Total pages in book: 35
Estimated words: 32755 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 164(@200wpm)___ 131(@250wpm)___ 109(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 32755 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 164(@200wpm)___ 131(@250wpm)___ 109(@300wpm)
People often ignored her and they certainly made it abundantly clear she wasn’t wanted. Which was why she often avoided social settings. She’d been knitting all her life. It was something her mother had done before her, and what she had taught her to do. Her parents had died nine years ago in a car accident with a drunk driver.
She didn’t even know why she came to the knitting group. It wasn’t like Sundays was the only time she spent knitting. She did it on her lunch breaks, late at night. Any of her spare time, she knitted. It might explain why at twenty-nine years old, she was still a virgin.
She’d never been confident around men. Even with Ruin, a guy who clearly couldn’t knit, the moment her work was away in her bag, she had felt all flustered. He hadn’t shown any interest in her, and she needed to not panic. Instead of staring at the clock, she needed to make her way to the park.
Before she died, her mother had asked her to try to make connections. To find friends, to even give a guy a chance. Nine years she’d avoided it. Nine years she had given the excuse that she could do it another day, that she had all the time in the world. On the anniversary of their death, the guilt had been too much. So she had started going to a knitting group. She didn’t join in, just sat on the bench, minding her own business. It was a start. What she hadn’t done was go out drinking, attempting to find a man. How did a woman go about finding a guy? She didn’t want to just come on to a random stranger.
Growling at herself and her self doubts, she grabbed her keys and left her apartment, being sure to lock it securely behind her. She held onto her bag handle and made her way out of the building, passing a couple of the neighbors. She offered them a smile, and they gave her a nod.
Leaving the building, she headed straight for the park and walked to her bench. The group was already there. She looked for Ruin, but there was no sign of him. Breathing a sigh of relief, she took a seat and pulled out her knitting. She had a bag full of small baby clothes that she intended to donate next week. This was how she used up her balls of yarn. She loved buying different colors and loved the tiny sweaters, hats, and mittens she made.
After a few minutes, she was able to relax. Ruin was just a fluke. She took a deep breath and got absorbed in her knitting. She smiled to herself, and then jolted as Ruin sat next to her.
“Hello again,” he said.
“Ruin.”
“Sorry I’m late. I had to take care of business.”
“Oh, you’re not late. This is not really a strict kind of meetup. You can come and go as you please.”
Was she rambling? Ruin seemed to be sitting very close. A little too close. She licked her lips and tried to calm her racing heart.
“Got it. I wanted to show you something.”
“You do?” she asked.
He pulled out some knitting and she was amazed to see a rather large piece.
“Wow, you got the hang of it.”
“Yeah, but I don’t have a clue what I’m doing.”
“What are you wanting to knit? A sweater? A cardigan? A, er, blanket?”
“How about a sweater?”
“You can totally knit a sweater.”
“Will you teach me?” he asked.
“You want me to teach you?”
“Yes. You’re using different yarn, so I’m guessing you’ve already finished the cardigan you were knitting a week ago.”
“I did finish.”
“Do you think you can help me?” he asked.
It was on the tip of her tongue to tell him no, but then, she didn’t have a clue why she would be turning him down. He wasn’t doing anything wrong. “Sure. Of course I’ll help.” She leaned toward him and couldn’t help but notice just how good he smelled. It was even better than she imagined.
Damn it. Why had he been in her thoughts this past week? Even through work. It was crazy. She never had feelings for a guy, or thoughts about him.
For the next twenty minutes, she attempted to calculate in her head exactly how best to do his sweater without looking at a pattern. One glance at him, and she had already decided it wouldn’t be a raglan sleeve, but one that connected at the shoulder.
With each new row of knitting, he had to start a decrease. Of course, there were several times he got it wrong and she tried to fix it, but it wasn’t long before he had to start again.
“Great,” he said.
“Hey, don’t be disheartened. It happens to the best of us, but you might want to check out a pattern first before you start casting on stitches. The pattern will give you guidance on how to construct a garment.”