knit face mask

How to Make a Knit Face Mask

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My husband requested a knit face mask that would cover his nose and mouth while he went snowboarding but the tricky part what that he wanted to be able to push it up when not going down slopes and removing it completely when it’s not necessary. I asked Reddit about how to carry out this and they suggested finding a calorimetry pattern on Raverly. That is exactly what I did.

I decide on the Calorimetry Pattern by Kathryn Schoendorf, Knitty.com directions. I attempted this many times and I found myself being too concerned about the pattern. I didn’t even know if it would even work and it was way too long. I made many changes, and simplified the pattern throughout my attempts. After I figured out my pattern, it only took me a couple of hours to knit.

This is what I ended up doing:

  • 1 skein of bulky weight yarn, the one shown is acrylic, with lots of yarn left over
  • size US 8 knitting needles
  • 2 stitch markers

Cast On 80 stitches

Row 1: Knit stitch all

Row 2: Knit stitch all until last 2 stitches, turn work

Row 3: Knit stitch 4 stitches, place marker, knit until last 2 stitches, turn work

Row 4: Knit stitch 4 stitches, place marker 2nd marker, work until next marker, turn work

Row 5: Remove marker, knit stitch 4 stitches, replace marker, knit stitch until next marker, turn work

Repeat row 5 nine more times

Row 6: Do not remove marker, knit stitch until next marker (knitting in between the markers, there should be an equal number of stitches on the outside of the markers)

Row 7: Knit stitch until next marker, remove marker, knit stitch 4 more stitches, replace marker, turn work.

Repeat row 7 until there are only 2 stitches on the outside of each marker.

Row 8: Knit stitch until marker, remove marker and knit stitch last 2 stitches, turn work.

Row 9: Knit stitch the entire row removing the last marker

Bind off loosely.

To attach it to the hat:

  • hat
  • thread
  • buttons
knit face mask

Mark where buttons should go.

knit face mask

Sew buttons onto the hat.

knit face mask

Use the holes in the calorimetry, to attach it to the buttons.

 

knit face mask

knit face mask

knit face mask


pin cushion lid

Decorating a Glass Jar with Pin Cushion Lid

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pin cushion lid

I decided I needed something new to hold my buttons. So I took a jelly jar and removed the label. It took a lot of soaking and scrubbing that thing was really stuck on there. Then I got out my rainbow of permanent markers, beads and hot glue and decided to get to work, free hand style. FAIL this is how it started to turn out and I was not impressed. My lack of patience got the better me, again.

 

pin cushion lid

FAIL :(

So I removed the beads and got out some rubbing alcohol and cotton balls and removed the marker. The silver was a bit stubborn but it eventually came off. Now, it was time for some planning.

First I decided to create a design on my computer of what I wanted my jar to look like. But Photoshop kept crashing when I went to print the design so I said the heck with it, and hand drew the design on. It’s not perfect but I like it.

For the pin cushion lid. I just took a scrap piece of thick fabric and some Fiber Fill  stuffing and used Mod Podge to glue the fabric over the fill to the lid. I did have to fold over the fabric a bit along the edges but some better planning and correct cutting would fix this issue. The fabric was a little to long, so I cut off the excess from the bottom of the lid after the glue had dried and I now have my button jar with a pin cushion top!

pin cushion top

 


felted bag

Felted Knit Bag Revisited

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My last attempt at felting a bag did not go very well. So, I threw the almost felted knit bag into a different washer that had more options and it worked a bit better. I actually think if I put it on another cycle it would have been completely felted, but I had no more quarters with me and I really didn’t want to spend anymore time in my building’s basement. But I do like the way it turned out, the knitting does get to be more like a fabric, it feels a lot stronger and I like that it looks fuzzy.  Here is what it looks like…

bag

2nd time felted

Then I finished the bag by whip stitching around the flap with the gray novelty yarn and attached a button.

felted knit bag

finished

I’m pretty happy with the results. I’ll have to use it next time I go out!

 


Felted Knit Envelope Bag

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My first project in the book I’m going to tackle is the felted knit envelope bag which actually the second project in the book because the first project is a scarf with a knit stitch and since I have completed two already I decided it was ok for me to skip that one. 🙂 Here are my yarn choices. They are in skeins, so I don’t need to hand wind them.

skeins

time to knit a bag

I was a little worried at first about combining two different yarns but it hasn’t been too big of a deal. It is a little difficult to see where the stitches are so I have employed the use of some awesome knitting tools. First one is a stitch/row counter. It helped me keep track of the number of stitches in each row. I think I will braid some yarn in order to make a necklace out of it. It even has a lock on it so I can stop wherever. Second is the use the purple knit stoppers. It’s great to place them on the needle points when I am finished knitting and I do not have to worry about the stitches falling off the needle.

I have skipped stitches a couple of times and with the fuzzy novelty yarn it was hard to tell at first, but you just carefully pull the yarn to where the skipped stitch is and place the stitches back on the needle, carefully, and start knitting again.

The bag is basically a giant rectangle and could be made into any size. It just depends on your intended use.  You fold and then whip stitch the edges to create the pocket which turns it into a bag. I’m using both threads to do the whipstitching. I’ll do a separate tutorial on the whip stitch because it is used in knitting, needlepoint and a hand stitch for finishing in sewing and at the beginning I had a bit of trouble making sure I was going through both layers to connect them. That’s probably because I was too busy watching television as I was finishing. :/

rectangle

knitted rectangle

fold

whip stitch close up

This is also a felted bag which really concerns me. Something about doing all of this work just to place it in the wash to shrink rubbed me the wrong way. How much will it shrink anyways? It’s currently about 15inches by 10inches. But here is how it turned out. :/

How to Felt:

First I needed to get all of my materials, the bag, a zippered pillowcase, towels, jeans, and quarters for the washing machine.

felting supplies

put knitted bag in zippered pillowcase

put pillowcase and jeans in the washer

feed the machine

Place on small load, hot wash, and check after awhile, 10 minutes, to make sure it is felting and take it out when it has reached the size I want and also not let the cycle go into spin or rinse.  Now maybe the washer I chose in my building is old or maybe because it is a commercial machine or I picked the wrong wool yarn but I don’t think it looks like it’s suppose to..

finished?

So it was suppose to turn out to be a thick fabric where you can no longer see the stitches and shrink a little bit and it didn’t. So, maybe I’ll try the felting process again?

So felting fail, but no worries that’s why it’s good to practice.