YARN: Ripping out and reconstructing projects

 Knit this hat a couple of years ago. But this year since I cut off 7 inches of hair last June- it no longer fit it came down over my eyes. Well this one was a bitch because the yarn once washed sticks to itself. I actually had to cut off a couple of inches hoping I could rescue enough yarn to finish the hat! Found another small ball of it anyhow but...

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ripped out green very soft wool hat too and finished knitting that to a smaller/shorter size.This one completely deconstructed. 50 stitches on #11 shiny needles to  5-6 inches then switch to #10-1/2 needles. I little "bump" at the top big enough for a messy bun LOL

Green one complete and my kind of perfect.

January 7 2021

While we are at it ripped out another older project that shrunk the wrong way- a cowl. Beautiful yarn that will now be a scarf. Actually as I am typing this I anm thinking of ripping it out and using larger needles. LOL

more later after it is ripped out again.

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got this far with the above rip out and ripped it out again- determined this time to make socks. photos of that progress later

the yarn sure is sturdy! LOL

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February 11 2021

Had knit these neck warmers years ago like maybe 10 years ago. First wanted them to be hats then a long neck warmer and then 3 separate neck warmers. Well decided this morning to rip them apart and I want to make sleep socks with the Lion Brand Wool Ease which I do not see in the stores anymore.

My hands and shoulders feel the effects from ripping the magenta one apart so I will take these easy does it :)

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February 16 2021

I was re sorting my yarn collection this morning and decided to make use of this fine lavender blue wool. I think I remember my mother making a sweater out of it. And as is usual in these cases bought more than enough yarn. So what was left over I made a neck warmer. Never wore it - it was too short. So decided to make drawstring at on end and turn it into a hat. It is lovely yarn.

Okay those three neck warmers above. I ripped out the magenta one that got 2 balls of yarn for part of making some socks. I tried to unravel the orange one and it was too tough- too many snags and sticking together. So I gave up and reinforced the "loops" and then sewed the top together to make a square. Somewhat like the pussy cat hats of a few years ago. Looks too much like a court jester so I divided it into quarters and secured in a V type top. The blue one I will leave as a neck warmer. Tired of dealing with this yarn

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the yellow wool sock progress

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Completed sleep socks

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SEW: The making of a poncho and a hat.

 A  couple of months ago I bought some purple polar fleece material to make dolls. yes dolls. Well that never happened and my second thought was making another polar fleece hat for myself- they block wind better. BUT lastly- one morning I was sitting here freezing my back off. I hate hate hate being cold but especially the area between my shoulder blades and of course my stomach. So I thought fuck it- how hard could  this be. I draped the material over my shoulders to get an idea of how big it should be each way. I think the stuff is sold in 60 inch widths. I had a little over a yard. Seemed like less than 36 inches would be fine for covering my back. So I had 12 inches left. And decided to make a hat too. 

BIG mistake.

The poncho turned out fine and I hand washed it today and it will take a couple of days to dry as we get maybe 3  hours total of sun on a "sunny" day LOL

Long story short on the hat. After multiple attempts to machine sew through 4 layers I gave up and had to stitch rip the entire thing good grief that was awful. So tense from doing that among other things I slept maybe 30 minutes that night. shoot me now.

the hat ugh

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December 22 2020

finally got around to making 2 hats out of the one big mistake. Good enough for under another hat as a wind breaker. Lesson learned. The material rolls no matter how big a seam allowance. It is awful. So if I attempt this again I will try to find polar fleece that is fluffier and maybe hand stitch. In the process of doing this I went to finish two  wool knit hats and could not find my wool yarn needle. I looked everywhere obviously not where I found it- but it ended up in the container where I keep straight pins. Pins I rarely use and find a pin cushion even more ungainly than this way of storage but you do prick your fingers constantly reaching in for one fucking pin.

The pattern I got the idea from a woman on youtube she was elaborate. I just traced a hat I had that fit and stitched up each side leaving a gap at the top or about 2-3 inches. Then you sew that closed into 4 corners if that makes sense. It is a work in progress.

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SEW: MASKS WITH LINKS TO OTHER POSTS 2020 DECEMBER

 October post

November post

Photos of masks from day 1

tee shirt sleeve mask- the most comfortable but does not cover enough of my face- to my liking

various baby blanket flannel ones- impossible to breathe with these. Likely will be window rags.

then the bandanna ones that are likely too thin to be effective but are good in an emergency while out for a walk. Very flimsy.

then the two as mentioned before that I wore steadily every time I was out. Just rectangles but tied and kept in place with a messy bun- they were fine.

Then I got creative with the new material and did pleated ones and form fitting one. Still have to work out some kinks

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New material picked up last Sunday

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December 14 2020

While doing errands this past weekend I come back here and wash all my masks. Wore 6 of them- I was in so many different stores and in lines. As I washed them I noticed one of the ties that was grosgrain was unraveling! yikes. A LOT! So I googled and found this video using a candle! Gonna try it. I was going to machine sew the ends but dreaded that tedious job. And a facebook friend suggested using liquid stitch witchery. I just do not want rough edges near my face- I do have a bottle of that but use it for emergency seam and hem repair.

fixing grosgrain fray

Also noticed that the  purple form fitting mask is the MOST comfortable. I hope I can duplicate it!

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grograin fix

January 11 2021

Made another mask with the outer space theme. Finished looks like it may ride high on my face, I can always alter it

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Made a few masks since the above. This is a sample of the material I use. I buy what I guess are "quilt squares" at Joann Fabrics. They are 100% cotton and 20x20. Perfect size for one mask. plus self ties. This batch had a surprise- no matter how I folded it I would lose a couple of inches of material. grrr

Some of the material is very stiff even after a few washings. Which does help to keep its shape but is not soft on the face. oh well.

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March 4 2021

Made the last purple mask using the yard of material I bought I think it made 4-5 masks. Living dangerously with the thread running so low. But did finished and then had to wind another bobbin and top stitch with white.

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March 29 2021

One mask made from yellow material and using the accordian pleat pattern was almost impossible to wear just to thick and big so I took it apart and remade it.

used rainbow ribbon yarn given to me- then found that too hard to tie securely and ended up making self ties with the same material.

I think I took apart another yellow pleated one. That material was so thick!

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July 14 2021

made a mask with outer space theme again. sewing along merrily and doing the top stitch along the edges and notice loops egads. Had to rip it out and re do the top stitch. either the machine became  un done when I had to thread the needle so many times or the bobbins was upside down. now I know to check THAT each time and the bobbin is supposed to spin counter clockwise.

The harvest table mess too

I have to remember to cut all ties 2 inches wide so I can fold into the center from each side and them  fold in half and top stitch the length. It has taken me at least 20 masks to get that right, hmmm

 July

Material bought for masks. looks Summery

2 masks made in July with ties that do not match on purpose

black and white one feels soft

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September 25

Had to buy a new sewing machine the old Genie failed. timing off and too tedious for me to tackle. While in the store I needles more material for masks, a needle threader and thread.

purple material will be for ties

bonus- those cardboard squares come in handy.

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September 22 2021

made a mask and it takes 50 minutes if it has already been cut out LOL Not a money maker if I did that. But these are just for me. This shows the process of turning it right side out.

October 4

update on mask selections LOL

the lightweights

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October 6

took an hour but made a Halloween mask. machine came unthreaded LOL

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November

trip to Hyannis on errands and picked up some new quilting squares for making masks.

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