls of scrap yarn, and put them in a big bowl on the table, ready for each person to choose from.

Thus began the morning knitting sessions. Each weekday morning, just as her class was leaving, the other women would show up at her kitchen door, with their knitting bags tucked under their arms, and plates of goodies in their hands. She would put the teapot on, and everyone would sit around the kitchen table and practice. It took no time at all for them to become proficient, and then she taught them to read patterns. She brought out her selection of patterns, and they spent one morning going through them in delight. And then she showed them her yarn catalog, from her favorite yarn supplier on Earth, and together they made a huge order, which the others waited for eagerly, practicing new techniques with the scrap yarn while they waited.

When Selek returned home from work one day with a large box balanced on his shoulder, she knew exactly what it was. It had only taken two months to get here! Selek explained that it had come to the Embassy, and from there on the shuttle. She told him after supper to go and tell Elinor and the others that the yarn was here. Soon the kitchen was full of excited women, going through the yarn. Each one picked the colors that she had ordered, and tucked them into her knitting bag. Tomorrow real projects would be started!