Author Description

This brief guide is provided to help you make decisions about your mask-buying or -making choices, gleaned from all that we have - collectively - learned. We came together in March of 2020 to create PPE for medical personnel. We learned - fast - about what fabrics and patterns work best, how to use filters, and what materials worked best, and what materials were available to artists and home crafters. We deconstructed surgical masks and old n95s to see how they were made. Being scholars as well as artists, we experimented and asked doctors and lab workers that we knew to test our masks for durability and effectiveness and we asked our friends to tell us if they are comfortable to wear. We learned about microdroplets, infectious disease transmission, fabrics, nose wires, unfogging glasses, breathing room, and how to accommodate people with breathing issues, asthma, and reactions to face coverings by people with sensitive skin, past trauma, and claustrophobia.And ears! We learned a lot about how to save the ears of America, one crocheted ear-saver at a time. When this is all a memory, host a party and celebrate what we, and all the other mask-makers, ear-saver-makers, mad crocheters accomplished during this time. Until that day: Stay safe!