St. James in Hydrangea

I knew I would make St. James again, this was finished a few weeks ago. The pattern is so easy and wearable. I used Rowan All Seasons cotton again, this time in my husband's favorite color. Rowan calls it Geranium, but around here we call it Hydrangea, his favorite flower.

I am on a knitting sabbatical for a bit. I got a bad infection in the tendons of my right hand (from a rose thorn!) which required two surgeries and a stay in the hospital. I have more than 8 gruesome inches of incisions zigzaging down my palm from my pinky to past my wrist. My hand is healing and gaining mobility daily, but it will be awhile before knitting is back in by life. And oh how I miss it! Instead I am reading lots and slowly doing the necessary things of life with my incompetent left hand. My friends and family have been so good to me, I have needed so much help, but now feeling that I am definitely on the mend.

To complete the outfit I have these nifty flowery shoesies,
...and this great vintage Kate Spade bag (2001, soooo very vintage!)
...which also matches the hydrangeas about ready to burst
...and some "get well" flowers to make me feel loved.

sweater care and storage

Greetings from sunny California! It's been in the 70's and it's a safe bet that that I won't be wearing my winter sweaters for the next two seasons.

I'm often asked how I store and care for all my sweaters. Twice a year I do a big cleaning. This is how I do the big bi-annual sweater switcheroo:

The first and most important step is to wash and block my winter sweaters that I want to store for the summer, this takes me a few weeks! The suds remove the food and dirt that attracts moths. Next they are folded and placed in my mother's cedar "hope" chest that is still fragrant with cedar after almost 70 years. I don't use any moth protection in the cedar chest.

The summer sweaters were removed, and since they were washed and stored 6 months ago, they are ready to be placed in my sweater armoire. It's filled with plastic sweater bins purchased from The Container Store. I organize them by color and/or weight with 3 or more per bin. Since the bins are somewhat clear it's not too difficult to find what I'm looking for, although sometimes the sweater search is like playing a game of Memory. It's at this time that I'm pretty brutal and gift/donate sweaters that I don't wear anymore.

I am petrified of a moth infestation and do use limited moth control in the sweater bins around the wool. I prefer No Moth , (limited use) so please tell what you use, if anything.

So that's the epic sweater care and storage a la Knitionary! After all, you just don't get to have all the fun of knitting, there is some aftercare involved too! I'd love to know what you do!