Hanky Panky?

Riddle: What’s the difference between a comma and a cat?

I’m starting to feel I’m mastering crochet.  I’ve taken classes before, but somehow a week or two after the class ended, I’ve lost most of the skills I learned.  This time I went to a friend who can crochet and did my doggonest to learn the moves, then went to Michael’s (the craft and hobby store) and bought a lavishly illustrated book for beginners.  And that seems to have done it, I can actually crochet.  Not very well – my squares are somewhat oddly-shaped because I’m still learning to keep my tension even – but I can single, double, and even triple crochet, using yarn and a number 5 hook.

On Saturday I got the handkerchief my friend Vivien in Atlanta crocheted for me.  It is startlingly beautiful!  I sent a copy of the pattern to my friend up here who is teaching me to crochet and she says I now have the skills I need to make my own lace-edged handkerchief.  I managed not to laugh out loud.  What she means is, the pattern only calls for stitches I now know.  But I am a long way from using the fine thread and tiny hook it would take to make a duplicate of that lace edging.

My editor likes the handkerchief pattern, too.  In fact, she has suggested I change the title from A Needle Case to Hanky Panky, and make the handkerchief more central to the plot.  I’m thinking about it . . .

The most shocking thing I’ve learned about art crime is the low rate at which it’s reported.  It seems museums and art galleries don’t want to scare off wealthy donors or great artists by letting them know how often thieves make off with items, so they prefer to negotiate with the thieves to buy back what has been taken – or even just let it go, rather than report the theft to the authorities.  So no one really knows the rate of theft of art or antiques from these places, especially when it’s not something famous like the Hope diamond or the Mona Lisa.

Answer:  A cat has claws at the end of its paws, while a comma marks a pause at the end of a clause.