End of Mothstravaganza!

Well friends, here we are at the end of Mothstravaganza! We’ve talked about moth food and housing preferences, learning how to keep our sweaters from being so darn tasty in the process. Then we chatted about rodents loving peanut butter cups -and how to keep our yarn stashes from becoming a moth magnet. When last we met I told you to put lightly infested yarn in a ziptop bag, then pop it in your freezer or car, and you finally thought to yourself, “Self, that Julia’s really gone round the twist. Not sure where she’s going with this one!”

Sit on down over here, get comfy, we’re gonna talk about dealing with moth damage now.

First off, killing a moth is easy, they’re slow and stupid so one squish and Bob’s your uncle. But killing LOTS of moths, especially their teeny-tiny eggs, each like a grain of sand, each moth laying—well, I don’t want to gross you out, let’s leave it at “many” and call it a day, now that’s a serious challenge. We’ve talked before about naphthalene (moth balls), with their toxic fumes and their Grandma’s Attic smell. If an infestation is so bad it’s either moth balls or selling your home as future firewood, choose the mothballs. If the first thought that comes to mind when you see the damage ISN’T “this could be solved with some lighter fluid and a blowtorch,” go ahead and put the mothballs out of mind and read on. The secret to ending a moth infestation is killing off the moths, their larvae and their eggs, all at once. Killing the eggs is the hardest part, and the most important. The easiest way to kill off the pests in ALL their life stages is through extreme heat, or extreme cold. Put the blowtorch down, Sparky, not like that. First things first, if washing is an option, wash the damaged item and lay it flat to dry very thoroughly. Once done, or if washing is just not in the cards (balls of yarn etc), move on to the next step.

Option 1: Cold

Remember I told you to put the Ziplock bags with lightly mothmunched yarn in the freezer last week? That’s because freezing will kill moth eggs…eventually. This trick works with yarn or sweaters, but involves you having a big enough freezer to allow bags of wool and woolies to lie there for at least a week. Don’t cheat, one week, minimum. Two is even better. Freezing won’t damage yarn or sweaters, as long as they are completely dry to begin with! Once out of the freezer, leave somewhere undisturbed for a few hours to return to room temperature. Then take the items outside, give them a good shake to knock any (dead) eggs or larvae out, and place in a FRESH plastic ziptop bag with generous lavender or eucalyptus or cedar, and store. Done! We’ll talk mending holey sweaters at some future date, I promise.

Option 2: Heat

Nope, still not the blowtorch, I told you to put that down! Moth eggs die at temperatures over 120°F. Luckily, most of us have something handy that reaches well over that temperature all summer long, and won’t damage either yarns or sweaters in the process. Ready for this?…(drumroll)…it’s your car. Remember how you’re never supposed to leave your pets, children, or any other living thing in a hot car? That’s because a car parked in a sunny spot with the windows up reaches about 140°F in 20 minutes. So take your ziptop bags of yarn or moth-damaged sweaters, put them in the back seat, roll up the windows, and park in a driveway or on a sunny street when the weather forecast calls for a sunshiny week! A week won’t damage any of the woolens, but will kill those moths and eggs good and dead. One caveat: your items must be completely dry to begin with! After the week, take the items outside, give them a good shake to knock any (dead) eggs or larvae out, and place in a FRESH plastic ziptop bag with generous lavender or eucalyptus or cedar, and store. That’s it!

We’ll talk darning, mending visibly and invisibly, embroidery on knits, all sorts of good stuff another time. For now, go make some creme brulé or something, and put that blow torch to good use, ya pyro!

Happy knitting, friends!

Love,

Julia S

Protecting Against Moths, Part II

Seems like every time I turn my back another beautiful skein of yarn (or ten, let’s be honest) has snuck into my home, ready for knitting…right after I finish the sweater I’m working on right now. And that hat for that guy’s birthday. Oh yeah, and that baby gift set, right! And mustn’t forget that blanket for the newlyweds. And… yeah, so there’s some yarn stashing going on, I admit it. I love working with yarn, love looking at it, I’ve even been known to decorate with it! But one thing I very much DON’T love is finding moth damage in my beloved yarn stash. Moths are a fact of life in most places, especially damp, coast-y places with warm summers like here on the Cape, so finding ways to protect both your knitwear and your yarn stash from their predation is a must. We covered how to clean and store your woolens in the previous post. Now let’s tackle protecting your yarn stash!

First, story time (hang in there, this is going somewhere!): once upon a time, Our Young Hero (let’s call her Julia, shall we?) thought it was kinda fun and adult-ish to have a bowl of chocolate-covered raisins, chocolate-covered nuts, and little peanut-butter cups out on her coffee table, for “entertaining”. One day, she discovered that she had a mouse sharing her living space, and the way she learned this was that every one of the peanut-butter cups in the bowl had little mouse-sized holes munched into the peanut-butter. So she emptied the bowl, threw out the remaining bag of peanut-butter cups and gave her cat a stern talking to. Then she refilled the “entertaining” bowl with chocolate-covered nuts and raisins. The following day, she found the chocolate-covered nuts neatly devoured by her mousy friend. She chucked the remaining chocolate-covered nuts and had a very serious conversation about Sharing Responsibilities and Chores with her cat. Then she refilled the bowl with just the chocolate-covered raisins, congratulating herself on her wisdom. To her chagrin, on the third day Julia noticed that the only thing in her Very Adult Bowl o’ Stuff for Entertaining was a bunch of odd-looking raisins, since the mouse had carefully eaten the chocolate coating, leaving the naked raisins behind. At this point, Julia wisely abandoned all hope of Adulting, threw out her “entertaining” bowl, and stopped expecting anything but the occasional hairball from the cat. Because cats are lazy bums.

Moths are similar to my, ahem, Our Young Hero’s unwanted mouse guest, in that they have specific foods that they prefer above others, but in a pinch will eat their way down the list. Their very favorites (their peanut-butter cups, if you will) are woolens with food bits, deodorant smears, and tiny flakes of skin or hair on it, especially if those worn woolens are stored undisturbed in a dark place. Clean and properly store the woolens (see previous post), and the hungry moth larvae will turn instead to their version of the chocolate-covered nuts (clean woolens or yarn in a space that has pet hair or food crumbs), or eventually the chocolate off the raisins (clean yarn lying in a dark, undisturbed space), BUT…not the raisins. So our goal is to make your yarn as unattractive to moths as those raisins were to my little mouse pal.

If you’re anything like me, at this point you glance at your yarn stash and feel despair creeping into your soul. Relax! We’re going to handle this in steps. Step 1 is diagnosis and prevention, so looking through your stash and identifying skeins that might have moth damage. Today we’ll cover how to spot potential problems, prevention, and options for storing yarn. Step 2 will be the next post, when we’ll cover ways to deal with and even salvage moth-damaged yarn.

• First things first, time to look through your stash! Yup, every skein or ball, every abandoned project stuffed like some dirty secret into the back of a closet. Arm yourself with some gallon-size Ziploc bags, a trash bag, some good light, and dig in. Just give each skein or ball a quick once-over, looking for potential moth damage. Look for frayed yarn (signs of chewing), live or dead moths or larvae (they look like ¼ inch beige tubes) or eggs (like blue-ish or white-ish sand). Don’t panic! Just put any yarn showing these signs into the Ziploc bags (2 or three skeins or balls per bag, tops), seal them up and set aside, we’ll deal with them later. Try not to shake “sandy” skeins as you pop them into the bags, you want to avoid spreading the eggs around. If you see any signs of damage on the outside of a skein or ball, quarantine the skein right away, along with it’s nearest neighbors. Light damage, into the Ziploc, there are strategies that could well save it! Heavy damage (multiple frayed yarn ends showing, the whole skein looks bedraggled, lots of eggs or dead larvae), throw it directly in the trash bag. Once you’ve inspected the stash, congrats, that’s a huge part done! Just the act of moving the yarn and exposing skeins that might have been in the bottom of the pile for a while goes a long way toward making your yarn unappealing to moths. Toss in some new or freshly sanded cedar bits, dried lavender or eucalyptus, and we’re most of the way there!
  

• Next, let’s talk about yarn and works-in-progress (WIP) storage. I’ve got Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest feeds full of yarn lying piled high in wicker or wooden baskets and bowls, like some gorgeous fiber cornucopia. So pretty!…too bad that’s an engraved invitation to the Moth All-You-Can-Destroy Yarn Buffet. Nothing wrong with putting your current favorite on display for up to a week, just avoid wicker or wooden baskets or bowls for long-term storage! On the surface, lovely yarn lying ready for petting and admiring. Underneath, the ideal environment moths look for to lay their eggs, soon to munch your pretty yarn display from underneath. Instead, use trunks, bins, closets, in combination with sealable airtight bags. Pop your yarn into a sealable bag (those gallon Ziplocs again, or the vacuum-type ones if you prefer something bigger), toss in some cedar or lavender/eucalyptus, and store a bunch of those bags in the trunk, bin, or closet. Worst case scenario, if a skein turns out to have harbored moth eggs, only the yarn in the same sealed bag is risked. The rest of your stash is protected.
  

• Ok, now let’s briefly turn to those Ziploc baggies you’ve set aside, with the moth-damaged yarn inside. This is gonna sound a little nuts, but just trust me: stick the bags into the freezer, as-is. Let’em sit there for a week. (No room? don’t panic, leave the bags out in a spot where they’re in the light. Or in your car!They’ll be ok for a week, and the rest of your stash is protected) I’ll explain in the next post the whys and wherefores. For now, just congratulate yourself on a job well done! And have some peanut-butter cups to celebrate.

Next time, strategies for saving moth-damaged yarns. Happy knitting!

Love,

Julia

Moth season is upon us.

Ok, ignore the April snow storms. Spring has come to the Cape! Armloads of yellow Forsythia, mild breezes, whale-watching boats back in action…and moths. Those little wool-munching jerks love damp, warmer weather almost as much as they love chomping into your favorite sweater. But fear not, though no methods for worldwide moth eradication have been invented yet (oy, I can dream, ok?), here’s some ways to avoid letting your beloved sweaters and accessories be lunch for a bunch of evil insects. Let’s talk about protecting your handknit and store-bought woolens this time, next time I’ll give you tips on keeping your yarn stash moth-free.

❖ Let the Sunshine In! Wool moths love dark, undisturbed spaces to lay their eggs. Did you know that moths themselves don’t actually have any mouth parts? It’s true, they’re just winged, egg-laying machines, searching for a dark corner full of tasty yarn or sweaters to feed their (cue Darth Vader music) larvae once they hatch. It’s actually the larvae that do the munching, so whether or not you see a moth flapping around, it’s time to…

❖ Washing Your Woolens Clothes moth larvae do eat wooly fabric, but they’re particularly fond of woolies that have microscopic bits of food, deodorant or skin on it. That’s why the best thing you can do to prevent them munching your sweaters is to wash or clean all woolens before storing them away for the season. Any natural fiber sweaters and accessories you’ve worn this winter need a quick bath in some gentle wool wash, even if you don’t see any stains (I recommend Eucalan- no rinse needed, gentle on woolens and lingerie, great scents including unscented, and inexpensive). If you kept your yarn label, follow its cleaning directions. Lost the label? Don’t worry, many yarns are listed on Ravelry or the manufacturer’s website, or ask your trusty local yarn shop for advice! A word of warning: many hand-dyed yarns and natural-dyed yarns will release a tiny bit of color in the first wash, please make sure to check labels and be sure to sort by color!

Here’s some general wool washing procedures:

➢ Sort your woolens by color - don’t bung your white cashmere sweater in with your hot pink socks or your indigo poncho. If in any doubt, wash it separately.

➢ Ok, you’ve sorted. Put a capful of Eucalan into a clean basin, sink, or tub, fill with cool to tepid water (should feel neutral or a bit cool on the inside of your wrist), then put your sweater/hat/drawerful of tweedy wool socks in. Gently squeeze out the air bubbles, then walk away and pour yourself your Adult Beverage of Choice and savor it for 15-20 minutes or so, while your woolies enjoy their soak (See? “No rinse” is great!).

➢ Once the 15-20 mins are up, gently gather your woolen(s) against the side of the basin with your hand while you drain the water out- most animal fibers are more fragile when wet, so you want to handle it as a unit, no wringing, swinging, or yanking by one sleeve. Just smoosh the item against the side of your wash basin with your hand while you tip or drain the water.

➢ Next, put the item flat on a clean, thirsty towel. Roll up the towel-and-item together into a sort of towel burrito.

➢ Ready for the fun part? Put the towel burrito on the floor, take off your shoes and stomp on it a bit. Seriously. Walk on it, jump on it, do a li’l dance, don’t worry, your sweater won’t tell. Your body weight will squish almost all the water out into the towel, while the burrito roll will keep your item from getting stretched or damaged.

➢ Now lay your item(s) out on a blocking mat or dry towel, push it into shape with your fingers (nah, no pins necessary unless you’re washing a lace shawl), then blow it a kiss and close the door. *Warning, cats, dogs, even human toddlers find wet woolens irresistible, the “door” part is important!*

➢ Your items will be dry a day or two later, depending on the weather. If it’s rainy or humid, things will take a little longer to dry. Make sure your items are fully dry before putting away, if the item feels cool to the touch, it is still a bit damp. BE PATIENT!

❖ Storing Your Woolens Now that your hats, sweaters, cowls, socks, shawls etc are nice and clean, time to talk about Things Moths Hate. Obviously mothballs (naphthalene) are a thing that will kill moths, but they’ll also make everything you own smell like Grandma’s Attic, and definitely not in the good way. Also, if they kill moths, you can bet they’re toxic to humans, so why risk that stuff against your skin? Keep the mothballs as a very last resort, only for full-blown infestations. Otherwise, get some things that moths absolutely hate, while humans actually enjoy! Good options are cedar, lavender, eucalyptus, and rosemary. If you own a cedar chest, LUCKY DUCK!!! Rub the inside with some fine-grit sandpaper, fold your woolens inside the chest, close it and walk away, you don’t need to keep reading! For the rest of us, there’s cedar drawer liners, cedar chips, cedar balls, cedar you-name-it. Make sure you either rub the cedar items with sandpaper or against each other to release the cedar oils from the wood, then place your folded items in a sealed bag, trunk, drawer, or bin along with the cedar and that’s it! Another good option is sealing up your items with dried lavender and/or eucalyptus (in sachets, little baggies from Trader Joe’s [the laundry n’soap section, you’re welcome], or my personal favorite, with flowers and stems I dried myself, from the garden or farm. Another great option: use a gauge swatch or two as a sachet- put some dried lavender, eucalyptus or rosemary into the middle, then fold into a triangle or gather into a pouch and sew closed, or sew two together with the herbs sandwiched inside!). Rosemary is another herb moths aren’t fond of, but it isn’t as effective on it’s own, best for use in combination with cedar, lavender, or eucalyptus. And on the plus side, whichever of these options you use, your woolens will smell wonderful when you are ready for them in the Fall! I don’t have a cedar chest, so I generally wash and thoroughly dry my items, then put them in a plastic bin or giant Ziploc bag together with dried lavender and rosemary (sewn into Gauge Swatch sachets if I’m feeling energetic, just as loose flowers n’stems if I’m not) and a handful of cedar chips layered throughout. The rosemary and lavender shake out of the woolies without any problem, in case you’re wondering, though if all your sweaters are fuzzy mohair or bouclé your mileage may vary.

Next time, how to moth-proof your yarn stash. For now, happy knitting!

Love,

Julia