Quarantine knitting a mask

 The July 2020 issue of Machine Knitting Monthly had a pattern for knitting a face mask. I saw where Kiwi had knit this and posted at note on KnittingParadise. It looked like a fun project, so I knit one also. Here is my take on my knitting. 

I have knit just 1 so far. They really are easy. The label in the cone of yarn I used says 3/14 100% cotton, from UK. It seems to knit as 4 ply. I put a coffee filter (small size but also folded in half) inside. The coffee filter makes the mask stick out funny, but who cares?

I like the way the short rows do not leave holes. They also shape the mask nicely. 

It was suggested to me that maybe 2 layers of cotton fabric would be better than the coffee filter, and I agree. It would drape better and maybe stay in place better. 

The mask is knit with two layers and has a slot at the bottom to insert the filter (or cloth). There is a button on the bottom to hold the slot closed. 

I had washed the mask and dried it in the dryer before wearing it. 

Now I have worn the mask for an hour or so while I walked vigorously in the mall, where it was air-conditioned. At first the mask felt great. It was soft, fitted nicely, and let me breathe. Later, as my head sweat a lot as it usually does, the mask stretched out and the coffee filter sort of dropped. The lovely I-cord ear pieces stretched out also. I found myself tying the ear-loops to make the mask tighter.  

When I later washed the mask by hand and hung it to dry in the sunshine, it stayed stretched out.I think I need to wash it in the washing machine and definitely need to dry it in the dryer to shrink it again. I should have remembered how cotton sweaters stretch while being worn <G>

Maybe a better yarn would be a cotton/acrylic blend such as Panama?

Maybe a sock yarn would be a better choice? 

I'll have to try with other fabric content. It was an easy and fun pattern to try. It will be useful for grocery shopping, which I have done while wearing this mask. It caused no problems and was comfortable for non sweaty endeavors! 

Please ignore the quarantine hair-do and the seemingly "dirty look" I show in the side photo <G>

Online Seminar

Wow, I have not written in a long time! Our Carolinas Machine Knitters Seminar in May of 2019 was a great success. Luckily we had not scheduled one for this year, 2020, with the lockdown etc.

My latest seminar to attend was the one this month online by Vogue Knitting Live. They finally had a machine knitting demonstrator, Bill King, so I signed up. I got into only 1 of his classes as the other one filled up very soon. He was so successful, as was Vogue Knitting Live, that he is scheduled for 4 classes in August through that site!!

Most machine knitting seminars have a charge daily, but this seminar charges by the class. Since we do not have to pay for travel or a hotel room, meals, etc. it works out to be quite a bargain! Yes they still have shopping and show specials at the shopping.

Yesterday's class was so inspirational and fun. There were 30 people total, including Bill. He is a very talented knitter and like most of us loves to talk. His class ran overtime by almost 1/2 hour until the Vogue representative reminded him to finish   He seemed to like to meet us too and find out where we were from. He was available to answer questions during and after his demonstrations. I was very impressed. 

He has 4 classes scheduled for the August session, but 3 are already filled up. The class I took on Cables still has room for you to register. Hint, hint!!

This class was well worth the cost, which was fairly minimal. 

Since it was a zoom meeting, we could see the other participants, including Mary Slattery, and some other people I recognize as demonstrators at other seminars. One lady even used her machine at home during the demo to knit samples of what Bill showed us!  Of course we were polite and kept ourselves muted unless we were speaking to the group. 

I need to knit some cables today before I forget what I saw....I did take notes and I hope they help me remember. 

I am looking forward to the class I will take in August on ribbers. 

Update on Raleigh/Durham Seminar May 3-4

Check the Carolinas mkg website as Cindy has now posted the info and registration forms already!! Hotel contact info is there also.

I'm so exicited....I just can't hide it....I'm about to lose control and I think I like it.......!!!

(Showing my age !!)

Seminar near Raleigh May 3-4 2019

Hooray! Yes it is happening again...a CMKG seminar near Raleigh. On May 3-4 the Carolinas Machine Knitters Guild is sponsoring another great seminar at the DoubleTree by Hilton,
4810 Page Creek Road, Durham, NC 27703.

We will have 3 demonstrators; Diana Sullivan, Billie Hall, and Linda Jensen.

Of course everyone recognizes Diana Sullivan of youtube fame as a prolific maker of machine knitting videos...221 videos so far!!! She has lots and lots of those videos for beginners and more advanced knitters. I love watching the videos.....sometimes I even do the technique or knit the item I have even won prizes at the NC State fair using her patterns!!  Check her blog for listings of patterns for free and patterns for sale and inspiration written throughout the years. 
http://diananatters.blogspot.com

Billie Hall is our surprise demonstrator, a treat for PASSAP knitters. Anyone who has attended Pat Groves Pacifically Passap seminar in recent, and not so recent, years will have seen Billie. Yes she will knit on a Passap. She has a variety of patterns and books she has written throughout the years. Her book which is most often recommended is "Knitting with the Lights Off" which is a manual to get you started on the electronic Passap (e6000) without turning on the console! It is amazing how much you can do with just the machine and no electronics. Her internet profile is so low that I cannot find it.....but she is a fun and informative person to meet. I have knit various items from her Knitting with the Lights off and got prizes on them too!

Linda Jensen is a West Coast person who has been writing machine knitting patterns for years. She has a Facebook account so she is reachable. https://www.facebook.com/linda.jensen.12177
She is also on Ravelry..   https://www.ravelry.com/people/lindasuejensen
And her website is    myblueheavenknits.wordpress.com   Linda also has an etsy shop https://www.etsy.com/shop/LindasCrafts   AND I have also bought and used some of her patterns. My favorite of her patterns is Ear Flaps and Animal Hats.  Need I mention that this got me another prize?!

What a great lineup of demonstrators!!

Besides what we will be able to buy from the demonstrators, we plan to have another vendor selling knitting machine related items....more info later.

Special hotel rates for those attending. Be sure to mention that you will be attending our seminar!

For Registration form and more info, check the CMKG website later this week. Look for this seminar under Events.

http://www.carolinasmkg.com/

someone tried to steal this blog

I don't know what to call it, but I find when I dig around this blog that someone has tried to get into this blog. I found drafts of links over the past few months. These are mostly blank messages with only a link in them.

You know me...I talk a lot.....I would never post a message with just a link and not a lot of chat also!  If you get those odd postings, just ignore them.

Thank you.

Our great local Triangle Machine Knitters

We are so lucky to have a group of machine knitters who meet monthly and keep each other inspired. I have written in the past about our Knit-Ins and some of our activities.

We also have a website where we post a calendar of our meetings and upcoming events. Our website is

https://sites.google.com/site/trianglemachineknitters/

We also have a Facebook group, but it is a Secret Group, shhhh. That means you cannot find us or join except by one of us asking you or putting you on the group. Nothing bad goes on there.....except for maybe a couple of us ribbing each other about whose sweater is best or who is going to get a better ribbon at the state fair!  It is an easy way for us to share photos of our work or to remind each other of sales. 

Some of our local knitters do not like Facebook so that is why I am posting the link to our website, which is open to all. 

Some of our local knitters don't like much technology, but we do try to send out emails about our upcoming meetings. This adds a lot of work trying to keep up with 35-40 addresses, and who is a current member, and who has changed her/his email. 

It is also an effort to keep the Facebook group, the website, and the emails up to date. There are some who just do not use the internet. I do not phone people about the meetings. If they come to a meeting and join the group, they need to write down our scheduled events. 

We do demonstrations for the public, such as at Fiber Fest and the Craft Day in Selma recently where Leslie did a demo of knitting machines. 

Well, that is just a bit of rambling on a Saturday morning before I go to our November meeting of TMK. 

Lace yoke sweater

I needed a break from hats, so I joined the Knitalong on Plastic Midgauge Machines KAL on Facebook. Irene Woods created the pattern and suggested the yarn to use (Alara by Ice Yarns, which is 50%cotton and 50% acrylic for lightness but coolness).
I dug out the measuring tape and really measured myself....what a shock!! Okay, since there will be no size tag in the back I can just knit this to really fit me

I found that my size required more than one package of yarn (8 balls per package) but I hate running out so I bought 2 packages. I am glad I did because it took part of the second package!! Only part of a ball, but even though, it was great to not really run out of yarn.

I did lots of griping online about the fit of the garment, but when I finished it and washed it and dried it, it fits great. I will enjoy wearing this summer sweater. And we have lots of summer weather here in Raleigh, NC, USA!!

Irene has gotten so much feedback on her pattern that she has re-written it to fit on the more limited needles of the bulky. She is even in the process of adapting it for the standard gauge machine. It is all hand manipulated and needs no ribber!

She has written it for up to as many needles as the machines have so we larger ladies might even find our size! 

All right, I'll confess. I knit the size XXL or 52 inches (darn that tummy and bottom!!) I knit it just as written. I used my brother 350 knitting machine. Irene has written it for both the LK 150 and the brother 350, with the different tensions these two machines need. (6.5mm LK150 vs. the 7 mm Brother). 

After washing my sweater the tummy area measured 50 or 51 inches, but it is very stretchy. Maybe I could have worn the 48 inch sweater, but this size flows smoothly over the voluptiousness of my middle!!

I love this sweater.