Fur Beetle Alert

Hi everyone,
there are two kinds of little critters that send a chill down my spine and make the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end: FUR BEETLES and MOTHS (brrrrhh).
I’m sure most of you are familiar with moths. Fur beetles look like tiny, hairy, armored caterpillars—they love fur and wool—and they’re almost worse than moths because they don’t flutter around; instead, they hide away in dark, woolly places.

Fur beetles and moths in a household full of textiles—THAT’S A NO-GO!!

And, of course, it’s exactly this kind of textile-filled household that’s a favorite playground and hangout for these little critters!
You take your eyes off things for a while, the woolen items sit in the laundry basket for too long before getting washed, the wool stash hasn’t been “rummaged through” in ages… and BAM—I come across balls of yarn that are now just scraps, and little nasty holes in hats and sweaters…
It happened just recently: I was over the moon to have finally finished knitting a sweater I’d been fiddling with for way too long. I rinsed and dried the sweater, and I thought I’d been kicked by a horse: a thread chewed right through at the cast-on edge of a sleeve!!! I’ll bet anything these nasty little critters do this on purpose, right in a spot like that!!! And often you don’t actually notice the damage until after washing.
So here’s a little tip for everyone: Check your yarn stash every now and then, and wash your woolen items right away instead of putting it off!!

Tell me, do you have such “nice” roommates, too?

That’s so annoying.

These little critters just don’t like my yarn.

What kind of yarn do you use?

@schnatter-design, I mainly use wool, alpaca, mohair… so, animal fibers. What these little critters don’t like are cotton and other plant-based fibers or synthetic fibers. 

Neither fur beetles nor moths!
I store my finished knitted items (mostly animal-based yarns and cotton) in a wooden chest in the bedroom and my yarn in a large crocheted bag, also in the bedroom—so everything’s actually open and airy—but I’ve never had any unwelcome visitors. We do have permanent fly screens on all the windows, though, so nothing flying—like moths—can get in from outside...
Two years ago, however, we did have silverfish and woodlice in that room, so I sprayed everything with long-lasting insecticide.... 

Oh no, that’s every yarn lover’s worst nightmare! Luckily, I’ve never had that problem before. We also have fly screens on all our windows, so nothing gets through. And I go through my yarn stash pretty often when I’m thinking about new projects.