The revenge of the steeks of DOOM!

I made a number of baby items for my sister's shower next week, and decided to wash them in the machine today to make sure they'd be able to hold up to the punishment. After all, it wouldn't do to blithely tell them that they can just wash the stuff in a delicates bag and then have it disintegrate. The socks and hats came out fine, aside from a bit of lint cross-contamination. The baby pants and sweater also survived, with an occasional yarn end revealing itself which I'll have to tuck back in once everything has dried.

The ambitious little steeked jacket, though, that is another matter entirely. At first glance, it just looks like it has some loose ends to be secured.

When I picked it up, I found that one arm was falling apart, and the other shoulder was disconnected completely. The arm is falling off!

I felt a bit like crying when I saw that. I suppose I might be able to patch it up a bit or turn it into a little vest or something, but at the moment, I fear to even move it. Anyway, my sister isn't going to get that jacket at her shower, that's for sure. However, you all can see my pretty color-work, at least.

My only consolation is that I tried out steeks on a tiny project like this instead of an adult garment. *sigh* The really sad thing is that it probably would have survived if I had restricted it to being hand-wash only, but no, I had to go and insist that baby-clothing be easy-care. Stupid, stupid, stupid!

I shall now go eat supper with my husband, watch some PBS, and try to forget all about this disaster for a while.