Wednesday, October 17, 2007

The little buggers got me...

The weather has finally turned here. It's finally starting to feel like fall. As we all know, fall is the perfect time to break out the handknits. The other day I thought it would be a great idea to put on a pair of my wool socks. The socks I made in Toronto looked like the perfect pair. They've never been worn so it was certainly time to break them in. As I was slipping them on I was shocked to discover a hole in one of them.... then another hole.... then another!

MOTHS!!!!!Does this not just make your heart hurt? I tore apart my sock drawer to see what I could find and see what other socks got a fly by mothing. One more pair was hit, but aside from that, the rest were fine. Not to mention I didn't find any evidence whatsoever of moths. I'm not sure what to do about this. Anyone have any suggestions?

In an unrelated topic, I'll be heading to Rhinebeck on Saturday. I hope to see some of you there!

I know I haven't blogged in awhile... I have a reason. I've met someone... and he's great. I'll leave it at that.

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh, no! I thought it was the larvae that actually did the damage. Eww

Anonymous said...

What a shame! The other news sounds lovely, though!

Cathy said...

Stupid moths >.< I would suggest moth balls, but they have such a strong smell. Perhaps there are some "natural" or at least less smelly moth repellents. Good luck

Knittripps said...

That is terrible! I am so sorry about your socks. If you find a solution, please share. Although I have never had that happen to me, now I am scared! Congratulations on your other news :)

Anonymous said...

Oh no, what a bummer about your socks! That is sacrilege! I have no suggestions other than make sure even though your other socks don't have holes that you treat them. I would stick it in the freezer and make sure to kill any eggs that could be there.

I'm so happy to hear about your other news - that is great! You deserve the best! =)

Laura said...

Oh come one, now that I'm an old married lady I have to live vicariously through the exploits of single girls! Well, good luck with it.
I have no advice on the moths, sorry. :(

Anonymous said...

Cursed moths! A pox on their wings!

Whoo hoo! Met someone! Hooray!

Hope to see you a Rhinebeck!

Anonymous said...

I HATE moths. That is just crummy. And as to the other news...glad you are having fun. :)

Anonymous said...

Freezer baby! That'll do the little fiber eating creeps in. And I'll be keeping my eye out for you on Saturday - I should be there sometime in the afternoon.....

Anonymous said...

Just remember what I told you about boys.

a.) pay attention to what they are doing, not what they are saying (talk is cheap).

b.) you can't change them; they are what they are when you find them

c.) they have to smell right (olfactory considerations are too often overlooked in our hyperclean society and all that terrible artificial scent).

d.) love is ultimately something you do, not something you feel. If they are just spouting gushy romanticism and aren't living the act, then it's hollow.

e.) there are three things that need to be in the mix to make it great; they need to be your best friend; they need to be an inspiration; and they need to be someone you, um, can't get enough of, if you catch my drift. Okay, you need to lust after them.

There's nothing like the intensity of new romance to fog a person's judgement. But you can enjoy it all and still keep your eyes open. I failed to keep my eyes open once in the past and it created three years of grief. But the last time I was wiser and followed my own advice.

As far as the moths go, it's too bad about your socks. You are such a fine knitter it's a shame to see things damaged. I don't have much to do with moths, but when they are in the house, I squash them. I have had the odd piece of clothing chewed in the past. So rude, isn't it.

Okay, that's all I've got to say.

Jackie said...

Ah yes. Moths. If you have visited me in the last few weeks, then you know that I have just gone through the same sort of problem at work. With several hundred pounds of yarn. And it is the larva that do the damage. They can take up to 18 months to pupate into moths so you may want to be on the lookout for wee white worms. I did the research and if your stash is small then you can freeze everything. But it all needs to get below -5C. Generally freezers in a fridge aren't cold enough so you need a deep freeze. In 72 hours, out 24, in 48. You can also bake things in an oven, but that though kind of scared me. You can boil things for half an hour (may not be great for some of your socks unless you have a doll collection too).
What you need to do is get all of your things out of the drawer where they were and set it aside. Eggs hatch in 7-10 days depending on conditions. You can get a spray and spray the cracks in the drawers when you take them out, one week later, and one week after that. Apparently there is a Raid type spray that will work on moths. Nasty,I know, but so are the moths. Vacuum all around and then throw out he bag. Check all of your stash and get rid anything that has any loose broken threads.
At work we got these things called Vapona Strips and I bagged everything up and threw one of these things in in each bag, tied the bags up and left them for two weeks (long enough for any eggs to hatch) . There was little smell (unlike moth balls, ugh) and no residue on the yarns like a spray would leave. All the cones are now indivdually bagged and skeins are three to a ziploc bag. Or at least they all will be on Monday, when I get back to finish the job. If any new little buggers appear in any of the bags, I'll just chuck them out. And any new critters that appear will have no where to go for a quick lunch.
Good luck!

Joy L. said...

Moth - yikes! Look on the bright side, at least it wasn't a dropped stitch : )

Congrats on the last news. How exciting!