“So much wool…” She said to herself. The room now empty but her. She was so stupidly tired and had so many questions that her mind couldn’t help but think about the only thing that was keeping her sane. Fashion.
If there was one thing she was able to notice while watching the different people around the city is that their fashion sucked. Sure, she could tell the garments they used had the clear objective of being useful and it wasn’t ever about how it looked. But, if there was one thing fashion had taught Ruby was that there could always be an excellent balance between both things. Just because it’s all about being useful at work, doesn’t mean you can’t look amazing while at it.
Besides, it wasn’t like they didn’t have the right materials for it. Sure, wool was super basic, but extremely versatile, just like leather, which she had seen so much of too. Some other fabrics she saw from afar that looked a little bit more expensive, but it was still a relief knowing they existed and that there was so much room to play with.
If her hunch was right, she knew that fashion here was not something a normal commoner could afford, as it meant disposing of money they couldn’t really spare, but Ruby knew there were so many things she could do to improve a commoner’s life with just some fashionable items that were part of the industry at some point.
She was aware, however, she just couldn’t jump the gun immediately either. So far she knew of commoners and ‘guilders’, according to how Mrs. Sianna had mentioned, but clues of what she had seen in the city led her to believe there were nobles out there too. There were always some in these kind of fantasy novels and stuff, so she knew there were people in power who she should try to keep on their good side.
It wasn’t much different in the fashion industry actually, whatever you tried to make, it would do absolutely no good to anyone if you couldn’t sell it and even less so if one inside the industry suddenly didn’t like you. Always a fly or sink situation when you haven’t made room for yourself yet.
Now, it’s not like she could just create something out of nothing either. If she was an orphan, she knew she didn’t have money to afford textiles of any kind to start working right away. But right in front of her, right now, she had an opportunity she couldn’t miss. It was her path to redemption.
“I need to make people like me or Theo and I could get kicked out.” Mrs. Sianna’s words still fresh in her memory. Immediately grasping the basket while staring at the wool. Her eyes then landed on her hands, reminding her everything hurt like she actually did die.
“Focus.”
If she was right and this was very similar to a medieval European city, then she knew there had to be some kind of Seamstress or crafter that focused on making clothes for the overall populace. That was a path she could take in this world and knew could make the best of.
Besides, now that she knew a little bit more about the background of her former self, she sort of thought she owed it to her brother. It would give him some peace of mind knowing his sister was aiming for a decent career. This right here was a chance to prove exactly that. That she wasn’t a child anymore that needed to be taken care of. That she was going to be okay and that she could carve her own way.
Ruby was pretty sure her old self was ungrateful and her brother had shown quite the restraint and over protectiveness of her. The mistress, on the other hand - while she had a smug look on her face when she gave her the task - she didn’t feel like the kind of person who meant wrong, though that didn’t mean her harsh words made her kind or soft. But Ruby knew both were good people and needed a rest. A rest from her that is.
All she had to do now was to excel at this and prove to the world she isn’t a future breaker and that she has the skills to be something else than a thief and a part-time troublemaker. Easy.
“Okay, time to really focus Amy. I mean… Ruby.”
She still wasn’t used to her new name, but it’s not like she could change it now. She just had to adjust. Just like in the competition, everything was about adaptability.
Ruby plopped down in the bed and looked at the basket full of wool yarns of different colors. Most of them looked to be rather mundane and had their original color, but her eyes immediately spotted a few that actually were not white, gray, or brown. There were a couple of yarns that were golden and a few others that were a surprising crimson red. She quickly took them and inspected them because something felt off about them.
To begin with, if she still went by her ‘medieval society’ rules, it was weird to see these colors of wool. Dye like this should be extremely expensive, and while the orphanage was big and everything, you could tell it was falling apart. She wouldn’t be surprised if the ceiling fell off, as she could see several cracks in the old wood. She could hear people walking on the floor below, even hearing some weird annoying knocking from time to time. “Maybe they are donated?” She thought, getting back her thoughts to the yarn and putting it aside.
Then, her eyes looked at her ‘knitting needles’. They were a pair of crude wooden sticks that clearly had seen better times and were horribly crafted. They were not even and had angular sides in some places, though she knew she could make do. She just had to be careful with the wool and make sure it didn’t get stuck on a splinter or something. She wasn’t looking forward to fixing any strands of wool after breaking the thread.
“Best motto is to always do something right if you’re going to do it, otherwise why make the effort at all.” The brunet inspired herself.
Sadly she didn’t have extreme knowledge on how it used to be done in the times of old. This was just a topic she had learned in college but, since the history of fashion is so extensive and the course covered trends from all over the world, they rarely had the opportunity to practice with antique tools or older methods. Ruby didn’t know if the way she knew how to knit was the same they used here, but, then again, would that matter? She just had to make the best with what she had, and whether her technique was good or bad for current standards it didn’t matter. “I just need to convince people I’m not a lost cause.”
“I have to make something that can be useful, but also something people around here are not used to seeing. That will surely tell the mistress I’m not just creative, but also capable of making something that is not trouble.” She thought, while taking in mind the garments she had seen around the city and considering that winter was coming.
Then, she looked at the overflowing basket full of yarn. “If I make a sweater, not only will it take quite some time to finish one, but also it will need a sizable amount of yarn. If this turns out to be winter clothes for the children, I should focus on something smaller, but just as useful.”
Then, an idea came to her mind. With a smile on her face, she went all grandma mode and adjusted herself under the covers of the bed while taking a red yarn, a white one and one of the very few golden ones.
“Time to focus.” She let it slip aloud as she focused on what she was doing. She had decided on a scarf.
Grabbing a piece of the red yarn, the chosen main color for this task, she opened it up and got the first strand of yarn that is often called a tail. To start knitting a scarf, you always need to choose how tall it’s going to be over its length. She decided to make one tall enough to be comfortable for either children or teenagers, so a twenty eight knot width should be more than enough to keep them from the cold and allow them to grow into them without the scarves getting too small.
After twisting the tail twenty eight times around one of her needle sticks, she went and grabbed some more, as it’s always better to have some extra room than get short. It had been quite some time since the last time she knitted something, as that was something she used to do during Christmas. But you know how it is, a new Christmas shop got into town selling things by the bulk and her sales went down during the holiday season. There was really no competition to be had and forced her to focus on something else, stomping her small business to the ground. Now, however, it was time to put into action one of her many skills.
After measuring she was good on the width, she made her first slip knot. By grabbing both the tail around her thumb and the working yarn around her index finger, she created a slingshot shape with the yarn in her hand, allowing her to pass the needle up, down and in-between the yarn to create her first stitch. Already having one, the rest was easy, she just had to follow the same pattern and get a total of twenty eight stitches. Up, down, and in-between.
If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.
Having created her first row of stitches, all running across her right knitting needle, she had created a nice red edge for the beginning of her scarf. That wasn’t all, however. She still had another step to fulfil before falling into the ‘knitty-gritty’ of her craft, as she loved to call it.
Changing the right needle into her left hand, she used the other one empty of stitches to continue. Adding eight rows of stitches was simple, but it required a different movement as now she had to start interacting with her slip knots by using only the working yarn and moving it up, around, and down from each stitch and then into the other one. Once that was done, she had created her first eight rows of garter stitch, the most basic stitch people learn and that is used to create flat surfaces that look the same on both sides.
For this scarf, she had decided on using the Fair Isle technique. Most people would know it as that one pattern that is full of zig-zags and lines and with cute shapes that you can find in most Christmas sweaters. Though, originally, they were not intended to be so common for a specific holiday and were quite the fashion trend, especially in Western Europe in its origins. Now, she wasn’t completely sure if patterns like that existed around these parts, but she knew that it would be highly improbable that they made it to the extent it was used in her world.
After creating the base of her scarf, she took the white yarn and got herself the tail for her second stitch. The thing about using two different yarns or more is that it gets a little bit complicated when you don’t have stitch markers. Since you want to make a pattern, one that makes sense at least, you have to count your stitches and make sure that it’s centered or positioned where you want it to be.
For instance, if you start your pattern after the fourth stitch and finish it four stitches before the end of the row, you have to remember that’s how you started. Meaning, when it’s time to repeat the figure, you can’t forget after what stitch you started or ended.
Adding lines is simple stuff, but more complex figures usually take a lot more time. Actually, most people copy the patterns by using a grid with as many squares as stitches you made to begin with, and each square marks where you should make a stitch or not. But that didn’t matter, Ruby had enough experience under her belt doing this kind of stuff that she already knew many patterns by heart.
A question arose though. As she looked at the size of the yarn, she started to question whether she should do more than one using this technique, as it doesn’t really matter if you are using a second color just a little or a lot, you still have to knit stretches along the whole of the scarf if you are in a line that requires of you to use that color.
“And I’m using three…” She thought, looking at her hands move in practiced motions, twining, twisting and just knitting the thread. “Maybe I’ll just make a few of these until I’m all out of the colorful yarns and then go for bland solid color scarves. I’m pretty sure Theo would like one of these.” He had earned one at least.
Usually, once you have practiced enough and know what you’re doing, knitting doesn’t take as long as one might think. Doesn’t mean you can finish in twenty minutes, but for Ruby it was still quite the easy task and had no trouble doing this kind of menial assignment. Looking at the still full basket she could tell that the mistress had the intention of letting her stay there for the rest of the season and winter included with the amount of yarn she had. The good thing is that when she focused and really put some effort into things, time just flew by, just like in the competition.
The competition. It hadn’t even been a day and she was already so focused on something else. It’s not like she had forgotten or was letting it go. It was still festering in her chest and made her feel so frustrated. Enough she almost got distracted and broke her crude needle, but a little sanding against the bed frame and the splinter was off. It had already happened several times, where a piece of the string had gotten stuck in a small splinter or piece of the needle and almost broke it, but she was able to stop her motion and fix the issue before devastating her own work.
Her eyes set themselves on the window at the far side of the room. It was already getting dark and the wooden shutters were yet to be closed. While she thought about closing them, she didn’t want to get up and make the mistress mad. Who knew? Maybe she was listening through the floor or something.
Something grasped her attention. While her eyes were still fixed on the arrival of the night, she noticed movement to the left. By the door, all the way across the room, she saw a little girl watching her from the distance, just her face and a few fingers showing along the frame of the door.
“Are you okay?” Asked the younger one.
“Eh... yeah?”
“Then what are you up to?”
“… Nothing?” She gave a half answer, narrowing her eyes towards the little girl.
“So you are up to something.”
“No, I’m not.”
“You always say that when you are, though.”
“This time I mean it. I’m not up to anything.”
“Okay, I’ll let Theo know.” She made a motion to leave, but Ruby quickly followed with another question.
“Oh, Theo sent you?”
“Yes. He said if I check on you, he wouldn’t tell mama about eating Layla’s potato. She always-” She froze in place and took her hands to her mouth, looking at Ruby wide-eyed.
“I’m sorry, since you are so far away I can barely hear you. I just heard that Theo told you to come check on me. What else did you say?” She played along, a simple smile on her face.
The girl gave a theatrical sigh of relief and went towards her. “Nothing,” The blond girl replied with a mischievous grin, looking over her shoulder for a moment while doing it.
“Mama told us not to come to your room until it's night time.” Said the cute girl, climbing the bed by Ruby’s feet.
“That makes sense. I’ve been naughty and now I was punished.” Said Ruby, matter-of-factly.
The blonde girl looked at her with big eyes. “I-I haven’t.”
“You haven’t? But didn’t mama tell you not to come here until it's night time?”
“B-b-but I had to check on you. Is that naughty?”
“Maybe a little naughty, but if it’s just a little and only sometimes, then it doesn’t matter. But if you were, I don’t know, eating other people’s share, that’s major naughty.”
“Major Naughty!?”
“Yes. So don’t do it if you ever thought of doing it. Okay?”
“O-okay.”
Sure, Ruby could act like a big sister and interact with children from time to time, but she was not a little children person. Most of the time they gave her the creeps and she just felt awkward around them. She never had kids and knew very few people who had any, so she was often at a loss at what to say or do with them. Hence, the awkward silence between the two once the conversation died down. She didn’t know what else to say so just… went back to her task and continued knitting.
“I didn’t know you could knit.”
“I can.”
“Mama says you can’t.”
“Well, she’s wrong.”
Ruby replied without giving pause, just focusing more and more on her work. The pattern she was making was a little bit more difficult than she thought it would be at first, now that she had to do it by memory. However, as seconds went by and noticed there was no follow-up question, she looked up, only to see the little girl staring at her in shock, like she had just shattered her world.
“I-I mean, she wasn’t wrong. I just learned very fast.”
“I thought you were dumb.”
“This kid surely recovers fast.” She thought but decided not to answer, didn’t want to start an argument with what looked like a five year old.
“What is that? Looks pretty and not like a hat.”
“‘and not like a hat’, who’s the dumb one now? ha!” She thought with a funny voice in her mind, feeling proud and superior for a second.
“It’s a scarf that I’m doing. See this white thing here? They are snowflakes. Do you like it?”
“Ohh, that’s really pretty. I’ve never seen a scarf like that.” She said in amazement while trying to get a closer look.
While not one to really trust on a five year old’s judgment, Ruby still knew the kid knew way more about her new world than she did. Thus, if the kid said she had never seen one like that, chances were this kind of pattern or technique were not known among these parts at least.
“Hopefully it’ll impress Mrs. Sianna.”
“Why do you want to impress her?”
“So that she knows I’m not that naughty.” She smiled softly before looking at the window, the sky growing darker in the distance.
“If I’m not naughty, can I get one like that too?”
“We’ll see. Maybe I can-”
She was about to answer when she heard a bell coming from outside, down the hall. The little girl jumped in surprise, muttering something about dinner and potatoes, quickly climbing down.
“I’ll check you out later!” She ran away without barely making a sound on the old wood.
Ruby thought about going down too, but since she was grounded and didn’t know the exact ethics of it, she just decided to stay. She would go down if they came looking for her, but better to avoid unnecessary altercations. Besides, it was better to use this time to finish her scarf, which was already looking nice and was more than halfway done.
Depending on the length and proper knowledge of the technique, one could easily finish a scarf in two to three hours. She usually took about two for each, but since she had to do everything by memory it had taken her a little bit more time. After the kid left, however, she was able to fall back into a rhythm, concentrating to the best of her ability until finally, the product was finished.