Friday, April 03, 2009

The almost-final toll.


That's a Dale of Norway in the trash can, there. It'd been languishing since 2003, awaiting a bunch of detailed finishing, but I still want to throw up. I'd had it out last year to look at it and take photos, and it was fine then. It looks like swiss cheese now. There'd been a lavender sachet in the basket with it, but apparently that wasn't enough to save it.

Mostly the beetles went for fluffy stuff (roving or wool boucle). They don't like mohair (who blames them?), and thank all the gods, Brown Sheep has all their yarn permanently moth-proofed, which means I found starved carpet beetles on the yarn but no holes. (Innsvenget is safe.) The down side, they seem to love Dale Baby, which is what Koningsborg was knit out of. That's the black and white in the trash can.

The salvaged yarn looks something like this (there's more added to the pile since I took the photo). Thankfully I had already bagged most of the stuff I really loved, with the intention of keeping cat hair out of it, and all of it is safe. Including the beautiful roving Bells sent me.


There are still three more project bags to go through, containing half-finished sweaters for me. One is cotton and while it may be covered in Little Bastards, it'll be fine 'cause they don't eat cellulose. Another is knit with Brown Sheep and I expect it will be fine, too. The third? It's alpaca. Either they hate it and left it alone, or there will be nothing left of it.

I really don't want to look.

Right now my office looks like this.


I am decidedly unhappy at the moment.

19 comments:

historicstitcher said...

((((hugs))))

The alpaca's gonna be toast. If there's a choice between wool and alpaca/llama? They chow on the camelid every time.

I lost a ton of wooly llama once to wool moths, but they didn't touch the raw sheep fleeces right next to the llama.

Doens't make it any less painful, though. My sympathies are with you.

amy said...

I am so sorry.

Also, clicking on your blog makes me fearful and a little itchy on my yarn's behalf. I feel the need to check my stash, which is bagged and in plastic bins. But still.

PICAdrienne said...

That is such a very sad sight. I am so sorry.

Galad said...

I'm having that itch to check my yarn too. I'm not always good about bagging it right away.

So sad to see that lovely Dale of Norway go. I think you need chocolate.

Barbara said...

That black and white is a sweater that you knitted??? It looks gorgeous. Holy cow, Julie, it's terrible that the little bastard ate it. I'm a big fan of plastic zipper bags. I buy them by the armload at the dollar store. I'm going to dig up the lavender oil though and sprinkle away. Horrors.

Heather said...

Noooo! Don't throw the Dale away! Felt it so Sekmet has something (else) to lie on. It can be your decoy knitting!
Haha - my word is tabiess; must be an omen!

Heather said...

oops - Sekhmet. (now it's sadisit; what is with these words?)

Louiz said...

Ouch:(

Bells said...

every knitter's nightmare. It does make me wish I didn't have such a stash. What a loss.

Emily said...

Oh, that Dale of Norway. I feel your nausea. Deeply.

Alwen said...

Oof. I saw your blog post in Ravelry and my heart sank.

DAMMIT and also (((((((hugs))))))).

Must go worry over stash now.

Amy Lane said...

*sob* It's okay. (((hugs))) (I'm going to check my yarn now...)

Tina - omme i London said...

OMG! That must be every knitter's nightmare. Big ((((((((((((hug))))))))) to you. :(

Roz said...

I'm nauseous and sympathetic. Awful awful awful.

My word is appropriate -- ackstril

roxie said...

What is that Tom Selleck movie where he and Bess Armstrong fly a pair of Tiger Moth biplanes from Egypt to China? And she crashes one and he stands, in horror, screams, "AAAAAAAAAHHHHhhhhh!" turns, looks at her, can't find the words, turns back to the flaming wreckage and screams "AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHhhhh!" again.

Yeah, like that.

Mandy said...

OMG!!! I ache for you! And now I'm running screaming into my office to check that my roulette sock yarn isn't infested! AAaaaaahhh! (Sorry, couldn't help it. I'm calm now.)

It looks okay, but I'm gonna bag it and stick it in the freezer now. Will that help?

FeyRhi said...

Hunt them down and squish them one by one.....slowly. Nasty little bastards.

Love the look of you 'tree of life' chart by your chair. Is that a future project?

Leonie said...

Crap! So glad I don't have carpet. (I hope that means I don't have the beetles either!!
Does the wrecked stash get a decent burial or cremation?

Pam said...

I practically did a PhD in moths after I found their poop in my shelves. Herbals repel but don't kill once you have an infestation. Unfortunately, really cold (colder than the average freezer) or really hot or killspray with pyrethrins in it is the way to go. I have kept them at bay by using black bags in the summer sun to kinda cook them. But now I got the killspray.