Saturday, March 8, 2008

A Four Letter Word

I saw evil. And then I smashed it with a paper towel, so I cannot be certain, but since it was the second appearance of said evil I'm afraid (horrified, actually) that it was a clothes moth. Gack. I'd seen one the day before, just above a bag that contained some newly purchased yarn, but didn't really register it. Then another the following day. I got that sick feeling in my stomach, so the entire bag went into the freezer. I had no immediate plans for the yarn so I figured it could chill out for a while and kill any beasties, real or imagined. Later that day or the next I was cruising on Ravelry and noticed a posting labeled "HELP – Moths Attack!" and as (bad) luck would have it, Barbara had most definitely had an encounter with the little winged demons. The advice from fellow Ravelers was to use heat, so this is what I baked tonight:







The whole batch is going back into a sealed plastic bag and then isolated in its own plastic bin. I'll check back in a week or so, and if my paranoia continues I may have another baking session.







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Ms. R is going to a Speakeasy Study night – not what it sounds like, but a get-together for her AP History class to study for an exam, and all the kids are supposed to dress in 20's style clothing. I'd seen a really cute cloche pattern and Ray picked out some pink Cascade 220 and some pretty brown yarn (Nashua Julia, I think) for the trim. This was a fast knit, perhaps because I used a worsted weight when the original pattern called for DK, but I upped the needle size and knit it an inch shorter, and the thing fairly flew off my needles in spite of several late evenings working. I cast on Monday and was done Wednesday, then felted it on Thursday. She loves it. Still has to find a costume however...








I'm continuing to plod slowly along on a lace stole destined to be a shop sample as well as my Central Park Hoodie. The stole is nearly done but I'll need to write up the pattern (and I dread that part). The CPH is boring me to tears though.






I also have some socks started on the sample skein of Malabrigo sock yarn, but have had a change of heart about the pattern I'm currently using. Fortunately the cast on for the pattern I have in mind is nearly identical so I'm not losing any ground there since I've really worked less than an inch on the pair (I'm doing 2 socks/2 circs). For the first time though I don't like the Knit Picks needles, at least on this yarn – I seem to snag the stitch on the very sharp point of the left needle as I drop a newly completed stitch. I've never had this problem before, and it is frustrating me to the point I don't want to work on the socks though I love the feel of the Malabrigo.


I finally found what I think will be the perfect yarn for the Printed Silk Cardigan - Berroco's NaturLin, which my shop co-worker Paula swatched yesterday. The swatch feels beyond wonderful, with an amazing drape and silky hand. The yarn is hidden away but I can still hear it screaming at me. I'm determined to finish the stole and the CPH however and have vowed to plug my ears until they're done.

I have to fly to Boise next week to visit a client and like any good obsessed knitter, I am already mentally packing about a half dozen project for the two and a half day trip. And none of them are the stole or the CPH! I'm totally hopeless.


4 comments:

smariek said...

What does a clothes moth look like? I can't believe you froze and then baked your yarn. At what temperature did you bake your yarn, and for how long? I never would have thought of doing something like that.

NightOwlKnits said...

The ravelry poster said to bake it at 170 degress for 40 minutes. Because my oven is quite temperamental I had to fiddle with the temp for a while, so ultimately the first batch got about an hour with temps ranging from 120-170 degrees. I was really cautious about increasing the temperature. The second batch (not shown) got about 45 minutes total. And all of it is still in quarentine for a while longer!

If you want, you can look at the "yarn" forum for the thread labeled "HELP - Moths Attack!" to get more info, including links to a website that shows what the moths look like. Yech!

Grace said...

wow no moths yet here but sounds like they gave you a scare, love Ms R's hat, really cute

junior_goddess said...

Ohhh-I've been eyeballing that cardigan too! I have a lot of crap to get off my needles tho.