by Heidi Betts
“Oops, looks like we’re done for tonight,” she said, quickly stuffing her yarn and needles into her bag and hopping up to grab her coat.
“What’s the hurry, Aunt Charlotte?” Jenna asked, and now even she sounded suspicious.
This, at least, she could be honest about. “I, my dears, have got a hot date.”
Several sets of eyebrows shot up, and she enjoyed a brief moment of gratification at catching them all off guard.
“But you just said you don’t have a life,” Ronnie pointed out.
“Well, I don’t,” Charlotte admitted as she zipped and then buttoned the double layers of her big, overstuffed lime-green coat. The other ladies were starting to rise, putting away their knitting projects and collecting their coats, but Charlotte was already goose-stepping her way to the edge of the circle of chairs. “But I’m certainly not giving up on finding one.”
With any luck, her very own skein of enchanted yarn would work its magic and help her find her own happily ever after. She was optimistic that Willy, her date for this evening, would turn out to be her true love. But if not, she’d keep right on looking …and spinning and knitting.
“Toodles, darlings. I’ll see you next week.”
She tossed a quick finger wave over her shoulder before toddling toward the front of the store.
Behind her, Grace, Ronnie, Jenna, and a few of the other women from the group exchanged glances. All on the same page, and all thinking identical thoughts, they grabbed their belongings without a word and rushed after her.
“I didn’t know Aunt Charlotte was seeing anyone,” Jenna said in a harsh whisper, a dozen sets of shoes, boots, and heels clattering away on the hard parquet flooring as they marched down the center aisle.
“I think your aunt is up to something,” Grace said. Her tone wasn’t accusatory, merely quizzical.
They reached the double glass front doors just as a large, rumbling black motorcycle pulled up to the curb. An older, slightly overweight man with long, gray hair braided into a single thick rope down his back straddled the seat.
As soon as she saw him, Charlotte started forward, rounding the bike and climbing into a matching black sidecar. She tucked her knitting tote inside, between her feet, then pulled on a pair of giant, World War II-style goggles and fit an equally old-fashioned helmet over the Eiffel Tower of her bright orange hair.
Glancing up, she flashed the elderly biker dude a wide, eager smile, which he returned with a gap-toothed grin of his own. He revved the engine, and a second later they were off, disappearing into the dark night and crowd of strip mall traffic.
Silently, Ronnie and Grace pushed open The Yarn Barn doors, and they all stepped out onto the raised sidewalk.
Grace swallowed, blinked. “Anybody want to go to The Penalty Box for a drink? I think I could use one.”
“Yeah,” Ronnie murmured in a stunned tone. “Me, too.”
“Uh-huh. I really wish I could drink-drink, because it’s going to take something a lot stronger than 7-Up and cranberry juice to help me make sense of this,” Jenna muttered.
They all nodded in agreement, but instead of making a move toward their cars, they all simply stood there, frozen in place, gazes locked on the taillights of the motorcycle and sidecar as it zipped out of sight, taking dear, sweet—innocent?—Charlotte with them.
GRACE’S DOG SWEATER PATTERN
(as knit by Grace, despised by Zack, and tolerated
by Muffin…er, Bruiser…er, Muffin…)
For dogs with a 28-inch chest
Materials:
Size 7 knitting needles
Size 8 knitting needles
Size 8 circular needle
3 5-ounce skeins of yarn
Instructions for Neck & Body:
With size 7 needles and one skein of yarn, cast on 88
stitches. K1, P1 for 2 inches.
Change to size 8 needles.
Row 1: Knit across.
Row 2: Purl across.
Row 3: Increase in first stitch; knit across to last
stitch; increase in last stitch.
Rows 4-10: Continue to increase in first and last
stitch of everyrow for the next 7 rows.
Increase in first and last stitch of every
other row until 124 stitches are on
needle, ending with a knit row.
Preparation for Leg Openings:
Row 1: With those 124 stitches on needle, P8, K16,
P76, K16, P8.
Row 2: Increase in first stitch; knit across to last
stitch; increase in last stitch.
Row 3: P9, K16, P76, K16, P9.
Row 4: Repeat Row 2.
Row 5: P10, K16, P76, K16, P10.
Instructions for Leg Openings:
Row 1: K13, bind off next 10 stitches, K81, bind off
next 10 stitches, K12.
(Note: Two other skeins of yarn need to be attached at
this point because all three sections are worked at the
same time, using separate yarn for each one.)
Row 2: P10, K3. With second skein of yarn, K3,
P76, K3. With third skein of yarn, K3,
P10.
Row 3: With first skein of yarn, K across. With
second skein of yarn, K across. With third
skein of yarn, K across.
Rows 4-12: Repeat Rows 2 and 3 nine more times.
Row 13: P10, K3, turn. Add on 10 stitches, turn.
With same yarn, K3, P76, K3, turn. Add
on 10 stitches, turn. With same yarn, K3,
P across to end. (Should have 128 stitches
on needle.)
Instructions for Lower Leg Band:
Row 1: K across.
Row 2: P10, K16, P76, K16, P10.
Rows 3-6: Repeat Rows 1 and 2 two times. Continue
in stockinette stitch pattern (knit
one row, purl the other) until piece
measures 13 inches from very beginning,
ending with purl row.
Shaping Instructions:
Row 1: Bind off 14 stitches at beginning of row, K across to end.
Row 2: Bind off 14 stitches at beginning of row, P across to end.
Row 3: Slip 1 stitch, K1, pass slipped stitch over
knit stitch (PSSO), K across to last 2
stitches, K those 2 stitches together as one
(K2tog).
Row 4: P across (98 stitches).
Rows 5-18: Repeat Rows 3 and 4 fourteen times (70
stitches remaining after last row). Piece
should measure 25 inches from beginning
to end. Leave remaining stitches on
needle. With right sides facing each
other, sew up seam. Pick up those
remaining 70 stitches, with right sides
still facing each other, onto circular
needle. Work in ribbing pattern (K1, P1)
for one inch. Bind off.
Optional A: Weave elastic thread through first row of
neck ribbing.
Optional B: Decorate with sports emblems or patches
of your choice.
Table of Contents
Other Books By This Author
Copyright
Cast on
Row 1
Row 2
Row 3
Row 4
Row 5
Row 6
Row 7
Row 8
Row 9
Row 10
Row 11
Row 12
Row 13
Row 14
Row 15
Row 16
Row 17
Row 18
Row 19
Row 20
Row 21
Row 22
Bind off
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