Crossed knives
A knife and fork laid crosswise were said to invite "crosses and misfortunes" in old English belief, as the antiquary Grose recorded. Crossed cutlery also looks a lot like two efforts working against each other.
What it may mean
Two knives lying across each other point in different directions while touching at one spot, and that is a familiar shape for a crowded week: two commitments that both made sense on their own, now cutting across each other at the same hour. An old English saying, set down by Grose, held that a knife and fork laid crosswise meant "crosses and misfortunes." A calmer reading is practical. If you notice crossed cutlery after a meal, ask yourself where your own efforts are working against each other: the early workout and the late calls, the savings plan and the weekend habit. Untangling them rarely takes a big decision; more often it is just a matter of choosing which one goes first.
Depending on how you saw it
A knife and fork crossed on your plate
A knife and fork laid in an X at the end of a meal are usually the work of a hurried hand, not a choice. Two tools designed to work together end up blocking each other. Where do two people, or two habits, that should cooperate keep getting in each other's way?
Two knives crossed in the drawer or the sink
Knives tossed into a sink or a drawer land at random, and two of them often end up crossed. Edges facing each other in a pile also make reaching in risky. Which cluttered corner of your days would feel safer if each thing had its own place?
Straightening them before anyone sits down
Moving two crossed knives side by side is the smallest of chores, and it changes the look of the whole table. Some worries shrink just as fast once you do the one thing they ask. How long have you been worrying about a task that would take ten minutes to finish?
Why it happens in nature
Cutlery ends up crossed by chance: a knife set down on top of a fork, a handful dropped into a sink or a drawer, a table cleared in a hurry. People notice the shape because an X stands out among straight lines. Loose knives jumbled together also dull one another's edges, which is one reason cooks keep them in a block or on a magnetic strip.
What folk beliefs say
England
Grose, quoted by Brand, wrote that it was unlucky to lay your knife and fork crosswise, because crosses and misfortunes were likely to follow.
Source: John Brand; Henry Ellis (ed.), Observations on the Popular Antiquities of Great Britain, vol. 3 (1849), vol. 3, p. 250. View the page
To reflect on
Which two of your plans are cutting across each other right now?