Face Mask

August 19, 2021

 I hear you Angela. 😊

Yesterday, I published a DIY article. It was about making a face mask dispenser, here is the link for easy access.

https://read.cash/@Judith1969/face-mask-dispenser-b1f3c5ea

Plenty have commented but one comment stick in mind. It was from @aj_u2 asking me to make a crocheted face mask.

I do crochet face masks. In fact I sold plenty of it already. Thanks to Angela as she reminds me to write down the pattern and publish it here.

The first few masks that I crocheted was during the eruption of Taal Volcano. Covid19 was not in the news yet. This was the time when Kn95 masks were in demand due to the ashes that the volcano has spit out.

Soon the sellers took advantage of the demand, they sell the kn95 so expensively. But even though it was so expensive in the market still the supply dwindled. The mask is no longer available in the market. The suppliers cannot just cope up with the demand.

My cousins in Manila seek help from us here in Cebu to secure them the kn95 mask, but unfortunately, we were not able to find even a single kn95.

I thought of duplicating the kn95 thru crochet, hence my first face mask has bra pads attached to it. It will make the ashes from the volcano difficult to enter the mask.

This is the first mask pattern I created. I called the pattern Mask for Batangas.

Mask for Batangas

Pattern

Using 8 ply cotton yarn and 4mm hook

Note : chain 1 at the beginning of each round.

Chain 14

R1 – Half double crochet (HDC) in the second chain from hook, HDC across (13 HDC)

R2 - HDC across (13HDC)

R3 – Inc. HDC, HDC 11, Inc. HDC (15 HDC)

R4 – Inc. HDC, HDC 13, Inc. HDC (17 HDC)

R5 – Inc. HDC, HDC 15, Inc. HDC (19 HDC)

R6 – Inc. HDC, HDC 17, Inc. HDC (21 HDC)

R7 – HDC across (21 HDC)

R8 – Inc. HDC, HDC 19, Inc. HDC (23 HDC)

R9 – HDC across (23 HDC)

R10 - Inc. HDC, HDC 21, Inc. HDC (25 HDC)

R11 & 12 - HDC across (25 HDC)

R13 – Dec. HDC, HDC 21, Dec. HDC (23 HDC)

R14 – HDC across (23 HDC)

R15 – Dec. HDC, HDC 19 Dec., HDC (21 HDC)

R16 – HDC across (21 HDC)

R17 – Dec. HDC, HDC 17, Dec. HDC (19 HDC)

R18 – Dec. HDC, HDC 15, Dec. HDC (17 HDC)

R19 – Dec. HDC, HDC 13, Dec. HDC (15 HDC)

R20 – Dec. HDC, HDC 11, Dec. HDC (13 HDC)

 R21 - HDC across (13 HDC)

Chain 32, single crochet at the opposite side - this will be the first ear holder.

Single crochet until the next corner.

Chain 32, single crochet at the opposite side - this will be the second ear holder.

Single crochet until the next corner.

Slip stitch. F. O.

 I sent more than 20 masks to my cousins. I posted this on my facebook page and when a friend who was about to travel to Manila saw it, she ordered several masks for her and her companions.

Even though our friends and families in Manila are still facing the daily ashes erupted by the volcano, covid19 enters the Philippines. The demand for masks has massively increased. Now, even the surgical masks were sold three times their original price. So many has looked for other alternatives.

Soon a reseller contacted and bought from me too but since it really took time to make one and the demand was so high, she made one herself but not crocheted. She has her dressmaker sew her masks.

This time I also created another pattern for face mask. There are no bra paddings on this one but an insert pocket is attached so that a cloth or hankie or tissue can be inserted for double protection.

This pattern is just simply name Face Mask pattern.

The Pattern

 chain 41

 rnd 1 – SC IN THE SECOND CHAIN FROM HOOK, SC IN THE NEXT 4 st; hdc in the next 5 STs; dc in the next 20 sts; hdc in the next 5 st; sc in the next 5 sts. (40 st)

 Having single crochet on both ends will form a curve on both sides. Half double crochet is inserted before the double crochet stitches in order to have a gradual increase in height.

rnd 2 – CH 1, turn. sc in bl in the next 5 sts; hdc IN BOTH LOOPS in the next 5 STs; dc in the next 20 sts; hdc in the next 5 st; sc in the next 5 sts. (40 st)

 Just keep on repeating the rnd 2 pattern until you reach the width of the mask that you would prefer.

In my case, I repeat the pattern until the 9th round.

rnd 3 – 9 – REPEAT RND 2.

 In the next round we will start with the same stitches as the previous rounds but we will decrease the stitches at the middle of the round. So instead of having 20 double crochets, we will first make 8 double crochet then crochet 2 double crochet together. This will decrease the count of the double crochet. Do this one more time before proceeding with another 8 double crochets.

rnd 10 - CH 1, turn. sc in bl in the next 5 sts; hdc IN BOTH LOOPS in the next 5 STs; dc in the next 8 sts, dc2tog 2X, DC IN THE NEXT 8 STS ; hdc in the next 5 st; sc in the next 5 sts. (38 st)

This is the last round. In this round we will crochet the ear loops. You may increase or decrease the number of chains for the ear loop.

RND 11 CH 1, TURN, SC ON BOTH LOOPS ACROSS, CHAIN 40, SC ON THE OPPOSITE SIDE OF THE MASK, SC ACROSS, CHAIN 40 AND SL ST AT THE BEGINNING OF THE ROUND.

I didn’t do the pocket insert this time as I will still be using surgical mask under it.

But if you want to place the pocket insert, just chain 23 and double crochet in 5th chain from hook, chain 1 skip 1 chain and double crochet in the next loop, do this until the end of the chain. Chain 4 and repeat the process of double crochet chain 1 in the next 9 rounds. Fasten off. Make sure to leave a long tail for sewing on both ends. Just sew in the pocket insert and then you are done.

And that is my face mask. It was quite a demand during the start of the pandemic too.

That’s all for now folks.

Thanks for dropping by.

 I am forever grateful to these beautiful people who extends their support and love. You guys ROCK!

Thanks for the 🧡🧡🧡.