Whilst in London for the conference in February, I dropped into Banana Republic and bought a couple of treasures.  One,a silky top which I've worn several times and feel really comfy in, the other a creamy cap sleeve ruffle-edged cardigan in a merino-cotton mix which I thought would be perfect for a chilly summer evening.  Because we were nowhere near cap-sleeve cardigan weather, I put it away and brought it out to wear for the first time on Friday evening.

 

My cardigan is cream and I chose to wear it unbelted over black top and trousers.

 

 

When I got home, to my horror, I discovered three small holes in my lovely new cardi.  The only explanation could be that the moths had been having a feast.  Not a happy bunny, I can tell you. 

 

 

Fortunately, Banana Republic are one of the companies who continue to offer spare buttons and, in this case, a card of mending yarn.  Also, fortunate that I am the kind of person who squirrels these things away in case of such disasters, so I was well equipped to tackle the challenge.

 

 

I'm also quite proud of my ability to darn.  When a UK magazine relaunched a couple of years ago and included a "how to" feature, they consulted me for darning advice, no less! So, feeling relatively optimistic, I set to and armed with my magnifying lamp, I carefully mended five holes, because when I looked more closely, I found another two.

I did a quick check afterwards and discovered another couple.  Then redid one which didn't meet my own standards and did a better job.

Found another hole as I finished that one.

Checked it over and thought that I'd give it a cool rinse through in some gentle wool wash before putting it away.  I might consider putting it in a ziplock bag and freezing it before I do.  That should get rid of any of the little blighters who fancy another feast.

I gently squeezed the rinsing water out of it before reshaping it to dry and you can imagine what I found.  Yes, another hole.

 

This afternoon, as I took the dry cardigan to sort out that last hole, I found another four, making a total of thirteen holes.

 

I've now carefully pressed the cardigan and feel sure I got them all now.  It's going in a bag and into the freezer before another hole appears

 

But every cloud has a silver lining and my dear friend Mary has taken her personal shopping responsibilities very seriously indeed and has tracked down a replacement cardigan for me in a Los Angeles branch of Banana Republic.  It's black, not cream, so my repairs have not been in vain either.

 

Any tips and hints for foolproof moth protection gratefully received.  I really don't need any more darning practice.