We all gushed praise.
'The yarn was Ellen's. I asked Lawrence if he would sell some of hers to me. But when I went over there and we talked, he insisted on giving it to me,' Sheila said, modeling her creation. 'Funny thing, though, he had to call the cops because there was a Peeping Tom creeping around his yard.'
Dinah and I rolled our eyes at each other. We'd never tell.
Another newbie had joined, who surprised us all. Will Hunter sat with his slippered feet resting on a chair, workingon a cream-colored afghan. He was doing his best to ignorethe adoring glances of Stacy and Meg.
He'd ended up being the auctioneer at the Hearts and Barks auction. Lawrence was originally slated for the job, but under the circumstances he hadn't been in any shape to handle it.
Just as expected, our afghan had drawn a big price. There had been a lot of action, and then one bid that so far outdid everyone else's, the bidding stopped and that buyer won the auction.
Our beautiful creation was now proudly hanging on the wall in Mason Fields's den. He'd told me I was welcome to visit it anytime.
For now I was holding off on that.
Peter and Samuel had come over together the night of the fair. They brought flowers and hugs, and there was no fussing. At least for the moment, we were all on the same team.
Barry had come over after they left. He had been all business in public, but alone he just held me and kept askingme if I was okay. In between there were a few questions about what was I doing with Mason Fields. It was obvious Barry didn't like him. Not only because of anything I might be doing with him, but because cops weren't fond of lawyers, particularly high-profile ones who made mincemeatout of their cases and got guilty people off.
I took the fifth.
I asked whether Barry and Detective Heather were gettingready for their trip. He clenched his jaw a few times and narrowed his eyes.
'It's been postponed,' he said, attempting to sound casual.It was nonrefundable but, it turned out, changeable. He looked at me hopefully. 'I thought we might be able to start over. Would you like to go to Maui?' he asked. When I didn't answer, he said I could get back to him. If the answerwas yes, we would discuss dates. Before he left, he fixed my light switch.
I was going to call him after the crochet group meeting. Though I still wasn't sure what I was going to say.
Dinah nudged me. 'How is it that you end up with two guys you don't know what to do with, and I am still ending up with online duds?'
It was a good question, and I didn't have the foggiest. Probably something about things showing up when you weren't looking for them.
CeeCee handed out some sheets with patterns for prayer shawls, baby blankets and quick afghans as potentials for our next project, and asked for our input.
Just then, Trish and Nicole, the Encino twins, rushed up to the table, holding tote bags of yarn and waving plastic holders with an assortment of hooks. 'We want to join. We heard crochet is the next big thing.'
CeeCee's Granny Square Washcloth
Materials: Two 2.5-oz. skeins of 100% cotton, worsted, 4-ply
yarn (such as Lily Sugar n' Cream) in two different
colors. (There will be enough to make several.)
J-10 (6.00mm) hook
Large needle for finishing
Stitches: Chain = Ch
Double Crochet = DC
Slip Stitch = Sl St
Gauge: Doesn't matter for this project
HEART OF THE SQUARE
Attach color 1 to hook with a slipknot. Ch 4, join to first Ch with Sl St to form a ring. Ch 3 to raise the yarn (counts as DC), 2 DC in the ring, Ch 2, 3 DC in the ring, Ch 2, 3 DC in the ring, Ch 2, 3 DC in the ring, Ch 2. Join to top of Ch 3 with a Sl St, fasten off by cutting approx. 4-inch tail and pulling back through stitch. Pull tight.
There should be 4 groups of 3 DC separated by 4 cornersmade by Ch 2s.
ROUND 1
Attach color 2 to hook with a slipknot. Attach color 2 to a corner with Sl St, Ch 3 to raise the yarn (counts as DC), 2 DC in space, Ch 2, 3 DC in space, Ch 1; * 3 DC in space, Ch 2, 3 DC in space, Ch 1; repeat from * 2 times. Join to top of Ch 3 with Sl St, fasten off.
ROUND 2
Attach color 1 to hook with slipknot. Attach color 1 to a corner with Sl St, Ch 3 to raise yarn (counts as DC), 2 DC in space, Ch 2, 3 DC in space, Ch 1, 3 DC in space, Ch 1; * 3 DC in space, Ch 2, 3 DC in space, Ch 1, 3 DC in space, Ch 1; repeat from * 3 times. Join to top of Ch 2 with Sl St, fasten off.
ROUND 3
Attach color 2 to hook with slipknot. Attach color 2 to a corner with Sl St, Ch 3 to raise yarn (counts as DC), 2 DC in space, Ch 2, 3 DC in space, Ch 1, 3 DC in space, Ch 1, 3 DC in space, Ch 1; * 3 DC in space, Ch 2, 3 DC in space, Ch 1, 3 DC in space, Ch 1, 3 DC in space, Ch 1; repeat from * 2 times. Join to top of Ch 3 with Sl St, fasten off.
ROUND 4
Attach color 1 to hook with slipknot. Attach color 1 to a corner with Sl St, Ch 3 to raise yarn (counts as DC), 2 DC in space, Ch 2, 3 DC in space, Ch 1, 3 DC in space, Ch 1, 3 DC in space, Ch 1, 3 DC in space, Ch 1; * 3 DC in space, Ch 2, 3 DC in space, Ch 1, 3 DC in space, Ch 1, 3 DC in space, Ch 1, 3 DC in space, Ch 1; repeat from * 2 times. Join to top of Ch 3 with Sl St, fasten off.
ROUND 5
Attach color 2 to hook with slipknot. Attach color 2 to a corner with Sl St, Ch 3 to raise yarn (counts as DC), 2 DC in space, Ch 2, 3 DC in space, Ch 1, 3 DC in space, Ch 1, 3 DC in space, Ch 1, 3 DC in space, Ch 1, 3 DC in space, Ch 1; * 3 DC in space, Ch 2, 3 DC in space, Ch 1, 3 DC in space, Ch 1, 3 DC in space, Ch 1, 3 DC in space, Ch 1, 3 DC in space, Ch 1; repeat from * 2 times. Join to top of Ch 3 with Sl St, fasten off.
Finish by working yarn tails into body of washcloth using large needle.
Helen's Pound Cake
