Mixing a batch of cookies in my mother’s kitchen one day years ago, I found a moth larvae sitting on top of the soda box. “Hmmph!” said Mother; “he must have been desperate!” (Of course, she was alluding to the fact that you usually find moth larvae in flour, not soda.)
I thought of that again when I started working on the “Challis” coverlet, so called because I started it in 1985 when we spent a summer in Challis, Idaho, while Mike worked at the bank there. I wanted a simple project – something just to keep my hands busy – so I settled on a scrap afghan made of small granny squares. I took my own yarn scraps as well as begging some from Mother. I used a hodgepodge of yarn varieties, the only criteria being that the yarn had to be scraps. Only the black edging yarn could be purchased new. In the end I didn’t have enough for even a small coverlet, so it’s been a long-term project and not one I’m especially proud of. Now and then I get it out, make more squares, sew some together, and put it away again. But with this last time out, I discovered some squares had been nibbled – moth eaten. And thinking of that moth on the soda box, I wondered if it was desperate enough to eat synthetic fiber or – more likely – was there wool in some of those scraps?
So, yes, I identified the yarn in question – two shades of rosy pink – and pulled all loose squares in those colors from the pile. Then I removed any squares of that yarn from the coverlet in progress. That was a little difficult but not impossible and I did it successfully.
I’ll finish that coverlet some day. I think it would be quite nice draped over a chaise on the porch. KW
5 comments:
I've always liked the bright colors contrasting with the black in that afghan. It looks like it's about the size of a lap blanket now. You could probably add your edging and be done!
I agree with my niece, Hallie. It's lookin' great!! And hey, it's only been twenty-three years in the making. Small potatoes in the time department considering you were raising swell kids at the same time. :-)
Nice to have such encouragement! I suppose the coverlet might be a lap robe at this point, but I have a lot more squares. I was going to just finish it with the squares I had on hand, but my pool of color combinations needed to be expanded. The squares were becoming very much the same colors. My work is just not systematic, but then, I guess I didn't set out to be. KW
I love the look of the afghan!
An afgan with bright colors surrounded by a black border is called the "stained glass" design. This info is from my Aunt Lorraine, a prolific crocheter. She had arthritis and had to keep her fingers moving. God bless our ancestors who were the family "encyclopedias."
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