Monday, June 29, 2020

A Monday Full of Wool

I finished another pair of socks. I was playing yarn chicken with some leftover sport weight yarn from a cowl that I made for a Christmas gift. This yarn is hand-painted and has sparkly strands of silver running through it. I couldn't just let the yarn sit there unused, so I decided that I'd chance it and make some socks.


At about this point, I knew that my game of chicken was a losing one.


When all that I had left was this little tangled piece, I gave up and went through the stash to find a substitute for the remainder of the sock. I figured that I could use this little bit and finish up the toe with the it.


I found another blue fingering weight yarn with a little sparkle in my stash. I doubled it up, and voila. The socks are finished with a little "design element" thrown in.

It's so hard to show sparkly yarn in a photo. Here's the best that I can do...


See the silver strands?

On the gardening front, I have finally gotten a tomato growing! 


Actually, there are two. Can't wait to have home grown tomatoes!


In other news, I found two skeins of yarn that I tried to put on the swift. I soon found out that they were in several pieces. Yup. Apparently, moths have gotten to some of my yarn. Sooooo....today I inspected all of the yarn on my shelves. I threw away 3 skeins. I then proceeded to BAKE about 75 skeins of sock yarn(about 15 skeins at a time on 2 cookie sheets) at 170° F for about an 45-50 minutes. This kills any existing larvae. Then I cooled them, organized them by color and weight and put them in ziplock bags and labeled them. This took me all day.



This is not all of the yarn that I have. It is today's progress. All yarn that I used to have in the extra bedroom on display is going in bags, into under bed storage containers, and away from moths. This is  how I used to have some of my sock yarn stash:


All getting baked, all going in airtight bags. THEN I'm going to wash the area in white vinegar (it kills moths and larvae) and vacuum the heck out of the room. I also have baskets of yarn on the floor. They're going, too. It's quite an undertaking, but I can't gamble on losing any more yarn.

Here's a picture of my echinacea to get me back into a zen mode...


Now, I feel better.

15 comments:

  1. I like the design element of the socks...and yes, I can see the silver in the close up. Those are pretty socks. Oh, I bet you were upset with finding the moths had been in your yarn...I hope you can get it all in storage.

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    1. It's going to take me days, but I'll get it all done. I love having it out to look at, but this is a risky practice.

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  2. Almost all of my yarn is stored in ziplock bags. Whenever I purchase yarn, it goes in the freezer for a few days.

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  3. Great socks!
    I have a moth problem too. Everything is in ziploc bags now, and I spray the yarn closet with lavender oil once a month

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    1. I was just reading about lavender oil! I'm going to order some online.

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  4. Oh NO! No knitter EVER wants to deal with moths. Hope you can get it all under control.

    The little bitty 'mater is adorable.

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    1. I am on it! I really think that I brought the intruder in on some yarn. the damaged ones seem to be localized. But I'm not taking any chances!

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  5. Sorry about the moths! I've never heard of baking yarn...I've heard of putting it in the freezer though. Interesting. Hope you solve your problem!! I like your socks and your "design element" really matches very well. I like the sparkle in them!

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    1. Thanks for the sock compliment. I spent a lot of time researching yesterday, and I decided to go the baking route. Freezing takes a lot more time and a lot more room.

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  6. I have to keep everything in bins after an attack too. It's such a shame because it looks so pretty when it's out on display. It's also an out of sight, out of mind issue. If I could see what I have I would never buy more-but where is the fun in that?

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    1. That's exactly what I'm afraid of! Out of sight, out of mind. I love to go into the yarn room and pick out a skein for socks or a few for a shawl. And my memory is shot as to what I have these days...

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  7. I don't knit with much wool (I have a skin reaction issue), but had an attack a year or so ago in what little I did have. I had already wound one of the skeins, and started knitting. You can imagine what happened. Any wool I have now is in my cedar-lined closet, and there is a nylon mesh sachet of cedar shavings among it.

    Your socks look great! You picked a good finishing yarn--in the photo it's hard to tell that it's all that different.

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    1. I plan on getting cedar shavings and some lavender oil. Thanks for the sock compliment!

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  8. Several years ago I bought some fiber from a local farm and she called to say that there might have been some moth larvae in as a bonus-not funny! Sure enough, I had an infestation-what an undertaking--I commiserate with you! Good job on the reorganizing! Love the socks--great way to handle the toe!!! I can see the sparkle, too!

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