Giveaways (and I mean free!)

I'm still decluttering*. I think it's actually redirected nesting (I'm too superstitious to do anything that could be considered nesting until baby's practically here. I'm still feeling uneasy about the baby knitting I've done...).

Anyway, I've found some knitting stuff to give away (it's not yarn, so no fear of moths!). I have the following:

a) 3 issues of Vogue Knitting--winter 99/00, winter 00/01, spring/summer 99. Oldies but goodies folks! All former library copies, but they seem to have all their pages. And two of them are even hardcover library editions.

b) Style Your Own Kids Knits by Kate Buller--simply choose a pattern and select a motif! It's new. Has lots of motifs if you're not into designing your own, and you don't need to put them on the basic patterns in the book--you can use whatever sweater pattern you prefer. Or put a motif on the back of a soaker or pair of longies or something.

c) The Cool Girl's Guide to Knitting by Nicki Trench. Learn the rules of knitting and dating, including rule #2--Don't wear itchy fabrics on your first date (they recommend cashmere) and rule #3--Don't take your knitting on your first date (guys will want to feel that your attention is on them). Also new. Okay, it's pretty trendy, but there are some nice (albeit trendy) patterns in it. This one would be a nice gift if you know a teen knitter, actually.

d) Knitting in America by Melanie Falick. It's an ex-library copy, so not new, but also not missing any pages.

e) A Year of Afghans book 2 from Leisure Arts--I just have to face it, I'm not an afghan knitter (or crocheter). New.

g) The Book of Knitting: from beginner to expert, the best knitting book for you. A nice beginner book, older, so pre-trendy knitting revival. New (well, it was new, a while ago! I guess I should say "original owner").

h) Ready Set Knit by Sasha Kagan--again, library discard but no pages missing. Little bit trendy, but not too bad.

i) Donna Kooler's Encyclopedia of Knitting--another library discard not missing any pages. According to the cover it has 150 stitch patterns and 22 projects. Again, a Leisure Arts publication.

If anybody wants any of these, let me know, I'll bring them to KOL or we can make other arrangements.

And finally:

j) Loads and loads (and I mean hundreds) of other books on everything you could possibly think of from fiction to history to parenting to motorsports to whatever (you name it, there's probably something about it in there). If anyone wants to come and have a look, let me know. They're probably going to end up on freecycle eventually. As will the knitting books if nobody here wants them.

*Funny thing: my spell check doesn't like decluttering. Suggested options? Cluttering, spluttering, fluttering, and muttering. How does it know? I'm doing all of those things as I try to declutter!

Single handedly...

Today while playing in the stash (officially, I'm moth hunting, but, well, it's yarn stash, so there's a certain amount of playing going on) I found a mitten. I only ever made the first one. It's a convertible mitten--a glove with cut off fingers underneath, with a big flap to turn it into a mitten on top. The problem you ask? I don't have any more of that yarn, I don't know what size I made, I can't find the pattern anyway, and everyone in the family has two hands.

And yesterday, House Man found yarn in the freezer. He thinks it's the pregnancy hormones, and that I'm now officially a crazy hormonal pregnant woman. Hasn't he been listening to anything I've said about moths?

Moths...

I have been battling moths since Sunday now. I'm using heat (well, the dryer, since we don't have any sun) and neem oil mixed with castile soap (as an emulsifier) and water. Apparently, neem oil is non-toxic (humans use it both orally and topically) but it's pretty much death to bugs, including beneficial bugs. Smells a bit like onion and garlic, not chemically at all, just very, very organic!

I think that there will always be moths in my house. What I want is to keep them from my wool. I'm tempted to spray the wool with my neem oil solution as well--according to various sources on the internet, it doesn't stain clothing, and it can also be used as an insect repellent.

To finish, a fairly recent (as in I'm pretty sure it's from 2008) self portrait by The Boy:

Some thoughts on seaming...

So I'm going through the stash, looking for evidence of moth, and I find a sweater to fit a three year old (The Boy is 5 now). Or, at least, it will be a sweater as soon as I seam together the completed front, back, and two sleeves, and then knit up the collar.

Do I really hate seaming so much that I could call a sweater a UFO after all the parts were completed, waiting to be seamed?

Obviously I do.

Disaster.

Moths. I think I has them. Help.

Okay, now that I've made Lesley dizzy, I should clarify. They're in the basement, in the closet, mostly in House Man's winter sweaters, since he isn't wearing them much right now, for obvious reasons. The stash is upstairs, and well stored for the most part. But I still think we need to do some "moth control" downstairs, and some stash investigation as well.

Steph, I don't really want to call an exterminator, because most of what gets used for moths is either toxic to cats or possibly carcinogenic, and then there's that whole pregnant thing, and this is all going down in my bedroom closet. Although someone out there on the innerwebs somewhere suggested using neem oil and soap in water--apparently it's not toxic to any mammals, just all kinds of bugs! I might look into that.

Deb, I've made sachets, based on an innerweb recipe, using lavender, peppermint and rosemary. Will be placing them liberally in the stash when I start going through it bag by bag. But the freezer, well, it's pretty darn tiny, and just isn't going to happen. Apparently, again from the innerwebs, you can heat to 120 for at least half an hour to kill larvae and eggs, so I might try the dryer for the sweaters--dry wool sweaters won't felt in the dryer will they? Felting needs water as well as heat, right?