Easy no sew mask

Easy DIY dust / sickness mask

This is a great design if you happen to need a quick face mask during the current pandemic. Or simply find you need a dust mask for your crafting and hobbies but either don't know how to sew or simply don't want to.

They gave us these black masks at work and I thought the design was super clever so I wanted to share. I was going to take measurements, but it's not really relevant  because size would also depend on the fabric you use. I used an XL tshirt for the grey one here. The shape is really basic and easy. I cut this out through both sides of the tshirt so I got 2 from one cut. Front and back of the shirt.

The mask part that covers your mouth will be as wide at the center of the mask. The triangle bits become part of the strap so it's not as wide as it may seem. Cut the corners rounded. If you're using tshirt material , it will stretch more. Also do not make your straps any narrower than 1 inch as they will roll into a rope. I cut the tshirt width wise.

You want to cut the mask part tall enough to cover your nose and pull under your chin. You also want the slits yo rest on your cheeks.

There are 2 slits on either side that you pull your straps through and this gives the mask a contour shape and fit.

 You can see the slits in sides of this one. You want to cut them small enough to pull the straps through. 1 XL tshirt width was fine for me. You want to make sure to cut out the triangles or it will be to bulky yo pull through the slits.

 If using tshirts, before you pull that you lay it flat and see which side the edge curls towards. This is the side you want to put towards your face.

These masks are incredibly easy to make and use. You can make them out of anything you want. Tshirts,  button up shirts. Old clothing, sheets and pillowcases you have laying around. Maybe cut them much larger than you think you'll need as it's always better to have to much and trim down till its perfect.  Then there's the.

I hope someone out there gets use from this.

I personally found the tshirt material more comfortable as it has more give.

Remember the coronavirus is very contagious and you can have it and spread it before you even feel sick. It is reccomend to wear a mask to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 by basically keeping your breath to yourself.

My mask helps you and your mask helps me. I wear a mask if I have to be around people so that if I find out I have COVID-19 next week I know I did my part to try to stop the spread this week.

Be safe and be smart.

I'd love to know what you think of this mask. Drop a comment and have a great day!

No excuse bread

In these times I though I would share a bread recipe i used to always make. This was the 1st bread I ever made and it's easy to follow. This is an old recipe out of an old lalecha league cookbook called "mothers in the kitchen"

                           no excuse bread

Recipe By     :
Serving Size  : 20    Preparation Time :0:00
Categories    : Breads

  Amount  Measure       Ingredient -- Preparation Method
--------  ------------  --------------------------------
  2           packages  yeast
  2          teaspoons  salt
     1/3           cup  butter -- softened
     1/3           cup  honey
     2/3           cup  powdered milk -- optional
  2              whole  egg
  1                cup  wheat germ -- optional
  2               cups  water -- warm
  7               cups  flour -- unsifted

Have all ingredients at room temperature. Combine warm water, yeast and honey. Put all ingredients and 3 cups of the flour in large mixing bowl. Beat 5-10 minutes at medium speed of electric mixer. Remove beaters.

By hand stir in another 3 cups flour, but there's no need to make it smooth.

sprinkle 1 cup flour in a circle about 10 inches in diameter on the kneading surface. Turn out the dough onto this flour. Oil your hands and begin kneeing in flour using finger tips only until dough stiffens up and isn't so sticky.

Knead 5-10 minutes or until dough is smooth and elastic. Adding additional flour if necessary. Poking a finger into the dough should leave an imprint that holds its form but slightly bounces back.

Cover with plastic wrap and folded towel. Let rest 20 minutes. Punch down by kneading a few strokes. Divide into 2 equal portions. On oiled surface, with oiled rolling pin, roll out each portion into appropriate an 8x12 inch rectangle.

If you've never rolled yeast dough, it seems like trying to roll foam rubber, but keep at it. Roll rectangle up towards you, jellyroll fashion from small end, sealing well.

Place seam side down in greased bread pans; brush with oil. Cover with plastic wrap, refrigerate anywhere from 2-*24 hours.

I would make this at night and bake it in the morning. about 10 minutes before baking, preheat oven and remove dough from refrigerator. Uncover, puncture with an oiled toothpick any air bubbles that may have developed. Bake 30-35 minutes at 375ºF

For the oil i used butter consistently through the recipe.

                                    - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 255 Calories; 6g Fat (20.2% calories from fat); 8g Protein; 43g Carbohydrate; 2g Dietary Fiber; 34mg Cholesterol; 270mg Sodium.  Exchanges: 2 1/2 Grain(Starch); 0 Lean Meat; 0 Non-Fat Milk; 1 Fat; 1/2 Other Carbohydrates.

NOTES : 1 packet yeast equals 2 1/4 teaspoon
You can substitute sugar for honey.
Whole wheat bread: may wish to replace honey with Molasses or part of each. use half whole wheat flour and half white. Bake 35-40 minutes at 375ºF.
High protein bread: Replace 1 cup flour with 6Tbs soy flour, 6Tbs powdered milk, 2Tbs wheat germ.
Add this with the 1st flour addition. This is especially good for  children or older persons who don't like to chew meat. Bake 40-45 minutes at 350ºF

Nutr. Assoc. : 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

G's sock blanket

Update progress pic 2/27/22

I will add to this as I make it

Why am I posting a sock blanket when there are loads of sock blankets out there? I did a few tricks with this one. I'm working the co and 1st row in black which will frame each square. I'm doing a sk2p every other row and I'm slipping the last stitch for a easy pickup edge.this is also made so that all the edges are pointy and the squares are turned so points are up.

The marker is for the center decrease. It shifts on the wrong side and Mark's the decrease on the right side.

To start my blanket I made 3 square groupings so that my points at the bottom of the blanket are 2 squares deep (the top will match). My blanket is 6 points/groups wide. I made my points and then joined them once I had enough. If you dont want the deep points, just make single 1st squares  and join them as described later.

PLEASE NOTE!

I am a mirror knitter. This means I knit left to right. If you are not a mirror knitter please reverse left and right! Ex. When I say join on the left, or left edge of the blanket, you will be working on your right. Photos in this pattern will appear reversed if you knit right to left.

Using fingerling/sock weight yarn and size 3 needles (I will be switching between knitting and crochet, but that will be later)

Tools:

Size 3 (3.25mm) needles

Size C (3.12mm) crochet hook

1 stitch marker

Yarn needle to weave in ends

Abbreviations 

co - cast on / k - knit / pm - place marker / sm - slip marker / sk2p - slip 1, k2tog, pass slipped stitch over (double decrease) / s1wyif - slip 1 with yarn in front

sc - single crochet / ss - slip stitch / ch - chain

Always join with right side facing. Slip marker on wrong side rows, decrease on right side rows.

Casting on

At the start of a row and to make the 1st squares I use LTCO. 

To co 1 I use backwards loop, knitted co works to. 

To co at the end of a row I use knitted co. You can use backwards loop here as well.

1st square:

With border color: Co 24, pm, co 25 (the stitch with the marker on it will be your center stitch), Turn. - 49 stitches

*Every square will be worked exactly the same as written below after the setup row. Only the setup row varies depending on where you are placing it. The squares will give the setup row, then say finish square. 

Row 1: K to marker, remove marker, k1, pm. K to end, turn. Break yarn. - 49 stitches

Join in color B:

Row 2: K to marker, sm, sk2p, k to last stitch, s1 wyif, turn - 47 stitches 

Row 3: k to marker, remove marker, k1, replace marker, k to last stitch, s1 wyif, turn - 47 stitches

Repeat rows 2 and 3 till 3 stitches remain. Sk2p, k1 break yarn, pull end through and weave in ends

2nd square, Joining to square 1 on the left 

With border color: 

Co24, PM, co1, pickup 24 stitches along the edge, turn

-Finish square 

After casting on, pickup stitches. There are 24 slipped edge stitches on the square. Start with black.

This is after the co and pickup 

I leave the co tail loose so if there are any gaps or stretched stitches where it transitions from co to pickup I can use the tail to close it and straighten it up as I weave in ends. The strand on the left is my tail from breaking yarn. I've ran it under a few stitches on the needle. This shifts the tail to a place where it wont have to be weaved in where the other 2 ends are reducing bulk in that area.

Here is the square after a few rows.

3rd square, joining to square 1 on the right:

With border color and starting at the point, pickup 24 stitches from the other side of square 1, PM, co25, turn

-Finish square 

4 - Joining square (also body square)

With border color, pickup 24 stitches, pm, co1, pickup 24 stitches from next square

-Finish square 

All the squares in the middle will be made this way. But instead of m1, you pickup one stitch from the point of the square below as described in the next square. This can be easily done with the hook.

5 - Left inner edge including edging

*if you dont want to crochet, just pickup the 24/1/24 stitches. But doing this will leave 1 edge of the side squares without a border.

Join edging color to border edge, ch1, sc in same space, sc in next 22 edge stitches, 2 sc in last stitch,  ch1, insert hook into 1st slipped edge stitch on other side of point, draw up a loop, pull loop through loop on hook and place the loop on the needle, pickup the next 23 stitches (24 stitches on needle), pm,  pickup 1 stitch through the point in the middle square, pickup 24 stitches up along the edge of the next square

-Finish square 

 

6 - Right inner edge square with edging 

With border color pickup 24, pm, pickup 1 from point, pickup 24 from next square.

Leave the 49 stitches on the needle. With the hook insert it into the 1st slipped stitch on the other side of the point (outside edge), draw up a loop, ch1, sc in same space, sc in next 23 slipped stitches along the squares edge, ch1 turn. 

Return row: Working in front loop only ss in each stitch to end, 1 sc into point, ch1, hook last knit stitch and pull it through the loop on the hook, place loop back on needle 

- Finish square

Crochet down edge and slip back

Hook 1st stitch and pull it through the loop on hook and put it back on the needle and keep knitting

7 - outer left edge 

co 24, pm, pickup 1 from point, pickup 24 stitches from side of square, turn

- Finish square 

8 - outer right edge

Pickup 24 stitches along edge, PM, pickup 1 stitch from point, co 24 stitches, turn

- Finish square 

End the blanket with the last row being the wide outer edge row

Finishing edging

With crochet hook, join border color to 1st border slipped stitch of last row of squares, ch1, sc in same space, 1sc in next 22 slipped stitches, 2sc in last space, [ch1, 2sc in 1st slipped stitch on other side of the point, sc in next 22 slipped stitches, insert hook into border slipped stitch, draw up a loop, (skip point), insert hook into 2st slipped border stitch of next square, draw up a loop, yo draw through 2 loops on hook. Sc in next 23 slipped stitches, 2 sc in last stitch.] Repeat to top of point on last square. Ch1, 2sc in next slipped stitch, sc in next 23 slipped stitches, break yarn and weave in ends.

This is a mockup of how I will finish it. Clearly it will not be done for a very long time, so instead of waiting till I actually finish, this is how it will be done.

Here is a picture with the squares numbered to show where they fit

You can add large squares by working the left then righ and leaving a 2 square space then picking up 2 squares worth of stitches (pickup the 48 stitches on either side).

I'm back!

I haven't posted in a long time. I never really did post much as I try to keep this blog to relevant and helpful posts. I don't post just to post. But we lost internet access to the desktop quite a while back and I never got a new desktop until now. There are several patterns I've been meaning to get to, but a tablet is inconvenient, and I write my charts in Excel, which is also clumsy on a tablet or lap top.

So hopefully you'll be seeing a few more posts pop up.

I share my patterns on Revelry as well as here. If there is a PDF it is available on rav and off rav through Keep & Share. Keep & Share has limited availability so if the pattern seems to be not available, try the rav link, or try again the next day. I would have to pay to be able to not have that happen and my patterns are free, so I'd rather not pay. But I has proven in the past to be a good idea to have the patterns available from 2 sources.

Drunken Masonery

5/1/19
I updated the PDF for this to correct issues regarding stitch count that were brought to my attention. I had added the YO's on the side B rows to make the M1 easier on the next row, but I accidentally put this in the space where a stitch used to be. I added columns of "no stitch" shading to correct the row counts. both links will download the new PDF. Please be patient, I work alone :)

I finally got this scarf pattern all worked out. I simplified it quite a bit form the "reversible stitch pattern" I had originally written years ago.

This Pattern works best with a nice medium weight yarn. White, black, dark or variegated yarns will cause the stitch pattern to get lost. I have made this with both Caron Simply Soft and Bernat worsted. It works well in any weight, just use the size needle recommended for your yarn. This stitch creates a reversible fabric that looks different on either side. The columns of twisted stitches only show on one side so that one side looks like a winding pathway and the other side looks like crooked bricks.

This is available on Ravelry!

 

Also available off Ravelry: Drunken Masonery

How to win when you loose at yarn chicken

How I adapted this pattern to make the yarn stretch.

I chose to use a hook 2 sizes larger so running out is my fault. I did buy more dark purple, but didnt want to have to wait for more of the light yarn. Being that it was the last band followed by a lace edge I chose to skinny up the design

Below is the lace band overwritten with my adaption. The screen shot is from the program "knit companion", which is a fabulous app! The section I modified was everything in the white.

1. a the 1st row of sc is just a foundation to build the next row of DC on. I conserved yarn by changing this row to a sc, ch1, sc row instead of all sc. Being sure the sc would be where the next row was worked into so that the chains would show and creeatevthat boundary foundation similar to the band above.

2. I made sure to work the DC for the next row into the sc stitches. This still leaves the ch stitches below visible  so that it keeps the feel of the origional panel

3.the next row of sc is to work the cluster stitches onto. I eliminated it. 

4. The 3tc cluster stitches are a HUGE yarn suck. I reduced them to a 1tc v stitch. This maintains the V, but cuts the yarn by close to half. I made sure to crochet into the chain1 spaces of the DC row as the sc row is missing.

5. Because I eliminated the row of sc before the V row, I eliminated the row of sc after to keep it symmetrical. This row gives you the foundation for the next row of dc.

6. Because there are no sc stitches over the chain spaces in the V row I worked the DC stitches directly into the actual chain stitches. Working around the chain will allow them to slip around and you want to maintain spacing. And without the sc row to work into,  placing them into the chains secures their spot. When working at the top of the VV I went down under the strands and stitched between the to pull it all up nice and tight.

Below you can see the difference in the full panel and the thinned out panel. It's clearly lighter, but it blends in as it tapers to the lace edging. Also keeping the essence of the main rows makes it look more planned. I had to frog this section numerous times as a reduced stitches to conserve yarn. Whatever I did below the V row i had to do above it to keep it balanced.

None of this effected cstitch count. The row is a bit shorter, but counts are all the same

The pattern is available on ravelry. It is for sale and the charts are great. The written pattern is a bit confusing as they way over explain it. 

My shawl took 2 Hanks of dark purple and would have taken a 2nd hank of the light to finish. But if you follow the pattern you should have enough. I ran out of purple about 1/2 way through the last purple band. Again, I was using an I hon instead of G because I like the fabric better.

https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/rimsky-korsakoffee-cake-shawl

This is a picture of it pinned out. I steam blocked it. I also used sock yarn

Beaded star edging

Celestarium edging

I recently finished the Celestarium shawl. I modified a popular edging that is used and have charted it. There are 2 charts on the PDF so that standard or mirror knitters can follow it. Due to the option of knitting this standard or mirror I did not label the / or \. use SSK or K2TOG as needed to get a matching lean per chart symbol.

 The edging is a 14 row repeat, but contains 13 beads per row! Make sure you have enough beads to compete this. I used 2 sizes of beads for my shawl and edging. For the shawl I used a triangular bead for the large stars and smaller 6/0 beads for the rest. for the edging I used mostly all 6/0 but used 1 larger one at the points.

My finished shawl is very bead heavy!

How many beads will you need?
total edge stitches divided by 7 (edge stitches needed per repeat). Take that and multiply by 13 (beads per repeat)
Stitches / 7 x 13 = beads needed

this is the PDF file for the star edging

And my ravelry project page for my shawl. I have detailed notes on how i completed it

May the stars be your guide

How to use tiger tail wire (Beadalon) to bead knitting

This is my preferred method for placing beads onto knitting. This is the same method as what people use dental floss, but the wire (found in the beading/jewelry making section) is stiffer and easier to handle. And once you have a kink in it you can load up the wire and set it aside and the beads don't easily fall off. Also you don't have to worry about your hook splitting your yarn as you try to work the beads onto the stitches.

This is the wire, it is a nylon coated steel wire used for jewelry making. I use a larger gauge of this type of wire for my stitch markers. The fine gauge works well and allows you to use more of your beads. Seed beads don't always have a consistant sized hole in the center which makes some useless because you cannot get a hook into it. With the wire, you can use the beads which may have a smaller hole.

 I cut segments about 5-6" and put 1 bead on and tie the wire around it into a knot towards an end of the wire. This creates a stopper so you won't loose your beads.

I'll use my current shawl, Celestarium, for this demo.

 load the wire up Leaving a long enough tail to fold over. Fold the end to put a kink in it (at least 1 inch from the end). 

 

Hook the end into your stitch

Holding both strands of the wire, pull the stitch off the needle.

 

 Slide a bead down and make sure to feed the tail of the wire through the bead as you transfer it onto the stitch. Place the stitch back on the needle and remove the wire and continue working.

For this particular shawl I strung the bead onto the stitch before I knit it. this creates a tight stitch and the beads sink back into the fabric to sit nice and snug. so I string the bead onto the stitch, place the stitch onto the needle and than knit it.

You can also place the bead onto the stitch you just knit. this will create a little more slack in that particular stitch because there is enough yarn to pass through the bead and go around the needle. I do this if I want to make sure the beads will stay on top nicely. Ilike if I'm following a line of decrease. It allows the bead a little bit of slack to be more raised on the surface.

Here is a bead in my current shawl. it's nice and tight

These are the beads on the Sagittaria shawl I did. I beaded the stitch after knitting it (knit the stitch, placed the bead and put back on the needle). They sit nicely on top of the lines of decrease. These particular beads were much smaller than the ones I normally use.