The "M" Word

Three years ago, as you may remember, I knit a christening set for my brother and his wife, for the christening of their son, Max.  This spring, they are getting ready to welcome another little one into the family, so I borrowed the set back so I can get it ready to christen Max's soon to be born baby brother.  Granted, the christening won't be held until some time next fall, but I'll need time for washing, blocking, and all that stuff before then.  And its possible that I may have wanted to put the set on display in the store for a little while too...

Anyway, we had a family dinner at my parents' house last night, and we used the opportunity to make the switch - the knit and crochet toys that I had made for Max in the past, but borrowed back for my Holiday window, in exchange for the christening set.  Gavin brought the set in the special storage box I had given them along with the set.  A stiff cardboard box, made from acid-free card, and reinforced with metal on the corners.  Inside, the set was lovingly wrapped in the acid-free, stain-free tissue paper.  I peeled it back carefully, and lifted up the gown...  and right in the middle was a little brown moth carcass!  All that concern for staining and decay, and darned if it didn't even occur to me to think about moths!  Further inspection revealed a few more of the little decayed cocoon thingies, so I definitely wasn't seeing things the first time. Ugh. Just the thought of what those little beasties can do to yarn makes me feel ill!

Paranoid as I am, I left the giant (and now potentially infested) box with my folks, and brought the christening set home in a plastic bag.  I'll have to deal with the box later - no way was that box getting anywhere near to my yarn stash!  I just finished inspecting the set - gown, shawl, bonnet, and booties - very carefully, and have stashed it all in my freezer after first putting it into some spare store bags I had kicking around.  In a week I shall take it all out again, let it "thaw" for a few days, and then repeat the 'freeze-thaw' cycle a few more times.  I couldn't see anymore moth remains in the set, but I'm not taking any chances!

The mark of a true knitter - knitwear (or yarn) in the freezer, tucked in next to the (apparently expired!) pie crusts and frozen berries!

So far, it looks like we've been lucky - I couldn't find any signs of holes or chewed up fibres.  Perhaps this particular species of moth wasn't overly impressed by this wool/silk blend.  When I wash the set in a few weeks' time, I will inspect it all again.  Fingers crossed that there isn't any damage - what leftover yarn I had has long since been dyed a striking blue-green color (both the laceweight and the DK), so finding extra yarn for darning could prove a challenge!

That reminds me... I really should put that beautifully dyed yarn to good use! ;)