Hey has anyone found a good alternative to ravelry yet?
Any knitters here? Years back I had a pattern for an afghan that was reversible. It was knitted front and back at the same time and actually was 2 ply. It was extremely difficult because you had to follow instructions for every stitch. I have searched the net and no luck. Would love to have that pattern again.
Please add me to the list. I sew, since I was a child. Current project is alterations for my daughter’s wedding dress. Wedding is set for 5/23. Plans A seems unlikely, so she’s working on Plan B.
Put me on ping list thx
Ping for later
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Stitch a DIY Fabric-Lined Face Mask in Knit & Crochet https://www.yarnspirations.com/diy-face-masks.html
Excerpt from link:
With the new public health guidelines in the news, we wanted to share a DIY FABRIC-LINED FACE MASK that combines a cotton fabric or fleece lining with your knit or crochet skills. This face mask is intended for use by the public but not for healthcare practitioners. These masks have not been tested but do follow recommendations to use a double to quadruple layer of fabric to prevent the spread of the virus.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has now officially recommended that everyone but infants should wear a cloth mask or face covering in certain public settings.
In light of new data about how COVID-19 spreads, the CDC suggests that simple cloth face coverings are an additional, voluntary public health measure that can help slow the spread of COVID-19 virus. These DIY face masks are not intended to protect you as the wearer; rather, the idea is to “protect the people around you if you are infected but do not have symptoms”.
While wearing a homemade face mask doesn’t come with the same level of protection as medical-grade equipment, it’s incredibly important that surgical masks or N-95 respirators remain reserved for medical personnel, vulnerable populations, and people who have tested positive for the virus. And even with a face covering in place, you should still stay at least 6 feet away from other people, wash your hands often, and practice other everyday preventative actions.
To support in our community doing their part to slow down this pandemic, we have fired up our hooks and needles to create patterns and other resources on stitching face masks for yourself and your loved ones.
Yarn is Not For the Birds (Opinion Piece)
A highly controversial practice is leaving yarn out for the birds to gather to assist building their nests. Some yarn users save their tails and put them outside where birds can gather them up when building their nests. Ultimately, I leave it to your discretion on what you do but I want you to think about a few things.
Birds have been around and nesting most likely before the dawn of what we call humanity.
Yarns many of us use today are acrylic or poly blends. Where fibres have been washed, dyed and made from materials invented by the human species.
While it is natural for a bird to see something that catches their interest to gather or collect. We humans also need to do our part to ensure that birds stay being birds and gather the natural materials that they should be. Whether it’s grasses, sticks, mud and etc.
The Dangers of Yarn
Yarn inside a bird nest can rot the eggs and also kill the baby birds through hyperthermia. Think about it, wet a strand of yarn and leave it out. See how long it takes for that fiber to completely dry. While natural materials in a nest made up fo twigs, grasses and mud will get wet when it rains, the water naturally escapes within a quick time frame keeping the nest relatively dry.
A baby bird can get tangled into the yarn and it’s unnatural. Think about how much effort it takes to break a strand of yarn. A baby has no hope.
A mother bird going to and from the nest while it’s raining can expose the nest to water. The water in the fibers just hangs onto the yarn. It’s like us humans going to take a swim with our jeans on and leaving the jeans on until they fully dry. We will become cold and uncomfortable. Our skin will shrivel and we could likely get sick.
Baby birds can pick at the yarn inside the nest and even swallow it. If they swallow grass or twigs, it’s a natural substance, yarn isn’t and can stay within the gut of a creature.
Most nests that birds do are our of sight of human eyes. So letting a bird take your yarn to make your nest is for whose benefit anyway? Birds are not about home decor of having the nest stand out. They want their nests to blend in with the environment to make them harder to see by predators.
Ultimately The Decision is Yours
Here in Nova Scotia, we are surrounded by so many species of birds such as Eagles, Falcons, Owls, regular tree birds and other critters like Chipmunks, Squirrels, Raccoons, Woodland Mice and even one Ringneck Pheasant that has chosen our property to live on.
Think about the creatures that surround you. Us humans are so used to surrounding ourselves with artificial things that we forget about what is natural to us. We have to let the wildlife be wildlife without too much human intervention. You may accidentally be killing creatures that you may have never seen that live within your region. Just something to think about.
Diana Here: I never knew this! I keep dryer lint when I dry a load of cotton towels and toss that our for the birds, but I guess I won’t do that anymore, either, just to be safe.
I have a number of small nests (found!) that have my Black Lab’s shed fur in them, and also one that has tail hairs from the Mule woven in. Nature is amazing; She’s the best ‘recycler’ there is! :)