How to Knit a Heart Back Home

by Rachael Herron

  Lucy gaped at the man she’d always loved. “Did you just swear by fiber?”

  Owen shrugged. “What can I say? It’s catching.”

  In the space of half a heartbeat, Lucy wrapped her arms around Owen’s neck and kissed the breath right out of him. When she was done, he was gasping and clutching the book cart behind him. “What was that for, woman?”

  “Knitting is sexy.”

  “I know that now,” he said.

  “You really think they’ll come?” Lucy asked again.

  Owen nodded.

  Everyone arrived at once, of course.

  Elbert Romo came straight from a Bingo championship at the VFW, so of course he scuttled straight through into the bathroom without saying hello or looking at the book. But Mildred and Greta came in with gusto, arms raised high, tears already streaming down their faces.

  Greta said, “Oh, look at all the decorations! It looks like a wedding, with the bunting on the pews and all the flowers and candles!”

  Mildred was already flipping pages frantically, her handbag forgotten at her feet. “But look at the book! And Greta, just look at this picture of Eliza! Oh, turn to page seventy-nine! Do you remember that day? I know just where that was.”

  “You’ve outdone yourself, Lucy.” Greta’s smile was quiet, and lovely.

  Lucy stood straighter in her red dress and touched the front of her yellow cardigan. It was the prototype for Ruby’s Bookstore Cardigan, and she loved it more than any of the other sweaters in the book—the soft, old-fashioned curved edging, the waist-shaping, the short sleeves, the pearl buttons. It made her feel pretty and feminine, and it made her feel like she was continuing something important, like she was continuing both Eliza’s and Ruby’s work, and that both of them had their arms wrapped around her at the same time.

  Whitney and Silas came in carrying huge trays of more goodies than Lucy thought she’d ever need. And even though it was still almost eighty degrees outside on a warm fall evening, Whitney was wearing the red earflap cap Silas had knitted for her. She took it off and folded it, placing it carefully in a side pocket of her bag.

  “You’re going to be fine. Remember the other night at the ganache class? Every single woman was planning on being here tonight, and you didn’t even know all of them. And some of them didn’t even knit. They’d just heard the buzz.”

  “About a knitting coffee-table book.”

  “About the knitting coffee-table book. Now I have to go guard the goods before our men devour them all.”

  Lucy grinned at Owen and Silas, hovering over the trays, sniffing ecstatically. “They’re good together, huh?”

  Whitney nodded. “Did Owen tell you yet about the job they got today?”

  Lucy bit her bottom lip. “I’m the worst person in the world. I forgot to even ask.”

  “Today is your book-release day. I think he’ll forgive you. Silas said the house was in such bad shape that they’re going to have to gut the place and fix everything, do a complete overhaul for the owner.”

  “So they’re in heaven.”

  “Completely. Utterly.”

  “Good.” Lucy was glad for Owen. He worked so well with Silas. Owen handled the visible stuff, the counters and floors and walls, and Silas did the insides, the plumbing and the wiring. Owen had only pulled a gun on him one more time, for dramatic effect. As a joke. And Silas had been really late that day.

  Molly and Jonas came in through the front doors, Toots and Bart hot on their heels.

  Toots was saying in a loud voice, “But Bart, I told you, if we lead a Tantric class, you have to be naked. At least part of the time.”

  Bart walked past Lucy, shaking his head. “You may have hit the point where I draw the line, wife. I never thought I’d say it, but this may be it.”

  “You knew when you married me . . .”

  “We can discuss this later, Toots.”

  “The kids don’t mind.”

  Jonas said, “The kids mind, Mom. They really mind. We’re at Lucy’s party now, look, Mom! Her book!” He held it up and waved it as if waving a red cape at a bull.

  Toots scowled at Bart. Then she beamed at the book and then at Lucy. “Darling. My clever little rutabaga. How gorgeous is that book? And you did this? With Eliza? And Abigail? Where is she, by the way?”

  “They’ll be here soon,” said Lucy. “Lizzie woke up late from her nap and little Owen is teething, but they’re on their way.”

  Molly came up next to her and squeezed Lucy until she could barely breathe. “It’s wonderful. I’m so proud of you. Show me where your picture is.”

  Lucy blushed but flipped to the back flap to show her the small black-and-white photo that Owen had taken of her down by the pier.

  Molly touched it with her finger. “Lucy Harrison. That’s you.” Then she looked around the store. “And this is you. Look, I see people from three different knitting groups, from the fire department, from Willow Rock, and from City Hall. This is all you. I’m so proud of you, Luce.”

  “Thank you,” Lucy whispered, and she kissed Molly’s cheek. She wouldn’t cry. Not now. That would be silly. Instead she grinned and said, “How’s my brother?”

  Molly shrugged. “Good. We’re hanging out tonight.”

  “Like last night. And the night before.”

  “Like we always tell you, it’s not a big deal.”

  “Right, right.” Lucy said. “You’re just hanging out. Dating other people.”

  “Whenever we want to. We can totally see anyone else.”

  “Totally. And the last time you slept with another person was . . .”

  Molly turned a page in Eliza’s Road Not Taken and said, “Did you know there’s a typo on page eighty-seven?”

  “No, there’s not. And it was like, a year ago, right?”

  “But we could. Anytime we wanted to.”

  “You just keep telling yourselves that.” Lucy loved the flush that stole across Molly’s face.

  “But there is a typo.”

  “Crap.”

  Thirty minutes, half a glass of champagne, and many congratulations later, Owen caught her eye as he slid two snickerdoodles at the same time into his mouth. He didn’t look repentant at all. He looked delighted.

  And in the russet sweater she’d made him from Abigail’s pattern and Cade’s wool, he looked delicious.

  It had been the busiest year and a half of her life, but what with editing the patterns and Eliza’s vignettes, and moving out of her house and into Owen’s, Lucy’s life had gone from peaceful and stable to unpredictable, loud, and filled with love. With the money she made renting out both her house and the parsonage, she finally had enough to feel comfortable experimenting a little with the bookstore. The cooking nights with Whitney and the craft nights in the store were going like gangbusters; the waiting lists were always long, and word of mouth sold each class out. During her evenings and days off, she wore the brigade pager and responded for station coverage, medicals, and the occasional fire. It was exciting, sometimes scary, and she loved it.

  Owen, in the meantime, was intent on making his childhood home into a house that would be for both of them. Not a repository of memories, but a place for the two of them to make new ones. He was always trying something new in the living room or kitchen, adding an island, or building a bookcase. When she got home from work in the evening, the furniture was never where she’d left it in the morning, and she was getting used to it.

  Kind of made things fun, actually.

  Just like he did.

  Owen winked and Lucy’s toes curled inside her blue-and-green Keds.

  Acknowledgments

  My deepest thanks go to Susanna Einstein for reading and rereading my many rewrites, for brainstorming with me, for believing in me, and best of all, for being my friend. I am so lucky. Deepest thanks also to my editor, May Chen, who is a genius, pure and simple. Thanks to the wonderful people at HarperCollins who have made working on this book such a joy: Amanda Bergeron for knowing
how much overnight delivery means to an author, Catherine Serpico for being excited with me, and Kendra Newton for bringing the noise. Thanks to Ann Mickow and her mother, Josephine A. Mickow, who was nothing like Irene except for inspiring a moment of hand-washing grace. Thanks to Susan Wiggs for her unparalleled generosity, Stephanie Pearl-McPhee for the laughs, and Barbara Bretton for everything. Thanks to Cari Luna, for making me believe I could pull it off. Thanks also to Stephanie Klose of Romantic Times, for bringing the knitters with her, and to A. J. Larrieu for her keen eye. I couldn’t have written this (or any other) book without MacFreedom (which kept me off Twitter long enough to write it) or Zocalo Coffeehouse (where I write all my first drafts). Thanks to the Pigeon Point Lighthouse for being a refuge, and to Pescadero’s Duarte’s, for allowing me to eavesdrop on the ranchers. Thanks to our Night of Writing Dangerously NaNoWriMo fairy godmother. To my PensFatales, I don’t know where I’d be without you: Martha Flynn for pushing us to make things happen, Gigi Pandian for your gracefulness, Adrienne Miller for knowing everyone needs a hero, L.G.C. Smith for knowing just about everything else, Lisa Hughey for caring so hard, Juliet Blackwell for hotel sauna pillow fights, and for Sophie Littlefield who makes everything happen exactly as it should. Thanks also go to Elizabeth Sullivan, for making my pattern-math work—any mistakes are mine, not hers. Thanks to my dispatchers: you really do save lives, and I’m so proud of you. To the readers of Yarnagogo, I adore you and thank you. And to my family, Dan, Christy, and Bethany Herron; Lala, Tony, Jeannie, Richard, Won-Ju and Isaac Hulse: you are my everything. I’m sorry I get so busy writing that sometimes I forget to tell you.

  About the Author

  RACHAEL HERRON received her MFA in English and Creative Writing from Mills College. She lives in Oakland, California, with her family and has way more animals than she ever planned to, though no sheep or alpaca (yet). She learned to knit at the age of five, and generally only puts the needles down to eat, write, or sleep, and sometimes not even then.

  www.RachaelHerron.com

  Visit www.AuthorTracker.com for exclusive information on your favorite HarperCollins author.

  Also by Rachael Herron

  HOW TO KNIT A LOVE SONG

  FROM

  RACHAEL

  HERRON

  Ruby’s Bookstore Sweater

  Finished Measurements

  For more detailed photos, go to yarnagogo.com/rubysweater.

  Bust: 34 (38, 42, 44, 48, 52) inches

  Length: 23¼ (23½, 24, 24¼, 25, 25¼) inches

  Gauge: 18 stitches and 28 rows = 4 inches in Stockinette stitch

  Materials

  Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Worsted wool, 4 (4, 5, 5, 6, 6) skeins

  One US #7 (4.5mm) 12-inch circular needle or set of DPNs (or size to get gauge)

  One US #7 (4.5mm) 32-inch (or longer) circular needle (or size to get gauge)

  Once US #G (4mm) crochet hook

  4 stitch markers

  Stitch holders or scrap yarn

  Yarn needle

  Sleeves—Make two

  Using shorter circular needle or DPNs and a long-tail cast-on, cast on 52 (56, 60, 64, 68, 72) stitches. PM and join to work in the round.

  Round 1: Purl.

  Round 2: Knit.

  Round 3: Purl.

  Increase Round: K1, M1, knit to last st, M1, k1 – 2 stitches increased.

  Continue in Stockinette stitch (knit every round) and repeat Increase Round every 6 rounds 7 more times—68 (72, 76, 80, 84, 88) stitches.

  Work even until sleeve measures 7 inches from beginning (fudge last increases if necessary, as Eliza would). At end of last round, work to 5 (6, 6, 7, 7, 8) stitches before marker, slip 10 (12, 12, 14, 14, 16) stitches onto scrap yarn for underarm. Put the rest of stitches onto stitch holder (or second piece of longer scrap yarn).

  Body

  Using longer circular needle and a long-tail cast-on, cast on 152 (168, 188, 196, 216, 232) stitches.

  Row 1 (RS): Knit 38 (42, 47, 49, 54, 58) stitches, PM, knit 76 (84, 94, 98, 108, 116) stitches, PM, knit 38 (42, 47, 49, 54, 58) stitches.

  Row 2: Knit.

  Row 3: Knit.

  Row 4: Purl.

  Begin pattern:

  Row 1 (RS): Knit.

  Row 2: K2, purl to last 2 stitches, k2.

  Repeat Rows 1 and 2 until piece measures 4 inches from beginning.

  Waist Shaping

  Decrease Row (RS): * Knit to 3 stitches before marker, k2tog, k1, slip marker, k1, ssk; repeat from * once, knit to end of row—4 stitches decreased.

  Keeping first and last 2 stitches in Garter stitch as established, repeat Decrease Row every 6 rows 3 more times—136 (152, 172, 180, 200, 216) stitches remain.

  Work even for 7 rows.

  Increase Row (RS): * Knit to 1 stitch before marker, M1, k1, slip marker, k1, M1; repeat from * once, knit to end of row—4 stitches increased.

  Repeat Increase Row every 8 rows 3 more times—152 (168, 188, 196, 216, 232) stitches.

  Work even until piece measures 14½ inches from beginning or adjust to your preferred length.

  Join Sleeves to Body

  With RS facing, work across right front to 5 (6, 6, 7, 7, 8) stitches before marker, slip 10 (12, 12, 14, 14, 16) stitches onto scrap yarn for underarm. Continuing to work body and sleeves in pattern, PM and work across 58 (60, 64, 66, 70, 72) stitches from first sleeve holder, PM, work across back of sweater to 5 (6, 6, 7, 7, 8) stitches before marker, slip 10 (12, 12, 14, 14, 16) stitches onto scrap yarn for underarm. PM and work across 58 (60, 64, 66, 70, 72) stitches from second sleeve holder, PM, work across the left front to end of row—248 (264, 292, 300, 328, 344) stitches.

  Keeping first and last 2 stitches in Garter stitch, work even for one inch.

  Raglan Decreases

  Decrease Row (RS): * Knit to 3 stitches before marker, k2tog, k1, slip marker, k1, ssk; repeat from * 3 more times, knit to end of row—8 stitches decreased.

  Repeat Decrease Row every other row, 26 (27, 29, 30, 32, 33) more times—32 (40, 52, 52, 64, 72) stitches remain. (4 stitches remain in each sleeve section.)

  Collar

  Work in Garter stitch (knit every row) for 5 inches. Bind off all stitches loosely.

  Finishing

  Graft (kitchener stitch) underarms together.

  Crochet Edging

  Body crochet edge: With US #G (4mm) crochet hook (or size that suits you best) work around the sweater, beginning at the mid lower edge back:

  Round 1: 1 sc, * 1 ch, skip approx. 1 cm, 1 sc in the following st/row *, repeat from *-* all around sweater. Bonus points if the number of ch-loops are divisible by 8, but you can fudge this later if necessary.

  Round 2: Crochet * 1 sc in the first ch, skip 3 ch, crochet 5 dc in the next ch, skip 3 ch *, repeat from *-* and finish with 1 sl st in the sc from beg. of round.

  Sleeve crochet edge: Work the same as body crocheted edge.

  List of Abbreviations

  ch—Chain

  dc—Double crochet

  DPNs—Double-point needles

  K—Knit

  k2tog—Knit two together (decrease stitch)

  M1—Make one stitch (increase stitch) by knitting in front and back of stitch

  P—Purl

  PM—Place marker

  sc—Single crochet

  sl st—Slip stitch

  ssk—Slip two stitches, one at a time, as if to knit, then knit those two stitches together through the back loops (decrease stitch)

  Copyright

  This book is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents, and dialogue are drawn from the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  HOW TO KNIT A HEART BACK HOME. Copyright © 2011 by Rachael Herron. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book o
n-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

  FIRST EDITION

  EPub Edition © 2011 ISBN: 9780062065889

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Herron, Rachael.

  How to knit a heart back home : a Cypress Hollow yarn / Rachael Herron. —

  1st ed.

  p. cm.

  ISBN 978-0-06-184131-6

  1. Knitters (Persons)—Fiction. 2. Knitting—Fiction. I. Title.

  PS3608.E7765H66 2010

  813'.6—dc22

  2010018086

  11 12 13 14 15 OV/RRD 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

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