Beware the Mohair

At work today a customer came in, clutching her knitting bag, asking if someone could help her with a knitting problem. I was the only person in the store and said, "Sure." She pulled out a Kid Seta garter stitch scarf which a small child had removed the needles from and several stitches had been lost. I sat down with her with some extra knitting needles and a small darning needle and explained that I needed to rip back a little. She looked pained but said it was okay. I ran one of the knitting needles through all the stitches below the foul-up. It took quite a while to weave through all those fine, tiny stitches. My customer hovered, hands grasping reflexively every time I moved. I don't think she was breathing at all. Once I got the needle through I ripped back, stopping occasionally to unpick a snarl with the darning needle. Then I had to ladder back a few dropped stitches and get the knitting back on to her needles. She was very relieved and thanked me profusely. She thought she was going to have to rip the whole thing. Poor dear.