Calling Miss Marple: A Moth-y Mystery

Advice, Please
1

I went into the stash yesterday in search of yarn for a little boy’s hat. The stash lives in two huge drawers in my built-In things-I-like-to-do unit (full of yarn, fabric, paper, etc., etc.). The drawers are wooden and well-made, and they close securely.

Pawing through the yarn revealed something weird and startling: moth damage–BIG moth damage–in exactly four balls of yarn. Those four, and only those four, had been chewed to bits. And those four, and only those four, are Jaeger Matchmaker Double Knitting.<imgsrc="//cdck-file-uploads-global.s3.dualstack.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/standard11/uploads/moderndailyknitting/original/1X/22ccfffa20ada845e48d76918f244d9d0e847ec9.jpg" width=“499” height=“499”>

Not one tiny sign of moth incursion anywhere else in two drawers full of yummy wool.

Knitters: why? Can this be explained?

2

Depends if it was recent damage, or historical damage. If recent, there may indeed be eggs/larva in other balls, the offspring of what chewed up these 4 balls, ready to ;hatch and eat fresh balls of yarn with the new season. Time to take action. Bag up all the wool in those drawers, and put it in the deep freezer for a couple of weeks. Should kill off any eggs/larva.

2 Likes
3

And then clean the surfaces with something strong.

4

Thanks very much! I appreciate the advice.