Face Mask

Hi, folks. A bit of personal news: I had a mild case of COVID-19 or something very similar. I haven't been tested, so it's impossible to know for certain, but I'm fairly sure that's what it was. I'm fine. I wasn't that sick, and I've fully recovered.

It's been a while since I've blogged, but I haven't been idle. I've actually finished knitting a cardigan except for sewing on the buttons. Since I need to go to a physical store to find the right ones, that will have to wait until the lockdown is over.

In the meantime, here's my homemade face mask. Although I can't catch the virus anymore or spread it by breathing, sneezing, or coughing (it's still possible for me to spread it by touching contaminated surfaces or people and then touching other surfaces or people, so I'm still limiting my trips), I've had to make one so that I can catch the bus to go the grocery store. They've recently started limiting the number of people allowed on the buses, and knowing our local bus drivers*, I'm sure some of them will use the limits as an excuse not to pick up anyone they don't like the look of, so I'll be wearing a mask when travelling by bus.

*These are the same people who threatened to strike during the Great Recession because they thought they weren't being paid enough, nevermind that they were making twice what the average worker did plus benefits and they were lucky to even have jobs. Some drivers were also calling for the entire transit system to be shut down at the beginning of the coronavirus lockdown, nevermind that would have stranded many essential workers and those who depend on the buses to make essential trips. Except for helping the occasional person in a wheelchair, the drivers normally have no contact with passengers, and since the lockdown started, the front of the buses have been roped off and passengers are boarding at the back plus the buses are being disinfected regularly, so the drivers aren't in any more danger than the rest of us.

Anyhow, here's my mask. I used this pattern. I skipped step 4 since I sew everything by hand and didn't have to worrying about the layers shifting. I used fabric out of my stash.