Polypropylene filter material for face masks

I know a lot of people are making face masks while we're in this pandemic for the Corona Virus, and even though professional sources say that they're not very effective, any type of barrier is better than none.  I won't share patterns here, since there are dozens of blog posts and video tutorials for that already.

To make the plain cotton masks a little more effective, it's suggested to make them with a pocket where you can add some type of removable filter.  The commercial N95 masks are made with a high grade of polypropylene material and while that would be near impossible to find outside of a hospital supply setting, I did find OLY*Fun - a similar fabric - at my local Walmart.

DISCLAIMER:   This product is NOT the same grade as the commercial N95 medical masks, but it IS made of the same basic non-woven, water-resistant material (polypropylene), so will filter more junk than cotton fabric alone.  Again, even if it won't stop ALL manner of buggy stuff from entering your nose and mouth, it's an added wall of defense, and I don't think anyone would scoff at that.

I'm going to wipe down my scissors and work-space with alcohol, then cut the OLY*Fun into appropriately sized pieces immediately after washing my hands, then put directly into ziploc bags so they'll be untouched and won't have come into contact with anything in my home that might be tainted.  I'll then send that baggie of filters to my son with a couple of the cotton masks, which will be washable/reusable.

I found it online by the bolt, but when I limited to local stores, none of it showed up (even the small rolls like I have here).  I found mine in the fabric department of my store in Jacksonville NC, in the same aisle as the quilt batting.  One roll measures 3 yd x 30 in, enough to make a good amount of filters.  Bonus:  It was on sale for only $2/roll!  I wish they'd had white, but black will work for the masks I'm making for my son, and I'll make do with yellow for some of the brighter cotton fabrics I'll be using.

Since I don't want the CDC or any other Big Brother entity to come down on me, I'll stress again - this material is NOT a replacement for medical grade P95 masks, but it IS an extra barrier in our line of defense against this crazy COVID-19 bug that's infiltrated our masses.

Be safe.

~ Marie Anne

Comfortghans ready to go for two little girls

Here are two blankets from squares I've made and that have been donated by others that I put together for two little girls who lost their firefighter father when first responders were ambushed by an arsonist in New York.

These little comfortghans will be winging their way soon to my point of contact in Rochester, along with larger afghans for the wife/families.

If you want to be a part of this group that is sending comfort-ghans to those suffering a loss, visit the Facebook group Hands, Hearts, and Hugs to see what we're up to.  You don't have to know how to knit or crochet; all kinds of support is welcome, and monetary donations can help with shipping costs.

Happy stitching!

~ Marie Anne

More Super Easy Scarf Patterns to Crochet

I've been on a scarf kick this past week and made up a few that I'll donate to charity.  I wrote up two very simple scarf patterns that anyone can do, even as a first crochet project.  They both work up quick enough that you can make several in a weekend.

These two photos are of my Couldn't-Be-Easier Jiffy Scarf, and the title says it all!  More photos in different yarn colors can be found at the pattern site by clicking the link.

The photo below is of a scarf pattern that I had published previously, but I moved it to another location.  You can find the pattern and more photos at Easy One Skein Scarf to Crochet. 

I've already made a couple of these this weekend and will be making more, and will donate all of them to charity.  It only takes a single skein of yarn to make either of these scarf patterns and using a fairly large crochet hook makes them go quickly, so they're good choices to make in large numbers.

~ Marie Anne

More Hats and Free Pattern

I'm still working on hats this week to go with the scarves I'd been making for Sandy at Bridge and Beyond, and  wrote down the pattern for the simple ribbed pattern I worked up.

In addition to the two hats I posted about last week,  here's the rest of what I have completed to send off in the next day or two.

The forest green and two striped hats are made from the pattern I just published tonight:  Easy Ribbed Hat With Variations. It's a super simple pattern in HDC, but you can pretty it up with color, stripes, flecked or variegated yarn.

The last one I finished earlier today was the black/olive/beige striped to match the scarf, and I'll be writing up that pattern next, so watch for that post in another day or two.

I think that makes a total of five hats and three scarves, but I might have a few scarves in my stash from last year that I can toss into the mix too.

October's project of the month at Bridge and Beyond will be mittens.  Mittens and I don't get along too well, so if anyone has free patterns that are super simple, please toss them my way!



To play along on Work-in-Progress Wednesday, make your blog post for Wednesday be about something you're working on - some type of craft, renovation project, landscaping, even that novel you're writing. You can play along even if it’s not Wednesday; I leave each WIP up until the following week. Copy the code below Rosie's picture and paste it into your blog post so that others can follow too, and see the rest of the projects that are posted here.

<br /> <a href="http://crookedyarn.com/" target="_top"> <img src="http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y138/Ldyjarhead/Crochet/WIPWed.jpg" /> </a>

Make sure to click 'You are next' below to add your link here so my readers can follow it to your blog post. Note 

Several of you are signing up at the bottom but you’re not putting the WIP Wednesday link on your own blog. If you don’t, your readers won’t be led back here to see what others are doing and what WIP Wednesday is all about. It’s not hard, just copy the code beneath the photo above and paste it into your blog post. If you’re having trouble, please let me know and I’ll try to walk you through it.

Have Hats, Need Crochet Hat Pattern

I made two hats yesterday to put in with the few scarves I've finished for Sandy over at Bridge and Beyond to donate to the homeless and others less fortunate in Ohio. These two were made with my own Classy Cloche pattern.

I love this pattern and it's very simple to make, but I don't think it's a good pattern for a man's hat.  I'd like to get a few men's hats done this week so I can get it all to Sandy before the end of the month, but I don't have a man's crochet hat pattern that I like.

I need something easy, so if you have a favorite man's hat pattern that's free, please share it.    Ribbed would be good as I think they have more 'give' to them while still being warm, but I'm open to other ideas.  I've looked at a few, but haven't found just the right one yet.  Help me out  here!

First Scarf of the Season

I mentioned yesterday that I was going to start to crochet scarves to donate to Bridge and Beyond and got one finished and another all but finished, but I'm going to tear out part of the second one.  I switched up the stripes and it ended up being wider than I wanted, so I'm going to play with it to see how much I can salvage before ripping the whole thing apart to start again.

This scarf is a simple striped pattern (that I'll write up and publish here shortly), and is a great way to use up smaller bits of yarn in your stash.  Here's what I did in grays and black:

You can get a completely different look by varying the colors, and whether you put the darker colors on the outside or inside.  I've got lots of stash to play with, so you'll be seeing more of this in various color schemes.  It's another damp day, so I'll be in the recliner finishing up at least one more scarf today.

Gave Up and Moving On

Last week I posted about a new pattern of my own that I was trying to work up.  It seemed like such a simple thing in my head, but getting it to work out with hook and yarn was quite another.  Rather than get more frustrated, I'm putting that aside for a bit and going to move on to something I do know how to crochet - scarves!

Sandy over at Bridge and Beyond collects knit and crochet projects year around for the homeless and less fortunate in the greater Columbus area so I thought I'd go through my stash and see how many scarves I could whip up for her.  The cold weather will be here in Ohio before you know it and a warm scarf would be welcomed by those who spend the bulk of their day outside.

It's been chilly and rainy here and more of the same expected today, so a perfect day to stay inside and crochet.  I haven't decided which pattern(s) to use yet but will likely try a few with different color combinations, perhaps stripes going the long way.  I've got enough yarn in my stash that I should be able to complete several to donate this month.  I'm anxious to see what I can do with smaller bits of yarn and will likely end up with more than one 'scarf of many colors'.

What're you up to this week?  Getting ready for fall?

To play along on Work-in-Progress Wednesday, make your blog post for Wednesday be about something you're working on - some type of craft, renovation project, landscaping, even that novel you're writing. You can play along even if it’s not Wednesday; I leave each WIP up until the following week. Copy the code below Rosie's picture and paste it into your blog post so that others can follow too, and see the rest of the projects that are posted here.

<br /> <a href="http://macrochet.blogspot.com/" target="_top"> <img src="http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y138/Ldyjarhead/Crochet/WIPWed.jpg" /> </a>

Make sure to click 'You are next' below to add your link here so my readers can follow it to your blog post. 

  ** Note ** Several of you are signing up at the bottom but you’re not putting the WIP Wednesday link on your own blog. If you don’t, your readers won’t be led back here to see what others are doing and what WIP Wednesday is all about. It’s not hard, just copy the code beneath the photo above and paste it into your blog post. If you’re having trouble, please let me know and I’ll try to walk you through it.