nesting toys
Alice's Adventures in Lalylaland
Alice didn’t fall very far. In fact, she only dropped about a stitch. She landed softly on a plush carpet of bobble stitches. Above her, yarn balls floated like tiny planets, and somewhere nearby a pocket watch ticked — very politely and very handmade.
“I’m late! I’m two rounds behind!” cried a white rabbit in a burgundy crochet-vest, rushing past her. At his side dangled a tiny crocheted pocket watch, hanging from a watch chain made of exactly chain stitches. “A chain … made of chain stitches?” Alice thought, puzzled, brushing a few bits of lint off her apron. “Makes sense. But where on earth am I?”
“In Lalylaland, obviously,” purred a wide-grinning glow-in the dark cat lounging on a branch clearly made of double crochets. “Here, we don’t fix mistakes. We crochet around them.” Alice tilted her head. “And what if you mess up?”
The cat’s grin widened. “We frog it. And pretend it was an intentional part of the process.”
Suddenly, a tea party appeared out of nowhere. A mad Wool-Hat Maker was measuring teacups against gauge swatches. “One cup per four inches? Are you a tight stitcher or a relaxed one?” he asked seriously. “This affects EVERYTHING, especially the number of stitches.”
Alice sat down and took a sip. The tea smelled faintly of sheep‘s wool — in a surprisingly pleasant way. “I‘m not sure,” she answered, “does everything here have to be counted?”
The rabbit froze. The cat stopped grinning (briefly). The Hat Maker dropped a stitch in shock. Then they burst out laughing.
“Of course not,” said the rabbit. “Sometimes you just crochet and see what happens.”
Alice smiled. Maybe this wasn’t a wonderland. Maybe it was simply a place where everything holds together — as long as you don’t lose the thread. And even if you do … there’s always another skein waiting to pick up the stitches.
