Kili watched her carefully through two more scales before he started examining it again.

"Okay, so, clearly it works, but how does it work? This seems like it should not work."

"I'm sure it will," Amaryllis agreed. "Still sucks." She made a face.

"It just sort of... does," Hyacinth said. "I'm just looping the yarn around itself in different ways."

"Huh." Kili blinked. "That's... pretty neat, actually. I had no idea you could do this."

"Me in particular?" Hyacinth asked, grinning a bit. "Or that it could be done in general?"

"Both," Kili said after a moment with a bit of a grin. "Go with both."

"It's not a hard skill to learn," Hyacinth said, grinning a bit. "I learned from an older cousin. A lot of hobbits know how to knit or crochet. It's nice to have handmade sweaters and blankets and such."

"A few dwarves knit," Kili said. "I've seen that before. But never crochet. Even knitting isn't a common skill." He grinned as he looked at the blanket. "Although crochet main gain popularity here now."

Hyacinth grinned at that.

"I couldn't resist," she said, "not after the tale Uncle Bilbo told us."

"It's going to drive Uncle Thorin up the wall." Kili looked far too pleased about that, grinning broadly.

"You seem pleased about that," Hyacinth said, raising an eyebrow a bit but still grinning.

"Of course," Kili said, still grinning. "Fili and I have spent a fair bit of time doing that ourselves. And his hands are going to be tied, because Uncle Bilbo is going to love this."

Hyacinth snickered.

"Oh of course he is," she said, grinning and nodding a bit. "That's why I'm making it, because Uncle Bilbo will love it."

"Which means Uncle Thorin may grumble and complain about it, but his hands are tied and he won't be able to actually do anything." Kili looked positively gleeful about this.

"Well, then, that means I should keep working on it," Hyacinth said as she resumed the stitches. She went back to her normal pace, her hook practically flying.

Kili settled in to watch for a few minutes. He did, however, glance over to check on Fili and make sure the elder brother wasn't getting into any kind of trouble.

Fili wasn't getting into trouble at all. He was just sitting with Amaryllis, making sure she was resting and comfortable.

Hyacinth just continued on making the blanket, steadily churning out scale after scale in neat rows.

Kili finally went to go nudge Fili into leaving so they could go get dinner for the girls. He was still more than a little in awe of how fast the dragon scale blanket was coming along.

Later on that evening, Hyacinth found herself refusing entry to Bilbo.

"No," she said. "You can't come in, not until I'm sure Lottie isn't contagious anymore."

Bilbo huffed. "Oh honestly, I'm not going to get sick," he huffed. "I'm just fine. Besides, you're in here as well."

"And what of the babe, if you do get sick?" Hyacinth pointed out. "I'm in here because I'm taking care of Lottie. You're staying out there."

"The babe will be fine, I'm not going to get sick," Bilbo said, rolling his eyes. "Honestly, I've cared for my share of sick cousins, you know. You can't be here all the time."

"No," Hyacinth said stubbornly. "I will not take that chance. You're not coming in until Lottie is better, and that's final, Uncle Bilbo." Hyacinth looked at him through the inch-wide open door, daring him to argue with her more. "What would your betrothed say if we let you get sick?"

"Thorin," Bilbo said waspishly, "would probably complain." He huffed. "Very well. At least let me bring some tea. I don't have to come in, but I remember the old recipe, and I think I have most everything here."

Hyacinth considered that for a moment.

"Okay," she said, nodding. "I can allow that."

Bilbo nodded. "I'll be back in a few," he told her. He headed back to the kitchens, still in a bit of a huff.