Moth-proof Storage

I know its still winter but I’m starting to think about how I will safely store all my yarn and handmade items over the summer. Last summer, moths ate holes in so many of my hand-knits. The thought of another year like last makes me want to cry. So I will not let it happen again. Let me detail my plan for going overboard and keeping my wool safe.

Currently I have moth killing sachets in with all of my woolens but that was not enough. I’m thinking this year I’ll use the sachets with an overabundance of plastic. I’m thinking vacuum storage bags with the sachets inside. I want to be sure that any eggs on the wool in the bag gets killed, hence the sachets. Then the vacuum bags will prevent any moths from finding the wool. Once I have my wool all safe in the vacuum bag, I will put it in a moth-proof storage bag. If the vacuum beaks I want to make sure everything is safe. I’ve never owned a vacuum bag and my research suggests that there are many brands with varying levels of quality. Currently I’m leaning towards John Lewis’s brand. John Lewis is known to have a good return policy.  

At this point I would like to ask for input. I’ve only dealt with moths for once. I could really use some stories of triumphing over the little devils and some good darning tutorials.

Happy New Year!

It is now 2014. Yesterday, my husband and I went to one of our favorite places in London, The Natural History Museum, then out to dinner, and finished off the night with a bit too much champagne.  A good way to start a new year. Last year was good. I started this blog and published my first two patterns. It’s also had it’s downs, for example all the clothes moths. I’m still finding things they’ve eaten. It is so disheartening to find something you love, and spent hours making, that’s been destroyed. I’m not big on New Year’s resolutions but I hope that next year will have lots of knitting, more patterns, and fewer moths. Happy New Year everyone!

The aftermath of mothmagedon

After mothmagedon and before I left on vacation I stuffed almost all of my shawls, gloves, and hats in the freezer for safekeeping away from moths. This weekend I took them out of the freezer. Apparently at some point during my vacation the power went out long enough to defrost the freezer and get yucky freezer water all over my woolens. Of course the yucky freezer water refroze after the power went back on. Now I have to rewash and block all of these:

 

This will take me a while to work through. I’m hoping that with the help of a fan I can go through at least one shawl and with the help of a balloon one hat a day until its all wash and blocked. I also realized that there is at least one project in that pile that I made in 2008 and has never been blocked! I knew I was bad about blocking but I didn’t realize it was THAT bad! Oh well, at least I can correct that soon. Today I’m washing a scarf that I purchased in Scotland a long long time ago and a cowl that I haven’t worn in ages.

I really do love the colour!

This was my first exposure to Wollmeise. It’s knit in 100% Merino Superwash in the colour way Brombeere. In real life the colour is darker and more burgandy with subtle variations. At the time I would never have thought of writing up a pattern and I kept no notes but now I wish I had. The patterning is very subtle and doesn’t show up well in the photo but it plays on a 2×2 seed stitch that is off-set by one stitch each row to form diagonal lines. Once this is dry I think I just might study this cowl and write up what I did.

 

Making Repairs

Darning is one of the techniques I have yet to master. Unfortunately this year was mothmagedon and when I came back from holiday I discovered a hole in my Cloudette Cardigan. A rather large hole.

I saw this and cursed all moths everywhere

I had been wearing this top a few days before I noticed the infestation so apparently it the moths loved it. A word of advise: if you live in an area with moths and like to wear a particular top  wash it after every wear in moth season! There are seven stitches affected and 5 rows missing. The first thing I did when I saw the hole was secure the stitches as best I could. The second was grab a drink while throwing the sweater in the freezer to kill any potential baby moths. Now it is out of the freezer and I’m trying to figure out how to fix it. I figure the best way to do this is to re-knit.

I cut a really long (approximately 4 metre) strand of the yarn I used in the project and worked duplicate stitch for 10 stitches before the hole drawing the yarn through so only a short tail was left at the beginning. Then I knit across the row of live stitches and worked duplicate stitch for 10 stitches after the hole. I repeated this across the rows of the hole and then grafted the top and bottom stitches together. This is the result:

The grafting ended up with a purl ridge on the knit side and the boundary between the repair and the rest of the garment shows a little. I’m not completely happy with  how it turned out but I think it’s wearable for the moment. If it continues to bother me I can always rip the sleeve back and re-do it. For a first attempt at darning with a dark slippy lace-weight yarn I don’t think I could have done any better.