Rated: G, unless you have an irrational fear of crochet hooks.
Blue Forest Banshee Diversions Part 15
Hooks and Ladders
"That's it... Now, wrap the yarn around the hook and stick the hook through there... Yeah... Now, you sort of roll the hook and catch the yarn again and pull it back through. Stop there. See? You have three wraps on the hook now. Roll the hook again and catch the yarn... now pull it through the first two wraps. Stop there. Now you have two wraps on the hook. Roll and catch and pull through both wraps. And that's a double crochet stitch."
Julie grinned down at Duo as he caught his breath.
"Oh, that was easy! Why couldn't I get it to come out by myself?"
"I don't know," she said with a shrug. "It's maybe like me and knitting; I just can't seem to 'get' how to make the stitch without everything sliding off the needle. Here; do another." She sat next to Duo, elbows on the table and her chin resting in one hand as she watched him.
"Okay... Walk me through again?"
"Sure. Roll and catch; poke the hook through, roll and catch; pull back; three wraps on the hook; roll and catch, pull through two, roll and catch, pull through two. And you're done. Another double finished. All the tall stitches are made the same way, just roll-catch-pull."
She took the yarn and the hook from Duo's hands. "Now, watch this; it's a counting trick. See? Three chains to step up to doubles... now one... two... three. To do a triple, you step up four chains... and wrap twice and one... two... three... four."
"Oh, cool!" Duo exclaimed. "Does it do that for however many you want to do?"
"Yep. The taller the stitch though, the sloppier it looks unless you kind of snug it down, but that's up to you; your style. This is how you can tighten it up... See? Just tug on the yarn gently while you roll the hook back and forth. See how it snugs down? And how neat it looks finished? This is how it looks if you don't snug it down..."
"Big difference... I like the first one better; it looks tidier."
"So do I, but you have to be careful not to pull it down too much or your stitches will be stiff."
Duo frowned, fingering the swatch. "How will I know how much is too much?"
Julie thought a moment. "That's something that you'll just get a feel for as you go along. I can't really explain it..."
"I'll have to practice," Duo murmured. "Show me again how you do that tug and roll thing..."
"Okay."
Julie moved to stand behind Duo, resting her chin on his shoulder and reaching around to put her hands over his to guide him. "We're going to do a triple-triple. First you wrap, wrap, wrap, wrap; four wraps for this one. Now, poke the hook through and tug and roll... Yeah; that's it. Now, roll, catch and pull through... one... two... three... four... five... six. Nice and neat." She tipped her head to the side to grin at Duo. "Easy, huh?"
"Yeah." He glanced at the smaller hands still covering his. "Um... Julie..."
"Yeah?"
"Are you by chance... flirting with me?"
"Kinda..." she admitted. "Is that bad?"
"No... But you're... um... wasting your time... I'm not... you know... interested in girls..."
She groaned, letting her head fall forward. "Wouldn't you just know it? All the good ones really are gay."
"Um... Sorry?"
"No problem," she sighed. She moved back to her own chair. "What the hell; it was worth a try."
"Well, if you don't ask, you never know, right?"
"Yeah. Okay, then; let's move on to circles. You don't happen to have a twin brother who's straight, do you?"
"Sorry."
"Oh, well."
OWARI
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