What Goes Up Must Come Down

I haven't been active on social media and very much would like to close my accounts on IG. But I do still enjoy sharing my work. The last several months have been an experiment to see how I do without a feed and feedback:and it's been fine. I do feel out of touch sometimes so I've signed up for more newsletters from makers and shops I enjoy. And I'm realizing that it would take the pressure off to just post anything I'd like here, rather than trying to keep to coherent narratives and long form writing. I was a regular blogger in my teens and early twenties, it has only been recently that I felt that Content should meet a certain Standard (as set by who, advertisers I don't even want??)

Anyway, today's the day most of my yarn comes out of an extended quarantine after a small carpet beetle out break discovered on Halloween. Talk about terrifying. I have a bug phobia and a strong emotional attachment to yarn and clothing so it was not easy to deal with. The cause seems to have been a literal carpet that we carelessly left rolled up in a dark corner. Do not do that. I've avoided a full examination of the yarn damage until now. Some stash was discarded immediately, but maybe 50% remains mothballed and waiting for evaluation. Today is the day. 

Thankfully, no handknits were lost. Not due to bugs, anyway. My husband did hilariously wash and shrink some early mitts I kept around the house despite being poorly knit and asymmetrical. They were made from pink Karabella yarn and actually shrunk beautifully, and would've fit a tiny child. 

I have knit in the meantime. I now bake incoming yarn (even though I'm confident that's not how these things got in, but it makes my husband feel better, and me a little). So I bought yarn and crocheted a cowl, (KnitPicks' learn to crochet kit). I also started another KnitPicks pattern that I've been thinking about for a long time, but that sweater is still in progress.

For now, here's the last pre-Halloween garment I made, from Mrs Crosby worsted yarn and mostly following Elizabeth Zimmerman's seamless sweater instructions from Knitting Without Tears.

I purposely put the most speckled skeins in the yoke, though I'm not sure I got the precise effect I wanted. I still love this sweater.