A Mixed Bag of a Week

Phew, finally it is Friday! I'm not sure why, but this week has felt very long, so I'm happy to see the end of it. Perhaps it's the weather -- as I type this, it's 39F outside, and I'm trying to mentally prepare myself for going out for a run. Weather like this is always problematic because I start off cold and want to wear extra layers but very quickly warm up and then have to deal with those layers I no longer need. Even more unnerving is the fact that there's (whispers) snow in the forecast for next Tuesday. I know in some places that's not surprising, but if it materializes, it will apparently tie the record for the earliest snowfall here; we usually don't see our first measurable snow until some time in November or even December.

But enough about the weather -- this is a knitting blog! I finally made some real progress this week, namely in sitting down to do the necessary math to figure out all the grading for my sock pattern, and that meant I could finish up the first sock:

The next item on my to-do list is to take all the notes I've scribbled on scraps of paper and turn them into an actual pattern. I'm hoping that can get done this weekend.

I've also made a little bit of progress on the hat, which was just a crown the last time you saw it. Now it has some colorwork!

These are the happy parts of the week, but there were some not-so-happy parts as well. Do you remember last October, when I discovered some moth damage among our winter accessories? It seems I did not learn my lesson, because I made a rather disgusting discovery this week. Some time ago I'd reshuffled my sweater drawer and set aside a handful of sweaters that I didn't really wear anymore. I put them in the corner of our den temporarily -- or so I thought, but apparently I just forgot about them. And I think you know where this is going. When I pulled them out earlier in the week, I saw the telltale signs of moth damage, so they all went into the tub. Fortunately most of them appeared to have made it out okay, but one of them -- my first handspun sweater -- appeared to have been the primary target. I'm not surprised, because it was a very wooly wool, and in truth it was in the pile because I never wore it because it was itchy. It was spun from wool that was free to me and not very high quality, stuff I'd never spin today. It was also more than a decade old, and my tastes have changed since then. Given all these factors, when I pulled it out of the bath and saw how bad it was, I just tossed it into the dryer. I figured that because it was destined for the trash anyway, I had nothing to lose. Amazingly, even felted, I can still get it on, but it's still incredibly itchy. And now I can see just how much it was munched on.

I put a white piece of fabric inside so you can see the holes better.

I plan to cut off the buttons so I can reuse them and then either toss it whole into the trash or, if I have the energy for it, cut it up and toss the bits into the garden as mulch.

I'm really hoping this doesn't become an annual October thing, but consider this another PSA: Pull out your knits regular to inspect them, wash them frequently (moths are attracted to the smell of dirty wool), and don't leave them out where they are prime targets! I'm pretty sure that these are still the same moths (well, their descendants) that were in the infested fleece from a couple of years ago, and I may never be free from them, so it's all about mitigation here. I consider myself pretty lucky that the sweater that was eaten wasn't a favorite, and I'm also trying to have a general attitude toward my knits that there is nothing that can't be made again if it's beyond repair. Yarn, after all, is biodegradable, so nothing made from it will last long term. Also, this is my hobby and something that brings me joy, so if the worst that happens is that I have to reknit a sweater, how bad can life be?

Here's hoping the weekend brings more joy for all of us!