Just last week, in a town near where you live, a Spindle Princess was searching for the last balls of Yarn she needed to finish a Sweater for her Dear Husband. This Sweater had been promised to that noble man as a Christmas gift, but time had passed too quickly and the Princess did not get the Sweater finished. The lovely Sweater had been set aside for many Smaller Projects that filled the small spaces in the Princess's busy days. For you see, the Princess had many other tasks beside knitting, and precious knitting time had become hard to find, so finishing a Big Sweater was something easily set aside.
But, as the Summer wore away and the evenings became cooler, the Patient Husband asked his Princess if she would have time to finish the Sweater before the Autumn Chill set in. The Princess, being a Good and Loving Wife, promised that she would and set about knitting the yoke of his Sweater. She knit diligently for two evenings, and on the morning of the third day, discovered that she needed another ball of Yarn from the Stash stored in her Tower Room.
So our Princess ventured upward into her Special Place of Yarn Storage to find another ball of Yarn. And there, she was met with a most vexing sight. The ball of Yarn, so carefully stored in a Charming Basket, was frayed and broken in several places on the outer surface of the ball. She searched for the source of this destruction, but could find no clue as to how this terrible thing had happened to this lovely Yarn. The only explanation possible was that her Wee Manx Cat, who was know to devour bits of fleece at most inconvenient times, had developed a taste for Fine Merino Yarns. The Princess carefully wound the broken Yarn into small balls and went about her knitting, silently cursing the Cat.
As her knitting progressed, the Princess began to fret that there would not be enough of the Yarn left to complete the Sweater now that the Damaged Yarn had been removed. She recalled that she had purchased More Than Sufficient Yarn in case of just such a circumstance, but was at loss as to where this Surplus Yarn had be stored.
So, once again, the Princess ventured into her Tower Room to search for Yarn. She had to move Boxes of Fleece and other great treasures that had accumulated over the Summer, but found no sign of the precious Yarn. So she ventured deeper into the Tower Room. She sorted through the Weaving Basket, finding yet more Frayed Yarns, but not the Yarn she sought. Then, she spotted one ball of the Yarn on the top of her UnFinished-Objects Basket, and thought "Hallelujah!" Her search was over.
It was then that the true cause of the damage to her Yarns was revealed, for underneath the sought-after Ball of Yarn lay another Ball of Yarn, covered in tiny white flecks. As the horrified princess watched, the tiny white flecks began to squirm and move. The princess rolled this writhing mass of yarn aside and revealed.....
....MOTHS!!
Hundreds and hundreds of tiny, wriggling Larvae, dozens and dozens of Adult Moths--tiny little Harbingers of Doom for any Yarn unfortunate enough to cross their paths.
On closer inspection, all of the Yarns in that Basket were infested with active Larvae and had been well shredded by their insatiable appetites for Fine Fibre. Two Sweaters, both of Handspun Yarn, were riddled with holes and their surfaces were shredded as if by the claws of a Ravening Beast. The Basket itself was crawling with the Horrid Creatures.
Our Princess wept in Bitter Despair at the Cruel Fates that had befallen her precious Yarns and Sweaters, but then she became filled with a Steely Resolve. She armed herself with Plastic Bags, a Vacuum Cleaner, and a sacred bottle of Cedar Oil and went forth to battle the Squirming Menace. For hours she laboured, bagging and vacuuming and spraying, then moving onward to seek any refugees seeking to escape her wrath. Yarns were inspected, then bagged and placed in a Freezing Compartment to destroy the Younglings of the Invading Horde. Many Yarns were simply bagged and hauled to the Trash.
The rampage continued long into the night, with even the linens from the Tower Room being laundered, though they showed no sign of having been inhabited by the Invaders. Fine Fleeces were searched for the Offending Creatures, and most were found free of the beasties. But two--TWO Fleeces showed signs of Moth Habitation. Two Fleeces from Different Sources, but both stored near the UFO Basket, but both riddled with Moths and their Offspring. Needless to say, these Fleeces and their Inhabitants were destroyed without Mercy.
So, the Princess now stands guard over her precious cache of Yarns, armed with her Cedar Oil and her Zip-Lock baggies, ever-vigilant. She jumps at the flutter of a tiny dust mote in a sunbeam. She shudders at the sight of a fleck of white lint on a carpet. Yarns that were not even near the Tower Room but safely stashed in a Zippered Bag, nestled in the Princess's purse, are inspected thoroughly before being worked into ongoing projects. The Princess may never be the same.
So, Gentle Knitters and Spinners, beware! The Moth is a devious foe, hiding deep in the locks of Fleece, waiting to strike the Unwary.
I have so been there .... :o(
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