2019-11-06 - Yarn and Buttons

You know what's important? Craft supplies. Specifically - knitting supplies. Esme, in an effort to 'pack light' on her move back to Gray Harbor, had severely cut down her knitting supplies. Time to restock! Which is what brought her to the local craft store on the hunt for some good quality yarns, preferably with bright colors. Fall and WInter were her favorite seasons because it meant scarves and mittens and those cute little pullover hats. Which meant she would be in full swing of making such things in her down time and selling them on the side when she wasn't busy hunting down murderers!

Yay cop life. Esme's attire is relatively simple and unassuming since she's currently off duty. Just a pair of dark blue jeans with a maroon turtle neck, hair pulled back in a neat pony tail. She has a basket on her arm that already has a couple packages of yarn in it. Just browsing the aisles quietly.

Abby has only just arrived in the store, and stands near the entrance to look around, mouth twisting as she gives the place a long, thoughtful look, eyes brightening up as she starts to take in the merchandise. She has a ready smile and a cheery "Hello!" for the person behind the counter. She's in jeans of her own, purple tee and a bottle green cardigan on top. It looks like someone or something has been chewing on it, in places. On the cardigan, that is.

After that first pause she wanders in, empty handed, her wandering stare and wandering feet suggesting she's not quite sure what she's getting just yet. Or that she's about to do some serious browsing before getting down to actual purchases. "Hello," she says in Esme's direction with the same friendly tone she had for the clerk, and steals a quick peek at the basket's contents.

Esme is checking out the selection of knitting needles when Abby wanders her way. She looks over to the woman and offered a smile. "Hey there." Looking back towards the needles, picking up a set to examine them a little closer. "You looking for some knitting stuff too? Or maybe crochet or something?" Esme asked, raising a brow as she set the pair back and picked up another one. "Also - what happened to your cardigan?"

Abby smiles at Esme, though her eyes quickly wander to the needles too. "I was thinking about it! I actually need some buttons, but the weather does seem like knitting weather, doesn't it?" She leans in slightly then and lowers her voice, "I'm not very good at it. Knitting. I'm even worse at crochet." Her shoulders slump to feign a disheartened state, but she's rather too jovial for it. The question makes her wince, looking down at one ratty sleeve. "My cat happened to it."

"I don't know how to crochet either...it is totally not like knitting. Well, it sort of is? But. Different. It's hard to explain." Esme chuckled, setting the needles down. "I love to knit. It's really the only way I can destress." She admitted. "What are you gonna use the buttons for? Or are they just extras?" She peered at the cardigan for a moment and then nodded. "I might be able to help. Cats are adorable, but destructive. I don't have any just because I'm sure they'd get all into my yarn space."

Abby nods in agreement, then adds, "I've tried crochet, but just barely. I'm not an expert knitter but I can at least make a scarf!" Her face scrunches subtly to one side. "Well. Not one that's straight all the way through or anything, but it does warm your neck anyhow." She winks. Then glances down at her cardigan once more. "Oh, they're for a coat I'm fixing up. It has one button left and it's the ugliest button I've ever seen so I'll just do something else," she waves it off with one arm, then twists that same arm to pick at one hole. "It's fine. I really have to do my laundry."

"Well, if you ever change your mind - I'm always happy to lend a hand." Esme offered. "I love making scarves. Not just cause their easy of course. But also because they're easy." Esme laughed. "I'm going to be focusing on hats this year though I think. Get better at making them you know? Do you do any other kinds of crafts?" She picks up a final set of needles and seems to decide those are what she was looking for. "I'm really curious what this ugly button looks like by the way. "

"I know! Mostly is that it's hard to ruin a scarf. Even socks are a lot less forgiving..." Abby says with a smile, voice dropping to that same conspiratorial tone again. "If I wanted a stressful hobby, I'd just work more." Then, she eyes Esme, thinking, with a tiny crease on her brow., "Are you offering to fix it? Oh. I mostly do sewing. Hence the coat. And you have to see it. It's this big fat button and it's kind of bumpy, like... it looks like it has a skin condition. If it was any other color, it would be fine, but it's coral red. Very fleshy."

"Got that right. Work is the best stressful hobby. What do you do for work?" Esme asked. "Yeah, I am offering." She flashed a smile. "Sewing is good too - I definitely want to see this button. It sounds hideous. Then again, coral red is a very hard color to pull off. Especially if it's not paired with the right colors. What color is the coat?"

"Oh. I'm a nurse over at Addington Memorial," Abby answers with a smile and a small wave of her hand. Presumably in the direction of the hospital, more or less. "Oh. Thank you. Are you sure?" She gives Esme a doubtful look, gaze darting back and forth between the other woman and her cardigan sleeve, and then a little lower at the hem, fingers distractedly trying to smooth over another little hole there. It doesn't work. "I was thinking of just throwing it in the 'wear around the house' pile. Oh. The color isn't so bad, it's a kind of peach-ish color? It's just that specific button is very... it has a lot of personality."

"What do you do?"

"I'm totally sure. Why not? It's a fun to fix things sometimes. And I've not worked my way up to making sweaters and the like, but fixing them I can definitely do." Esme nodded. "I'm a detective with the GHPD. So, I'll probably end up seeing you around the hospital now and again I'm sure." She motioned for Abby to follow her towards where all the buttons were. "You'll have to show me the button when I get the cardigan. If you want me to fix it." Esme studied the array of buttons now. "What color did you say the coat was again?"

Why not? Abby's brows rise slightly, giving Esme a mild look of uncertainty. She gives the hem of the cardigan a tug, draws a breath and gives in with a shrug, arms swinging out at her sides. "Why not, I guess? Thank you?" She smiles, then pulls her hands back to her hips. "Not very often, I hope. I mean, seeing me. Well. Not because of you! It's just that when I see people it's usually because they're sick or hurt, so..." she trails off and reaches up to play with her hair as she tags along. "Oh, it's peach, but it's more on the orange side? And I'm Abby!"

"No problem." Esme starts looking over a few of the buttons . "A gold color button would like nice. Silver too. Or I guess a peach colored one but not the same style as the unspeakable one." A grin was flashed. "Oh. Names are important! Nice to meet you Abby. I'm Esme. And yes. I do hope we don't run into each other too often at the hospital. It likely doesn't ever mean anything good if that's the case. I try to avoid hospitals unless it absolutely can't be helped."

Abby reaches reaches out for the buttons, fingers dancing lightly along the display while her face goes through a succession of thoughtful expression. "It's kind of like a 60s trench style? The hem's ruined so I'm making it a little shorter, but it was kind of long on me anyway... So there's six big buttons up front and then smaller ones," she says while her other hand taps along her front, placing the buttons on an imaginary coat. "Oh, I try to avoid hospitals myself. I just made some terrible career decisions and now I'm stuck."

Esme chuckled softly at that. "I can understand that. But, you must enjoy it on some level to have stuck with it right?" She asked, raising a brow. "It sounds like a really cute coat! I bet it'll look great once you're all done with it." She smiled, picking up a couple buttons to look at. "Maybe some kind of pearled one? Like this?" Showing her a button that was spherical.

Abby laughs, a light sound that ends in a shake of her head, nose crinkling up slightly "Oh, I like the work. I just don't really like hospitals as much, but I put up with it! It's fine. I think maybe if it was a different hospital where I didn't go as a kid, it might've been better?" She winks, then looks back to the buttons. "I got it practically for free, hoping to make something cute from it. I like pearl! It's just that with those big buttons, anything that's not kind of peach will really stand out, right? I don't know if I want to go neutral or bold!" She punctuates 'bold' with jazz hands.

"Why not both? I mean. Get a neutral set and a bright one and see which looks better! You can always return the ones you don't use. Or just hang on to 'em." Esme suggested. "Though I'm always in favor of something bold. Or in the middle? But everyone's different." She looks like she might say more but her phone starts going off. She sighed and dug it out, answering. "Detective Wilkinson. Mmhm...yep. Yeah, okay. I'll be down there as soon as I can."

She hung up and looked to Abby. "I've gotta run, duty calls, but here." She pulled a business card out of a little back piece on her phone. "Call me whenever you wanna get together for the cardigan fix or something. It was nice meeting you!"