Shala K. Howell's Blog, page 9
July 4, 2020
My red, white, and blue garden
Happy 4th of July!
[image error]The hydrangeas look especially red this year. My daughter tells me that last year, they had a mix of blue and red flowers, so something about the soil must be different this year. (Photo: Shala Howell)
[image error]Some bunny’s been eating the daisies in the patch by the fence, but they have kindly agreed to leave these alone — at least for now. (Photo: Shala Howell)
[image error]We have an especially large crop of Lily of the Nile this year. (Photo: Shala Howell)
I hope today finds you and your family as well as can be expected.
Related Links:
More Wordless Wednesdays on Caterpickles
Wordless Wednesday: My red, white, and blue garden
Happy 4th of July!
[image error]The hydrangeas look especially red this year. My daughter tells me that last year, they had a mix of blue and red flowers, so something about the soil must be different this year. (Photo: Shala Howell)
[image error]Some bunny’s been eating the daisies in the patch by the fence, but they have kindly agreed to leave these alone — at least for now. (Photo: Shala Howell)
[image error]We have an especially large crop of Lily of the Nile this year. (Photo: Shala Howell)
I hope today finds you and your family as well as can be expected.
Related Links:
More Wordless Wednesdays on Caterpickles
July 1, 2020
Wordless Wednesday: Something Beautiful
Posting will be light this week and next, as I’m taking a few days to work on some less fun, but still important administrative tasks for our family. I hope to resume a more regular posting schedule July 10th.
Until then, be well.
[image error]This sunflower I grew turned out to be immensely tall, despite daily visits from a couple of hungry Lesser Goldfinches. (Photo: Michael Howell)
Related Links:
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June 24, 2020
Wordless Wednesday: Wear a mask, y’all
[image error]My husband spotted this lovely little piece of public art, thoughtfully updated for the pandemic while biking about town this past weekend. (Photo: Michael Howell)
I hope you and yours are still doing as well as can be expected.
Related Links:
More Wordless Wednesdays on Caterpickles
June 18, 2020
Who ate my lettuce?: A Caterpickles Investigative Report, Conclusion
If you’re just joining us, a crime has been committed in my vegetable garden. Somebody’s been eating my lettuce and it wasn’t me.
[image error](Photo: Shala Howell)
The Suspects
Each of these suspicious characters was spotted in our backyard by reliable eye witnesses over Memorial Day Weekend.
[image error](Photos: Michael and The Thirteen-Year-Old Howell. Wanted Poster template via Pinterest)
In previous posts, we assessed what role, if any the Lesser Goldfinch, the Pocket Gopher, and the Brush Rabbit might have played.
Our Preliminary Assessments
The Lesser Goldfinch: Inspector Finch had the means and opportunity, but not the motive. When it comes to foliage, Lesser Goldfinch know what they like and what they like are sunflower leaves, not lettuce. That said, Lesser Goldfinch have superior mimicking and flocking skills, and I wouldn’t put it past him to have told other critters in the neighborhood who are fond of lettuce about the lettuce buffet waiting for them in my garden.
The Pocket Gopher: Professor Grumpy had the means, motive, and the opportunity to raid my lettuce patch at night, but the method of the crime doesn’t really fit. My lettuce plants were eaten leaf-down, not roots-up. So while I suspect Professor Grumpy knows more about the crime than he’s telling, I also don’t really think he did it.
The Brush Rabbit: Colonel Cottontail had the opportunity, the motive, and may have had the means to do the crime. However, the forensic evidence (the nature of the damage to the lettuce leaves themselves) wasn’t as clear-cut as I’d like. If he played a part, he didn’t act alone. A much messier eater was also involved.
Which brings us to today’s alleged perpetrator…
The Squirrel: Nutsy McGee, AKA Agent Fussy
[image error]Suspect Profile for Nutsy McGee, AKA Agent Fussy. (Source for the details in the profile: Bay Nature and the Western Gray Squirrel Profile on Animalia.bio. Suspect Photo: Michael Howell. Suspect Profile: Shala Howell)
I’m just going to say it flat out. I’m pretty convinced Nutsy is the leader of our Lettuce-Pilfering Criminal Syndicate. Still, he deserves a fair trial so let’s examine the evidence.
Can we place Nutsy at the scene of the crime?
Nutsy and his squirrel buddies have been all over our backyard lately. There’s always at least one squirrel out there, taunting the cat through our windows, launching pine cones from the treetops, grabbing a tasty snack from our bird feeder, and fighting over who gets the prime seating on our fence.
Did Nutsy have motive to eat the lettuce?
Squirrels are notorious for eating things not meant for them — birdseed, tomatoes, herbs, flowers, cat food, garbage, electrical wire. Sure, Nutsy prefers to eat pine nuts, acorns, and those truffle-like fungi that grow underground at the base of trees. But it’s not exactly a stretch to imagine Nutsy snacking on my lettuce patch.
From Nutsy’s point of view, my lettuce was probably one of the more appropriate foods available to him in my back yard. Especially since he’s already eaten up all the birdseed.
Did he have the opportunity?
Absolutely. We are in and out of the backyard all day, but Nutsy doesn’t care. Having someone to aim those enormous Coulter pine cones at makes life more fun.
Did he have the means?
My containers have 12 inch high walls and are stationed on a 20 inch high platform. This poses no obstacle for Nutsy. He’s a world-famous climber. The key point for him is that those plants are uncovered.
So did he do it?
To figure out whether or not Nutsy actually did it, we have to look at the physical evidence: the plants themselves.
Some of the chomps are neat, a few of the plants are completely eaten down to the stalks, and one plant disappeared entirely overnight. I still think Colonel Cottontail could be to blame for those.
But other plants, like this one, are only half-eaten. The leaves on those plants look more raggedy than clipped. That looks like Nutsy’s work to me. He’s notorious for only eating part of his dinner.
[image error](Photo: Shala Howell)
In researching the dining preferences of squirrels, I’ve learned that squirrels love digging in containers, and are especially fond of digging up young plants so that they can bury their nuts there instead. I deposed of the evidence before I realized what I was looking at, but there was at least one poor little yellow plant that had been uprooted and left to wilt next to a freshly dug little round hole. Classic Nutsy.
The weight of the evidence certainly points to Nutsy’s heavy involvement, with a possible assist from Colonel Cottontail. But the real reason I suspect Nutsy is this: Over Memorial Day weekend, Michael caught him lying flat on his stomach on our fence.
At first we thought he had a tummy ache from eating all our lettuce, and needed a little rest. But further research revealed that squirrels also lie down like this when they’re trying to hide.
[image error]Nutsy McGee (AKA Agent Fussy) hiding like a preschooler after his latest lettuce binge. (Photo: Michael Howell)
That squirrel may think he’s hiding, but I’ve got news for you, buddy. I can still see you, and I know what you did this summer.
So whodunnit?
[image error](Photos: Michael and The Thirteen-Year-Old Howell. Wanted Poster template via Pinterest)
The squirrel and the rabbit at midnight, with possible assists from a chatty Lesser Goldfinch and a conveniently blind and mute pocket gopher.
Related Links:
Are Fox Squirrels replacing grey squirrels in California? (Bay Nature)Keeping squirrels out of the garden (Bonnie Plants)Western Gray Squirrel (Animalia.bio)Are artichokes and pine cones related? (Caterpickles)Who ate my lettuce? A Caterpickles Investigative Report (Part III) (Caterpickles)Who ate my lettuce? A Caterpickles Investigative Report (Part II) (Caterpickles)Who ate my lettuce? A Caterpickles Investigative Report (Part 1) (Caterpickles)What is a Victory Garden and do I need one to survive 2020? (Caterpickles)
June 16, 2020
Who ate my lettuce?: A Caterpickles Investigative Report, Part III
If you’re just joining us, a crime has been committed in my vegetable garden. Somebody’s been eating my lettuce and it wasn’t me.
[image error](Photo: Shala Howell)
The Suspects
Each of these suspicious characters was spotted in our backyard by reliable eye witnesses over Memorial Day Weekend.
[image error](Photos: Michael and The Thirteen-Year-Old Howell. Wanted Poster template via Pinterest)
In previous posts, we assessed what role, if any the Lesser Goldfinch and the Pocket Gopher might have played.
Our Preliminary Assessments
The Lesser Goldfinch: Inspector Finch had the means and opportunity, but not the motive. When it comes to foliage, Lesser Goldfinch know what they like and what they like are sunflower leaves, not lettuce. That said, goldfinch have superior mimicking and flocking skills, and I wouldn’t put it past Inspector Finch to have notified other critters in the neighborhood who do eat lettuce of a potential feast in my lettuce patch.
The Pocket Gopher: Professor Grumpy had the means, motive, and the opportunity to raid my lettuce patch at night, but the method of the crime doesn’t really fit. My lettuce plants were eaten leaf-down, not roots-up. So while I suspect Professor Grumpy knows more about the crime than he’s telling, I also don’t really think he did it.
Which brings us to today’s alleged perpetrator…
The Rabbit: Elvis Hoppy-Pants III, AKA Colonel Cottontail
[image error]Suspect Profile for Elvis Hoppy-Pants, AKA Colonel Cottontail (Source for the details in the profile: University of California Agricultural and Natural Resources Rabbit Management page. Suspect Photo: Michael Howell. Suspect Profile: Shala Howell)
Rabbits are notoriously fond of lettuce, especially the dark leafy green kinds I used to have in my garden. I would be amazed if Colonel Cottontail doesn’t come into this nefarious scheme somehow.
Let’s examine the evidence.
Can we place Colonel Cottontail at the scene of the crime?
Sadly, my raised garden is stationed on a concrete slab and it’s been super dry lately so I couldn’t find any rabbit tracks at the actual scene of the crime. But there are plenty of rabbit tracks in other parts of the yard, along with many photographs of him scoping out the view from our back deck.
[image error]Colonel Cottontail scoping out the target, or maybe feeling disappointed that the clover in the palm tree pot he ravaged last week hasn’t grown back yet. (Photo: Michael Howell)
Technically, my back deck isn’t the scene of the crime, but it’s within a few hops of it.
Elvis Hoppy-Pants III (AKA Colonel Cottontail) could have done it.
Did Colonel Cottontail have motive to eat the lettuce?
Absolutely. Rabbits love to eat clover, which until last week I had in abundant supply growing around the base of my potted palm tree. Having already ravaged the clover, Colonel Cottontail would have been in the market for some other form of sustenance. Cafe Howell doesn’t stock berries, but we do have cilantro, lettuce, and parsley growing in the container garden. Plenty of food to entice an enterprising young rabbit with a gnawing sensation where his belly should be.
Did he have the opportunity?
Absolutely. We are in and out of the backyard all day, but rarely hang out there at night. Colonel Cottontail prefers to eat at night anyway, so while he may stop by to scope out the place in the daytime, he’s content to wait until Cafe Howell officially opens for the starlight seating.
But did he have the means? Could Colonel Cottontail even reach my container garden?
My containers have 12 inch high walls and are stationed on a 20 inch high platform. At first glance, you’d think those 32 inches would be plenty to make rabbits a non-issue. After all, standard guidance for building rabbit-proof fencing is to install a fence a mere 24 inches high.
Turns out, that when properly motivated by food or predators, rabbits can climb. The catch is, they aren’t especially good at it. Still, rabbits have been known to climb fences, walls, and trees by getting a running start, taking a flying leap, and hoping they land on something that will let them take another jump to get even higher.
Because the platform that supports my container garden is wider than the containers themselves, there’s plenty of space for an enterprising rabbit to land on. Assuming Colonel Cottontail could make that first 20-inch leap (the highest known jump by a rabbit is 39.2 inches), conquering the next stage would be child’s play.
So did he do it?
To figure out whether or not Colonel Cottontail actually did it, we have to look at the physical evidence.
There are no droppings in my container garden (thank goodness), so we have to examine the leaf remnants themselves.
[image error]That open space up there used to have two lettuce plants in it. (Photo: Shala Howell)
While some of the chomps are neat and at least one plant disappeared entirely overnight (one of Colonel Cottontail’s favorite tricks), several of the remaining lettuce leaves look more raggedy than clipped.
Rabbits apparently snip their lettuce leaves so neatly it looks like I did it myself with hand clippers. According to the University of California Agriculture and Pest Management website, when Colonel Cottontail chomps through lettuce, he uses his incisors to make a distinctive 45 degree cut.
Some of the stalks look like they might have been clipped by a rabbit, but those raggedy edges on the leaves of the plant in the lower left hand corner tell a different story. Colonel Cottontail likely played a role in this, but he didn’t act alone. I think we may be facing a highly coordinated Lettuce-Pilfering Criminal Syndicate.
And that brings us to Nutsy McGee
As any self-respecting dog (or puppy-sized cat) can tell you, it always comes down to the squirrel.
Did Nutsy McGee do it? Find out in the final episode of “Who ate my lettuce?”
Related Links:
Keeping rabbits out of the garden (Bonnie Plants)Can rabbits climb trees, walls, or fences? (Pets Mentor)Rabbits (University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources Statewide Integrated Pest Management Program)Who ate my lettuce? A Caterpickles Investigative Report (Part II) (Caterpickles)Who ate my lettuce? A Caterpickles Investigative Report (Part 1) (Caterpickles)What is a Victory Garden and do I need one to survive 2020? (Caterpickles)
June 14, 2020
Who ate my lettuce?: A Caterpickles Investigative Report, Part II
If you’re just joining us, a crime has been committed in my vegetable garden. Somebody’s been eating my lettuce and it wasn’t me.
[image error](Photo: Shala Howell)
The Suspects
Each of these suspicious characters was spotted in our backyard by reliable eye witnesses over Memorial Day Weekend.
[image error](Photos: Michael and The Thirteen-Year-Old Howell. Wanted Poster template via Pinterest)
The Finch is in the clear (more or less)
In our last post, we assessed what role, if any Speckles Madison (AKA Inspector Finch) might have played.
While Inspector Finch had the means and the opportunity (no newbie gardener would boot a Lesser Goldfinch from their garden), it’s not clear that he had the motive. When it comes to foliage, Lesser Goldfinch know what they like and what they like are sunflower leaves, not lettuce.
That said, Inspector Finch could have used his bird call-mimicking skills to summon a flock of ne’er-do-well American Goldfinch, rabbits, squirrels, and other critters who do enjoy a spot of lettuce in their diet. And there’s no getting past that one plant that seemed to have been uprooted and toted off overnight.
No goldfinch is going to do that. At least not alone. At best the Lesser Goldfinch is an accomplice. Our real criminal is an excellent digger.
Which brings us to today’s potential villain…
The Gopher: Bardo Field, AKA Professor Grumpy
[image error]Suspect Profile for Bardo Field, AKA Professor Grumpy. (Source for the details in the profile: The Pacific Grove Museum of Natural History’s Gopher page. Suspect Photo: The Thirteen-Year-Old Howell. Suspect Profile: Shala Howell)
You may remember that last year we had an issue with a gopher (“Is that weird beastie in my yard a vole, a mole, or a gopher?“). We didn’t see him much over the winter, but last week The Thirteen-Year-Old reported that the gopher (AKA Professor Grumpy) was back — enticed no doubt, by the sweet smell of the lettuce and onions growing merrily away in my garden.
Could the gopher have done it?
Gophers don’t jump, but they can climb, so my raised bed wouldn’t necessarily be a deterrent.
But did Professor Grumpy have a motive?
According to the Pacific Grove Museum of Natural History, a gopher’s diet consists mainly of earthworms, vegetables, roots, stems, leaves, grasses, and herb-like flowering plants like alfalfa dandelion and prickly pear cactus.
“Vegetables” implies lettuce, but it doesn’t exactly scream it, so I did a little more digging to verify Professor Grumpy’s dietary preferences.
According to Pestnet, gophers eat a shocking amount of food — more than half their body weight every day. Sure, a lot of that food ends up being earthworms and soft-shelled insects, but there’s also a lot of plants in the mix. In the garden, gophers mostly eat root vegetables like carrots, onions, and sweet potatoes, but they will also happily devour lettuce, if a lettuce plant happens to be in their path. They are also prone to ripping out entire plants and hauling them off to their burrows for later feasting, which might explain my missing lettuce plant.
So far, so good. Still, there are a couple of problems…
Problem #1: Professor Grumpy’s burrows don’t reach my vegetable patch
Gophers tend to eat the food already in the path of their burrows. Professor Grumpy’s burrows in the back yard, while more extensive than they have any business being, don’t come anywhere near my vegetable garden (yet).
Problem #2: Gophers tend to eat their food roots-first.
My remaining lettuce plants were definitely nibbled leaf-down.
So unless Professor Grumpy left the safety of his burrow, traveled several feet in the open across the yard, and climbed the sides of my 32-inch high raised container garden so that he could eat the plants top-down rather than roots-up, he isn’t to blame for this.
However, gophers are nocturnal by nature, and my lettuce disappeared overnight, which means Professor Grumpy was likely roaming around when the crime was committed.
Which raises the question…
What did Professor Grumpy know and when did he know it?
I still think Professor Grumpy knows more than he’s telling. Just look at those furtive eyes and those handy pocket cheeks. If he doesn’t have my entire lettuce plant tucked in those cheeks, he knows who does.
[image error](Photo: The Thirteen-Year-Old Howell)
And that brings us to that rascally rabbit
Rabbits are notoriously fond of lettuce, especially the dark leafy green kinds I used to have in my garden. I would be amazed if Colonel Cottontail doesn’t come into this nefarious scheme somehow.
Could Colonel Cottontail really jump high enough? Find out in the next episode of “Who ate my lettuce?”
Related Links:
Gophers (Pacific Grove Natural Museum)What do gophers eat? (PestNet)Is that weird beastie in my yard a vole, a mole, or a gopher? (Caterpickles)What is a Victory Garden and do I need one to survive 2020? (Caterpickles)Who ate my lettuce? A Caterpickles Investigative Report (Part 1) (Caterpickles)
June 12, 2020
Who ate my lettuce?: A Caterpickles Investigative Report
Regular readers know that this year I planted my first vegetable garden. So far, only the lettuce has come up, but I had three glorious harvests of it in April and May. Turns out, I may not enjoy cooking, but I love making salads I grew myself.
That May 6 harvest was so bountiful and so tasty that I rashly began making plans to expand my lettuce empire so that I never needed to buy lettuce from the store (during growing season) again.
[image error]I grew that. (Photo: Shala Howell)
Sadly, that harvest was fated to be my last harvest of the spring, although I didn’t realize it at the time.
Somebody’s been eating my lettuce and it wasn’t me
A few days later, I visited my garden to harvest another batch of lettuce and discovered that someone else had gotten there first.
[image error](Photo: Shala Howell)
The lettuce was basically ruined anyway, so I left what remained of it in place as bait to enable me to assemble a Rogues’ Gallery of suspects. Enough of the lettuce grew back by Memorial Day weekend to attract several suspicious characters.
Who ate my lettuce?
Here’s what we know: Each of these nefarious supervillains was spotted in our backyard by reliable eye witnesses over Memorial Day Weekend.
[image error](Photos: Michael and The Thirteen-Year-Old Howell. Wanted Poster template via Pinterest)
Any one of them could have done it. But did they? Over the next few posts, we’ll examine each of the suspects.
Today, we’ll start with The Lesser Goldfinch.
The Lesser Goldfinch: Speckles Madison, AKA Inspector Finch
[image error]Suspect Profile for Speckles Madison, AKA Inspector Finch. (Source for the details in the profile: The Lesser Goldfinch page on Bird Web. Suspect Photo: Michael Howell. Suspect Profile: Shala Howell)
Did Inspector Finch have the means and the opportunity to do it?
Absolutely. All Inspector Finch had to do was fly over to the lettuce patch and start snacking away. We’re a bird-friendly operation over here, so the most he’d be risking, even in daylight, is a little side-eye from our cat and having Michael take his picture while he’s in midst of committing the crime.
I know this, because this is how we reacted when we caught him eating our sunflower plant.
But did he have the motive?
As far as I know, Lesser Goldfinch mostly eat seeds and small insects. Bird Web, the source of the information for Inspector Finch’s suspect profile, makes no mention of them eating leaves.
So what was he doing pecking at the leaves of my sunflower plant over Memorial Day weekend? And if he’d do something like that, what’s to stop him from eating my lettuce?
Do Lesser Goldfinch eat leaves?
Inspector Finch’s attack on my sunflower plant left sizable holes in several of my sunflower plant’s leaves. But in no case did he eat the entire leaf. At first I assumed that he was eating bugs on the plant and that the leaves themselves were just collateral damage.
[image error]Inspector Finch’s work. (Photo: Shala Howell)
But then I stumbled across a blog post asserting that Inspector Finch’s cousin, the American goldfinch, are so notorious for eating lettuce (and other leaves) that the Pennsylvania Dutch nicknamed them salad birds. I would never have believed it, but it did make me wonder if Inspector Finch’s aim all along was a tasty sunflower snack.
Apparently so. According to this article in the San Diego Union-Tribune, Lesser Goldfinch will absolutely eat your sunflower plant’s leaves.
If Inspector Finch would do something despicable like that, what’s to keep him from eating my lettuce?
Inclination, apparently. According to the San Diego Union-Tribune, Lesser Goldfinch don’t share the American Goldfinch’s passion for salad greens in general. They know what they like, and when it comes to foliage, they like sunflower plants.
So is Inspector Finch in the clear?
Not so fast, Caterpickles Investigative Report Readers. Don’t forget Inspector Finch’s facility for mimicking bird calls. He could have easily summoned a flock of his lettuce-loving American Goldfinch cousins to decimate my lettuce patch.
Still, if he had, I think we’d probably have heard it. I mean, a flock of goldfinch wouldn’t have been very stealthy. Also, while they might have been numerous enough and motivated enough to peck the leaves away to the stalk, it doesn’t seem like they’d go to the trouble of ripping out an entire plant and carrying it away.
No, if Inspector Finch and his American Goldfinch cronies were involved, they were just one part of a larger criminal conspiracy.
Which raises the question…
What did Professor Grumpy know and when did he know it?
Tune in next time to find out.
Related Links:
Salad Birds (Outside my Window)Bird WebNetting, repellent can deter leaf damage (San Diego Union-Tribune)What is a Victory Garden and do I need one to survive 2020? (Caterpickles)
June 10, 2020
Wordless Wednesday: Crystal Springs Reservoir
During quarantine I’ve been walking, Michael’s been biking. He is lobbying for me to join him on his rides, though, and keeps sending me amazing pictures from the trail.
These are from his ride up to Crystal Springs Reservoir late last month.
[image error]Photo: Michael Howell.
[image error]Photo: Michael Howell
I hope you and yours are still doing as well as can be expected.
Related Links:
More Wordless Wednesdays on Caterpickles
June 5, 2020
I tried 6 easy homemade face mask patterns. Here’s what happened.
In April, reacting to evidence that asymptomatic people can spread COVID-19, the CDC began asking Americans to wear masks in addition to maintaining physical distancing whenever they were out in public, regardless of whether they felt sick.
Here’s the counterintuitive thing about masks:
Wearing masks will save lives, but the life you save may not be your own.
That’s because while masks are useful for keeping infectious particles from exiting your nose and mouth, they are less effective at keeping infectious particles from entering your nose and/or mouth. That’s why public health officials want us to maintain physical distancing, wash our hands alot, and avoid touching our faces even if we are wearing a mask.
I don’t know how the guidance around masks is being implemented in your area, but our local public health officials have started requiring us to wear masks when we are out in public, unless we are exercising in an outdoor area where we can maintain proper physical distancing.
We are still being asked to use cloth masks and leave the surgical and N95s to medical professionals, essential workers, and first responders, so that means sourcing cloth masks from somewhere.
There are a ton of handmade mask patterns out there, and luckily my habit of starting and abandoning various types of crafting projects over the years has left me with a generous supply of quilting fabric, bias tape, elastic, thread, bandanas, old t-shirts, and flannel lying around the house.
So I decided to put some of those raw materials to work by making and reviewing 6 so-called easy cloth face mask patterns floating around online for you here on Caterpickles.
The 6 DIY patterns I tried, ranked according to comfort and how long it took to make them
This scatterplot ranks the six DIY masks I included in this post according to how easy they were to make and how comfortable they are to wear. (Note: It does not take into account how effective they might be.)
[image error]Chart: Shala Howell
Option 1: Bandana tied around my neck cattle-rustler style (no-sew)
This seems pretty self-explanatory, but in case you are curious, here’s a photo of Tim Kaine rocking the cattle-rustler bandana in the Senate a few weeks ago.
[image error](Photo: C-Span)
What is it like to make?
This literally takes 30 seconds, and is by far the easiest of the options.
Step 1: Spread the bandana out onto a flat surface.
[image error]Photo: Shala Howell
Step 2: Fold it into a large triangle by placing the upper right hand corner on top of the lower left hand corner.
Step 3: Tie the long ends of the triangle around the back of your neck.
[image error]Photo: Shala Howell
Step 4: Pull the bandana up so it covers your nose and mouth.
And you’re done.
What is it like to wear?
One issue to be aware of when making a rapid-tie bandana face mask is that bandanas come in different sizes.
[image error]Bandanas come in different sizes. (Photo: Shala Howell)
The Thirteen-Year-Old can use either bandana in this picture, but my husband can only use the orange one. So check the size of your bandanas sometime before you need to walk out the door.
Assuming you can find a bandana that fits around your head and not just your neck, these are very easy to wear.
I like using a bandana tied this way when I’m going to be outdoors anyway, in an area where I will have plenty of room to dodge oncoming people, but may not need to wear a mask 100% of the time. This style allows me to keep the bandana hanging around my neck when no one’s around, and just pull it up quickly if I see someone coming.
I wouldn’t go shopping in one, though.
Effectiveness Best Guess: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
What am I? A particulate testing lab?
That said, my husband found this article in Science Daily about the work the University of California – Irvine is doing in their particulate testing lab. The tests they have run so far on various DIY mask materials show that bandanas are essentially useless for anything other than blocking the large particles emitted when you sneeze. Bummer. You can find more of the UCI testing lab’s findings on their web site.
In what I can only assume was an attempt to further rub in the bad news, my husband also sent me a study by Larry Bowen at the Southern Research Institute in Birmingham, Alabama. Bowen’s study, which was published in Applied Biosafety, compared the utility of bandanas to surgical masks, dust masks, and N95s. Not surprisingly, the N95 outclassed everything with an efficiency rating of 89.6% (the bandana scored a mere 11.3%).
Option 2: Folded bandana with hair ties (no-sew)
Next up, the CDC’s pattern for making a quick face mask using a folded bandana and two elastic hair bands.
[image error]My bandana has flowers so you know it’s cute. (Photo: Shala Howell)
What was it like to make?
The more you make these, the faster you’ll get, but even when I made it for the first time, it only took a few minutes to fold the bandana and arrange it on my face.
What is it like to wear?
I used my stash of smaller bandanas for this style because there is less fabric to deal with while folding. By the time I had folded and arranged the mask, I was breathing through 9 (!) layers of fabric.
Because the mask hooks behind my ears, instead of tying around my face, it doesn’t interfere with my hair. My glasses, however, frequently get caught in it, and if I’m not careful, I end up taking my glasses off along with my mask.
The 9 fabric layers create a bulky mask that’s harder to keep properly arranged than a bandana tied cattle-rustler style. I’m not great at folding fabric at the best of times, and wearing a mask on my face for an hour is not the best of times. The bottom folds drop out fairly quickly, prompting me to tuck them back in, and before I knew it, I was touching my face. Oops.
This style of mask was hard enough for me to breathe through that I wouldn’t want to wear it all-day or while walking or biking. I might use it on a quick shopping trip, but I wouldn’t want to wear it anywhere I would need a mask for more than 30 minutes.
That said, this might be a pretty handy option for emergencies. I can easily see keeping a spare bandana and elastic hair bands in my purse, tote bag, car, or luggage for impromptu use while I’m out and about. Right now, I don’t have the luxury of taking masks I like better out of the regular rotation like that.
Effectiveness Best Guess: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
What am I? A particulate testing lab?
Option 3: T-shirt mask, with separate ties and face piece (no-sew)
This style is made using the same principles as Option 2: a strip of cloth folded around two separate ties before attaching it to your head.
I made mine from Jan Howell’s YouTube video tutorial: DIY Face Mask, No Sew, Upcycled T-Shirt. I chose this one because I wanted to end up with a comfortable, machine-washable mask with multiple layers. The downside of this design is that you end up with a mask that has three parts to it, and you have to re-fold it each time you put it on. I can already tell that keeping track of those mask ties is going to be a challenge for our family.
[image error]Photo: Shala Howell
What was it like to make?
Jan Howell’s tutorial was straightforward and easy to follow. The hardest part for me was finding a t-shirt I was willing to sacrifice, and then actually convincing myself to cut it up.
Once I made it past those hurdles, I was able to create 4 masks in about 20 minutes from a single large men’s cotton t-shirt.
What is it like to wear?
This mask is very comfortable. Once folded, it creates a 2-3 layer mask (2 layers over the cheeks, sides of the mouth, and chin, 3 over the nose and middle of the mouth).
It’s relatively easy to shape, and the soft fabric means it doesn’t irritate my skin.
On the breathability scale, it falls between the cattle-rustler bandana and the folded bandana with hair ties. I could probably wear this mask all-day, while shopping, or while taking a walk. I likely wouldn’t want to wear it while hiking or biking.
Sadly, my hair turns out to be exactly the wrong length for this type of mask. If my hair were much shorter or much longer, the ties wouldn’t bother me, but as it is, when I tried to tie the mask around my neck, I kept getting my hair caught in the ties. It made the mask harder to fit properly, and was occasionally quite painful.
As a result, no matter how much I fiddled with it, I wasn’t able to get a perfect fit, as you can see from the fog on my glasses in the picture. Still, this mask is comfortable to wear for longer periods of time.
Effectiveness Best Guess: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
What am I? A particulate testing lab?
My husband, who is clearly better at this scientific rigor thing than I am, came to my rescue again. This time he found an abstract for a study published in Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness. The 2013 study by Davies etal compared the effectiveness of homemade t-shirt masks against surgical masks and wearing no mask at all. Not too surprisingly, the study showed that the surgical mask performed three times better than the mask made of t-shirt cotton. However, wearing a t-shirt mask was definitely better than wearing nothing at all when it came to the spread of germs through droplet transmissions. The study authors’ conclusion?
“Our findings suggest that a homemade mask should only be considered as a last resort to prevent droplet transmission from infected individuals, but it would be better than no protection.”
Davies, A., Thompson, K., Giri, K., Kafatos, G., Walker, J., & Bennett, A. (2013). Testing the Efficacy of Homemade Masks: Would They Protect in an Influenza Pandemic? Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness, 7(4), 413-418. doi:10.1017/dmp.2013.43
Option 4: One piece, dual layer t-shirt mask (no-sew)
The other major t-shirt mask pattern I found does not require either sewing or separate ties. To make mine, I followed this kid-friendly tutorial for a double-layer, one-piece t-shirt mask from The Handwork Studio. This design has a place to tuck a filter, in case you’d like to use one.
[image error]Photo: Shala Howell
What was it like to make?
The Handwork Studio’s tutorial was very easy to follow. I especially appreciated how she used a template to both measure the size of my face and eliminate measuring tapes. This helped me make a mask big enough to work while keeping me from going nuts with multiple bouts of measuring at each step.
(I tend to go a little crazy with measuring and remeasuring when I use anything with inches and centimeters actually marked on it. Working with a template means I measure obsessively just the one time and that makes the entire project go faster.)
The size of the t-shirt determines the length of the ties, so while I could have just tied additional fabric onto the original ties to make them long enough to tie around my head, I decided to start with the largest t-shirt I could find instead.
The directions involve cutting through four layers of fabric at once, which was fine for me because I have fabric scissors. It might not work for people who are trying to repurpose their paper scissors, since paper scissors are often too dull to cut multiple layers of fabric cleanly.
I also thought it was clever to knot the straps close to the face portion of the mask to hold the layers of fabric in the finished mask together without sewing.
Making the mask probably took ten minutes from start to finish. I spent a good chunk of that time measuring and remeasuring my template, so now that I’ve made my template, making future masks would be even faster.
What is it like to wear?
Texture-wise, this mask is the most comfortable mask so far. The super soft fabric of the t-shirt I picked means it doesn’t irritate my skin.
Adjusting the mask is as simple as making sure my nose and chin are covered once I’ve tied it. Super straightforward. Because the layers are flat pieces of fabric and not created by folding, this mask was much easier to tuck under the rim of my glasses to reduce fogging (and presumably improve the fit of the mask). I’m also not worried about any folded layers dropping out while I’m wearing it, which means I’m less likely to touch my face while I’m out and about.
On the breathability scale, this mask falls between the cattle-rustler bandana and the folded bandana with hair ties. I could wear this mask all day, while shopping, or while taking a walk. I may not want to wear it while hiking or biking.
Oddly, my hair did fine with this mask. Maybe I’m just getting better at tying masks around it?
Effectiveness Best Guess: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
What am I? A particulate testing lab?
Option 5: Two-Layer Cloth Mask Contoured
For the first of my sewn masks, I followed this Youtube tutorial/pattern from Crafty Daily to make the mask. I picked it because it didn’t require me to break out the sewing machine. I used a combination of quilting cotton and flannel to make my mask. The ties tuck around my ears and are made of elastic.
[image error]My mask. This mask would fit better if I ironed it, but I’m not ready to wear it outside the house yet, so I haven’t bothered to iron it yet. (Photo: Shala Howell)
What was it like to make?
The tutorial I followed used a dinner plate as the template for the fabric cutting stage, which neatly bypassed my measuring issues.
I was worried all that hand-sewing would be tedious, but the mask worked up much faster than I expected. Still, because I am pretty slow at hand-sewing, this one took me a couple of hours.
What is it like to wear?
The flannel lining is incredibly soft. I haven’t tried to wear it on a truly hot day yet, so I don’t know how comfortable it would be in summer or in a hotter climate. I could imagine that I wouldn’t want any contact with flannel on a hot summer day.
The elastic fits neatly over my ears, so this mask doesn’t interact with my hair at all. It does tend to snag my glasses, though, so I have to be careful when taking it off.
Finally, because I made it myself, I could cut different lengths of elastic for each mask wearer. That meant I could make the elastic long enough to achieve a close fit without pulling on ears too badly.
That resulted in a mask that I could wear all day at work or while shopping. I probably could wear it while exercising, but I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t enjoy it.
This style is The Thirteen-Year-Old’s favorite, by the way.
Effectiveness Best Guess: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
What am I? A particulate testing lab?
I found a few articles online that claim that combining quilting cotton with some other fabric creates a mask with a pretty good filtration capability. Take this study by the ACS Nano, which found that combining quilting cotton + flannel can create a mask with a filtration efficiency of around 95%. That sounds great.
But fit really matters. A poor fit can reduce filtration efficiency by 60%. Ouch. Since this mask doesn’t have a wire in it to fit it more tightly around my nose, there are gaps.
If you don’t mind using a sewing machine, Georgia Tech has a pattern on their site that is similarly shaped and incorporates a wire along the nose to make the mask fit better.
Option 6: Two-Layer Cloth Mask with Ties
Based on this pattern from the CDC, using quilting cotton and flannel, but sewn by hand, instead of on a sewing machine. I made the ties from fabric bias tape.
[image error]I still need to iron it, but otherwise it’s ready to go. Did I mention I tend to put off ironing? (Photo: Shala Howell)
What was it like to make?
Honestly, this one wasn’t bad either. It has more hand-sewing than Option 5, but cutting and sewing along straight lines is easier than working along curves, so it sort of evened out.
Like Option 5, making this mask took a while — maybe an hour and half per mask. It’s a little hard for me to say exactly how long it took, because although I spent an afternoon making them, I cut pieces for several masks at once. After 4 hours, I had cut pieces for 4 masks, but had only actually finished 2. (Did I mention that I sew very slowly by hand?)
I imagine that I could crank these out pretty quickly if I weren’t too stubborn to break out the sewing machine.
What is it like to wear?
This mask is my husband’s favorite. It’s large enough to completely cover all the bits of his face that need covering, and the ties make it fit like the surgical masks he’s used to from his days in the ICU.
In addition, because this mask uses ties, it doesn’t pull on his ears at all, making it much more comfortable for long-term wear.
I like the fit on the contoured cloth face mask better (Option 5), but I wouldn’t hesitate to use this mask when running errands or working out in the world all day. I may not want to use it while hiking or biking, though. Wearing flannel while exercising in the summer sun doesn’t sound great.
Effectiveness Best Guess: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
What am I? A particulate test lab?
What about you?
Are you being asked to wear masks where you are? If so, what kind works best for you?
Further reading, if you like that sort of thing
Articles on whether wearing masks helps
Recommendation regarding the use of cloth face masks, particularly in areas of significant community-based transmission (CDC)Use of cloth face coverings to slow the spread of COVID-19 (CDC)DIY masks may not protect you from COVID-19. But here’s why it’s smart to wear one (ABC news) COVID-19: How much protection do face masks offer? (Mayo Clinic)If 80% of Americans wore masks, COVID-19 infections would plummet, new study shows (Vanity Fair)
Articles about making masks at home
How to make masks for patients (Newman Regional Hospital)Option 2: Folded bandana with two hair ties (CDC)Option 3: DIY Face Mask, No Sew, Upcycled T-Shirt (Jan Howell via YouTube)Option 4: One-piece, dual layer no-sew T-shirt mask (The Handwork Studio)Option 5: Two-Layer Cloth Mask, Contoured (Crafty Daily)Option 6: Two-Layer Cloth Mask with Ties, based on Sewn Cloth Face Covering (CDC)DIY Two-Layer Cloth Mask pattern (Georgia Tech)
Articles on mask materials
Several articles rating the effectiveness of various materials commonly used in DIY cloth face masks have been published online, including:
The best material for homemade masks may be a combination of two fabrics (Science Daily)Finding Effective Face Mask Fabrics for DIY Protective Coverings – “Bandanas Useless” (Science Daily) University of California – Irvine’s Face Mask Project (Test results and recommendations for mask designs)Does that face mask really protect you? (Applied BioSafety)Testing the efficacy of homemade masks: Would they protect in an Influenza Pandemic (Cambridge University Press) A cluster, randomized trial of cloth masks compared with medical masks in healthcare workers (BMJ Open)After watching the surgeon general’s video on making face mask, doctor sent him research on the best fabrics to use (Market Watch)Filtration engineers offer advice on do-it-yourself face masks (Georgia Tech)Aerosol Filtration Efficiency of Common Materials used in Respiratory Cloth Masks (ACS Nano)
