Full Speed Ahead: My Journey with Kit

I shrug and tell Kit I’m staying in her parents’ room instead of doing chores, since I’m hopeless at housework. Kit looks relieved and agrees that’s for the best, though I insist on carrying the plates to the kitchen. What Uncle Hendrick doesn’t know won’t hurt him.

The dogs and I follow Kit into the kitchen, where I watch her wash the dishes. Next comes laundry. In the basement, Kit stuffs clothes into a machine so huge it looks like it could eat Antarctica. She’s loading shirts, socks, aprons, underwear, and pajamas when she reaches for a wool sweater. I gasp and stop her. Wool shrinks in the washer, and this sweater would be ruined.

I explain clothes and fabric are my hobby. I don’t mention the secondhand wool pieces I collect at home. Kit admits she’s been doing laundry a while but still isn’t very good at it.

I show Kit how to hand-wash it instead, back at the kitchen sink in cold, soapy water. We both end up soaked, and the floor gets so wet we have to mop it, but it’s fun, and Kit clearly appreciates that I saved the sweater.