As I was nearing what I believed to be the end of straight knitting on the second Ribby Cardi sleeve, I pulled out the previously finished one to compare. Since I was feeling giddy from the prospect that this sweater may actually be done before winter is over, I gave into the happy feeling and pulled the first finished sleeve on so as to admire it. This is when The Husband found The Hole. Yes, one of those beastly buggies apparently found my nicely finished sleeve and chomped a hole in it. So, once the second sleeve is finished, I will be ripping back the first sleeve to fix it. Thankfully, the hole is near the top of the sleeve, so I only have to rip out about 4 or 5 inches, figure out where I am amidst the raglan decreases, and go from there. *sigh*

Last night I drew up my cleaning plan. I listed off each room of the apartment and what I felt needed to be done in order to bring the apartment up to cleanliness standards in which carpet beetles will be repulsed. I think I will be beginning with the living room, since that is where the first sleeve had been residing (it got shoved down behind one of the couch cushions, and there meet its fate… I think… cause it hasn’t ever been into the fiber room… meanwhile I’m trying not to think to hard about creepy, crawly buggies living in my couch). First, I will clean up the clutter. Then, I will vaccum the carpet and the furnature like a black hole has come to live in my living room. I am considering getting something that kills buggies but is less toxic than the stuff I have unleashed in the fiber room… I don’t know that it would help though.

As Stephanie has instructed, I have been trying to research carpet beetles so that I may know my enemy. Aside from using poisons and good housekeeping, there doesn’t seem to be much you can do about carpet beetles… they just are… they’re just everywhere. The good housekeeping seems to be key… carpet beetles are attracted to lint, hair, wool, animal protein kind of stuff (it was interesting to find out that they are a huge problem in museums because they like to munch on insect exhibits, which makes sense when you find out that carpet beetles tend to lay eggs in old spider webs and wasp nests because the larvae eat the dead bugs left behind). Okay, I need to stop thinking about buggies now… for some reason whenever I read up on bugs and such it makes me feel itchy everywhere… creepy crawly… *ugh*