"Okay." She kisses Cathei's head.

Cute.

"What materials would you need to determine whether your rugs are magic?"

"I mean, they never have been before, but yarn and a canvas grid?"

"If most things aren't magic where you come from, they might be when made here.  But what do you do with the yarn?  Most things done with yarn aren't magic; it's only sewing."

"You cut the yarn up into pieces yea long and then you tuck one into the hook and tuck the hook into the grid and pull so the yarn is tied on."

"I can't tell from that description whether I expect it to work or not.  Could you make the right sort of grid given canvas?"

"Probably but maybe not well? I hadn't learned to do that part yet."

"I could get you canvas if you wanted to try.  Or other materials for more traditional sewing.  Seamsters make good money."

"I could learn to sew probably!"

". . . Other things also make good money, presumably, if you don't already know how."

"I can do very basic sewing but I've been mostly doing rugs since I was little. I can spin?"

"We figured out how to make machines do that a few decades ago.  But if you've been making rugs that long, we should check both whether that style of rugmaking is magic and whether you are.  Experience is an important part of skill."

"Okay. I can try making a grid. Do I need to be magic to make magic rugs, is that how it works? I have the hair."

"You have the hair and couldn't use the pocket.  We'll have to see."

"Okay. Is there a pattern I should use or should I just make something up?"

"I don't already have a pattern for a form of rugmaking I had never previously heard of, no."

"I didn't even know there was another way to do them! How do you do rugs here?"

"I usually do it by braiding strips of cloth and sewing those into a spiral, with embroidery on top if I need it to be more powerful in any respect.  It's a good way to make use of scraps.  I think other people sometimes just cover an entire large piece of fabric with embroidery, for the flying ones."

"Well, mine're tufty and fuzzy and nice to sink your feet into."

"Then they will probably be quite popular if they work."

"How do you aim at making a rug do something?"

"You have to believe that it should do the thing you want it to, that it's obvious it should behave that way.  For more complicated effects, it naturally takes more effort to convince yourself, which is why they need more details and skill to function.  It's not entirely faith, of course; even the most bravado-filled novice can't pull off things an expert could, but it's the most important thing to focus on if you already know what to do with the physical aspects."

"Well, I can try it. Maybe with a small one to start."

"As long as you can believe a small one would work.  I should do one alongside you, given that there are two factors potentially in play."

"I only have one latch-hook."