Woe is me - my hat has holes

[Pleater]

In this long period of not going out, one of the woollen caps I made has been left pushed into one of the bookcase shelves and has stayed there for some time. Upon pulling it out I found that something has made a couple of holes in it - probably the infants of something with six legs and an exoskeleton.

Although it is going to be perfectly possible for me to undo and remake it once I find the remaining yarn - and I do have several others in perfect condition (I immediately went to find them to check) I am decidedly peeved about this. It is entirely my fault for not putting it away properly, of course.

I thought I'd just put a reminder here, in case anyone else has an item vulnerable to attack left undisturbed in these strange times.

Anne the Pleater

[Me cousin Jack]

Is darning and felting an option?

[OC Richard]

Bummer about that hat!

What I don't understand is how pipers I know never do anything with their wool kilts and jackets other than hang them up in the closet, and never get moth holes.

But the ONE thing I left hanging unprotected in the closet, a plaid, got got by those evil things.

I keep every jacket and kilt wrapped in plastic. They sell huge clear plastic bags for trash which make perfect jacket and kilt covers. I have them bound shut with velcro ties.

Hats I have in zip-lock airtight plastic bags.

[Pleater]

Is darning and felting an option?

It was already partly felted. It just needs pulling out - it is a tight crochet stitch, from the brim to the fold. The damage is right at the fold, and then it can be remade. Once back as it was originally made then the same program on the washing machine should restore the finished cap just as it was, with any luck.
My only problem is where, amongst all the many bags and boxes of yarn is the remainder of the yarn I used for the originals.

Anne the Pleater

[Pleater]

It was my own fault. I usually put caps into the tins from Christmas past - when they were big enough. These days the tins are too small.
I did that after obtaining some cashmere yarn and making several caps and they were just destroyed - they probably saved other things from moths, or perhaps they attracted every moth in town to my house, but cashmere's reputation for attracting moths is well deserved.

Anne the Pleater

[rlloyd]

Bummer about that hat!

What I don't understand is how pipers I know never do anything with their wool kilts and jackets other than hang them up in the closet, and never get moth holes.

But the ONE thing I left hanging unprotected in the closet, a plaid, got got by those evil things.

I keep every jacket and kilt wrapped in plastic. They sell huge clear plastic bags for trash which make perfect jacket and kilt covers. I have them bound shut with velcro ties.

Hats I have in zip-lock airtight plastic bags.

If those pipers live in different climates than you, that's likely your answer. The moth problem isn't so much a problem everywhere you go. Here in the highlands of Tennessee along the North Carolina border, for instance, I've never once seen a moth in a closet/dresser/etc.

[Spauldrochie]

I use thick nylon suit covers with the zip pulled right up. On one or two of these covers there is a fairly wide hole for the hanger hook to go through, and where this could be an issue I push a plastic bag over the hook and have this over the kilt or jacket inside the bag. I also picked up a tip from the excellent Celtic Craft Highland Outfitters in Paisley Close, Edinburgh which involves putting a drilled circular disc of cedar over the hook before hanging it up. Any moth would have to crawl over the cedar to get into the bag and I imagine that the scent of wool might be less apparent too. These discs cost very little on eBay.

I never leave the wardrobe door open and in more than thirty years of kilt wearing none of my kilts or jackets have ever been affected....touch wood !

Mike

[MichiganKyle]

If those pipers live in different climates than you, that's likely your answer. The moth problem isn't so much a problem everywhere you go. Here in the highlands of Tennessee along the North Carolina border, for instance, I've never once seen a moth in a closet/dresser/etc.

Here in Michigan, I've never seen a moth in a closet. Heck, the last time I've heard of anyone dealing with moths in a closet was probably my great grandparents. Even then, the only reason I know about that is that they kept mothballs around, but whether that was because of moths or just as a precautionary measure I could not say.

[OC Richard]

If those pipers live in different climates than you...

The puzzling thing is that they're local pipers here, guys in the same pipe band I'm in, and other local pipers I know.

Here in the highlands of Tennessee along the North Carolina border, for instance, I've never once seen a moth in a closet/dresser/etc.

That's something to look forward to! In a few years I plan on retiring and hopefully moving back to the highlands of West Virginia, where I'm from. BTW my Mom lived in Elizabethton, near Johnson City, for a few years before returning to WV. I would visit annually and drive over to the Grandfather Mountain Highland Games.

[rlloyd]

That's something to look forward to! In a few years I plan on retiring and hopefully moving back to the highlands of West Virginia, where I'm from. BTW my Mom lived in Elizabethton, near Johnson City, for a few years before returning to WV. I would visit annually and drive over to the Grandfather Mountain Highland Games.

I both work at and attend ETSU in Johnson City and my girlfriend is originally from Elizabethton. Always a bit surprising to randomly run across someone familiar enough with the area to "name name's," so to speak! Grandfather is always a great time and I make it whenever possible, though haven't been able to the past few years. I'd planned on going this year, but alas...hopefully, next year on the Mountain.