Goldie Locks & the Three Crochet Testers

Goldie Locks, pattern designer extraordinaire, walked down the long path toward the testing division. It was a particularly beautiful morning. The sounds of blue birds singing, and squirrels chittering filled the air. The sunshine danced through the leaves, creating a dapple pattern of light and shadow along the path. Breathing deeply, she could smell apple blossoms and lilies blooming along in the forest. She exhaled slowly, she wasn’t looking forward to the conversations she needed to have with her testers. They could be real bears…literally.
Mama Bear, Papa Bear, and Baby Bear had moved away several years ago to start a career as a family washboard band. They’d had some success, but eventually fell through when PETA had protested their show for being an animal act.
She had met them when she was little and had stumbled into their home by accident. Although she had eaten their food, broken their furniture and fell asleep on their beds, they had embraced her as part of their family. So when they came back ,it was only natural that she give them a chance to work for her company.
About five years ago, she had started a cottage industry creating handmade crocheted and knitted blankets, hats, and scarves. It had gone well, and she had built her reputation on cute, modern designs with consistent stitching. But recently, there had been some complaints.
She walked into the cottage at the end of the lane and found Mama Bear sitting at the table.
“Mama how are you today?” she asked, not wanting to start in on complaints right away.
“Oh, I’m doing all right dear. Can I get you a cup of tea?”
“Sure.”
“Honey?”
“No, thank you.”
“So. What do we owe this visit to?” she asked, setting a cup of tea in front of Goldie.
“Well,” she said, taking a sip, and enjoying the bergamot and orange flavors. “To be honest it is about your gauge.”
“Oh? What’s wrong with my gauge, dear?”
“It’s too small.”
“Too small?”
“Yes. For example,” said Goldie Lock, taking a package out of her bag, and laying it out on the table. It was about the size of a dishrag even though it was supposed to fit on a full-size bed. “This.”
“And the problem?”
“This is for a full-size bed. It won’t even cover my lap.”
“Oh. Well I followed the instructions,” Mama Bear said, looking confused.
“Yes, you did. Only, you used thread instead of bulky yarn and a size B hook. Mama this is supposed to be a big bulky blanket not a dishrag.”
“Oh. I’m sorry dear. I miss understood, “she confessed, tears welling up in her eyes.
Goldie felt horrible. Mama Bear had always liked dainty things. It made sense that she wouldn’t realize that the blanket needed bulky yarn.
“Do you know where Papa Bear is?”
“In the living room dear,” she said, pointing the way into the living room.
“Thank you,” she said standing up, she patted Mama Bear on the shoulder as she walked into the living room to find Papa Bear.
Papa Bear as sitting in a large chair working on a massive crochet project that sprawled across the living room. Goldie was confused until she recognized the pattern. The massive peacock tablecloth was on its third row of feather eyes and took up the whole living room.
“Papa? What are you doing?”
“Huh?” He looked up over his bifocals. “Hi Goldie, just working on this tablecloth.” He spread it out and took a step back. “What do you think?”
Goldie could have cried. Thick bulky blanket yarn had been crocheted into beautiful peacock eyes in an enormous circle that took up the whole living room. As beautiful as it was, it was not what had been ordered.
“Papa, whose table is this supposed to fit on?” she asked, hoping she could make him see the error in his ways instead of making him upset.
“It does seem a little big,” he said, rubbing his chin as he looked at the large round piece.
“It’s too big,” she declared.
“I followed the instructions,” he replied.
“I can see that. Except you used bulky yarn instead of thread and used a size Q hook instead of a size C,” she sighed. “Papa, whose table did you think this would fit?”
“Bigger is better,” he said, looking at his work with a worried frown on his forehead.
Goldie sighed. They were trying so hard and it wasn’t that their work wasn’t good, it was just that they had used the wrong materials. Then she had an idea.
“Papa why don’t you and Mama change patterns? You work the blanket and she can work on the table cloth?”
“The table cloth pattern was bigger,” he harrumphed.
“Yes, but it needs smaller yarn and more people ask for blankets, so you would be doing more of them. Bigger orders?”
“Oh!” he said, looking mollified.
“Why don’t you go talk to Mama Bear while I go talk to Baby Bear?” she said.
“He’s upstairs,” he said as he left to go and talk to Mama Bear.
Goldie watch him leave, happy that the conversations had gone as well as they had. She headed upstairs to find Baby. Entering his room, it appeared empty and the only seating for her to sit and wait was his bed. She sat on the edge, then decided to lay down for just a sec.
“Hey! Why are you sleeping in my bed?” Baby laughed, waking her up.
“Because, it’s just right?” she said, mortified that he had caught her once again.

Word Count: 934