Mask adjusting instructions

Masks work best when they fit snugly and comfortably. If you have ordered a mask from me, this guide will help you get a great fit. If you have any trouble, please drop me a line at kate@kate-harris.com or find me on Instagram or Twitter: @notthatkate or message me through my Facebook: facebook.com/notthatkate/

Step 1

Slide an unfolded paperclip (provided) into the pocket at the nose bridge.

Step 2

Put the mask up to your face and adjust the nose clip.

Step 3

Find where the ear straps need to be tied – pinch the two ends together behind your ear where the elastic feels comfortable. Take the mask off and tie an overhand knot using both ends where you’ve pinched it together (how-to: https://www.animatedknots.com/flat-overhand-bend-knot). Repeat on other side. Snip loose ends off, leaving about 1cm of tail. Guide the knot into the fabric channel to get it out of the way (optional).

Step 4 (optional)

If your mask is too snug around your chin after you’ve adjusted everything, you can easily (but carefully) remove the pleats along the jawline with a small pair of scissors or a seam ripper.

image of the inside of a mask with a seam ripper and small pair of scissors showing the location of the stitches that can be removed, if needed, to adjust fit.

Help! It still doesn’t fit!!

Get in touch with me through any of the channels listed above and we will figure out what went wrong, and I will make it right.

How to Wear a Mask

by andrew forsyth

Here are some dos and don’ts of wearing a mask.

❌DON’T: 

Wear the mask below your nose.

❌DON’T: 

Leave your chin exposed.

❌DON’T: 

Wear your mask loosely with gaps on the sides.

❌DON’T: 

Wear your mask so it covers just the tip of your nose.

❌DON’T: 

Push your mask under your chin to rest on your neck.

✔️DO: 

Wear your mask so it comes all the way up, close to the bridge of your nose, and all the way down under your chin. Do your best to tighten the loops or ties so it’s snug around your face, without gaps.

And once you’ve figured out the correct position for wearing your mask, follow these tips to stay safe:

  • Always wash your hands before and after wearing a mask.
  • Use the ties or loops to put your mask on and pull it off.
  • Don’t touch the front of the mask when you take it off.
  • If you wear glasses, try moving the bridge a little farther down your nose on top of the mask to reduce fogging or get anti-fog spray to clean them with
  • For apartment dwellers, put the mask on and remove it while inside your home. Elevators and stairwells can be high-contamination areas.
  • Wash and dry your cloth mask daily and keep it in a clean, dry place.
  • Don’t have a false sense of security.

“Wearing a mask takes some getting used to, for sure,” said Dr. Scott Segal, chairman of anesthesiology at Wake Forest Baptist Health. “You are probably wearing it exactly right if it’s a little stuffy.”

One of the biggest mistakes people make is that they fidget with their masks and pull them under their noses or completely off their faces to rest under their chins.

“You should absolutely not be pulling up and putting down your mask while you’re out,” said Shan Soe-Lin, a lecturer at the Yale Jackson Institute for Global Affairs. “If you’re going to go to the trouble of using a mask, leave it on.”

Masks offer limited protection and work better when combined with hand washing and social distancing. “It’s not that one excludes the other,” said Dr. Siddhartha Mukherjee, assistant professor of medicine at Columbia University. “They compound the effects of the other.”

ILLUSTRATIONS BY ELENI KALORKOTI

Article content from Tara Parker-Pope of the New York Times

it has been a while

image of an open blank lined notebook page overlaid with text. in brush font "it has been a while" below in sans serif font: "so far 2019 has been a bit shit, so I've been hiding under my duvet - sue me"

I Made: Laundry Powder

I recently experimented with making my own washing powder after watching one of those videos on Facebook:

I had bought a 2kg bag of Baking Soda/Bicarb on Amazon for… something (??)… a while ago, so figured that all I needed was a bar of soap and I would be golden. I got myself a bar of Dr Bronner’s Organic Lavender Soap and used some Lemongrass oil I had around. The smell is DIVINE!!

I used the simple recipe from the video and have been using 2-3 Tablespoons per load. Doing the maths, it works out to £0.30-£0.50 per wash. This is significantly more than the own-brand non-bio we usually use, which I tend to dilute to almost nothing at all by the end of the month. The way it usually goes, I split one fresh bottle between two bottles and top them both up with water and keep diluting throughout the month to, ideally, make one bottle last all month – which is a long way of saying I am CHEAP about laundry soap. I started doing it ages ago when we were really REALLY broke and because my eldest has eczema and this seemed to help, I just kept it up… also, I am cheap AF.

So – this stuff is more expensive and it is more work… but it is also much less plastic! And it really does smell lovely and works as well or better than what I was using.

I miss the ability to dilute it – so I did some searching and found this recipe for Liquid Detergent which I am going to try later this month.

Hat-tip to my friend C. who originally posted the video x

My 2018 Book Project 1/4

Last year, I made choice to only read/listen to books written by women. I got some amazing recommendations and books I read lead me down some interesting paths. Audiobooks are totally my jam (I use Audible) because I prefer to crochet when I’m sitting around. I can also stick my headphones in and sew, vacuum, do dishes, etc.

This post is the first of a four part series talking about my favourite reads this year as well as introducing my reading goals for 2019.

In January, I started strong with Sarah Knight’s The Life Changing Magic of Not Giving a Fuck. I loved this book almost as much as I loved her book Get Your Shit Together. It got me thinking about my fuck-budget in ways that have made real changes in the way I approach the things I want to do and the things I need to do.

February, in keeping in my self-help book love, I read Intuitive Eating by Evelyn Tribole, MS, RDN and Elyse Resch, MS, RDN, CEDRD, Fiaedp, FADA, FAND. I honestly wanted to like this book more than I did, and I have decided to re-visit it this year and see if it clicks. I really believe in Intuitive Eating being something that can help someone like me who has had a tumultuous relationship with food and my body and disordered eating.

I felt quite shit about myself after that (I wonder, now, if my expectations were unrealistic) so for March I grabbed a title that Audible had recommended that sounded like it might make me feel better. You Are A Badass by Jen Sincero was funny and uplifting… if a wee bit woowoo.

It was while listening to Jen Sincero I realised I’d only listened to white lady voices, notably white ladies with backgrounds pretty similar to my own. So in April I grabbed a book that had been sitting on my wishlist for too long. Letter to my Daughter by Dr. Maya Angelou was beautiful and touching.

“Let’s tell the truth to people. When people ask, ‘How are you?’ have the nerve sometimes to answer truthfully. You must know, however, that people will start avaoiding you because, they, too, have knees that pain them and heads that hurt and they don’t want to know about yours. But think of it this way: If people avoid you, you will have more time to meditate and do fine research on a cure for whatever truly afflicts you.” 
― Maya Angelou, Letter to My Daughter

Happy New Year! – a happy 2018 photoblog

This past year has been challenging AF. But when has a year NOT been challenging AF? This has also been a year of incredible growth and change. This post is to look back at the many bright spots along the way. xo K

01/18

02/18

03/18

04/18

05/18

06/18

07/18

08/18

09/18

10/18

11/18

12/18

Holidays/Holigays 2018

Introduction part 2

As I mentioned in the first part, I am a bit of a world politics (and history) nerd now and that shit gets scary sometimes.

To cope with my anxiety and to manage my Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, I take drugs (#noshame) and I make things. Last summer, while recovering from a frying pan-related back injury, I taught myself crochet. When I am able to sit (which is much more often now), I love to sew. My favourite things to make are small quilts that make for super cute scarves (Etsy) and I use my skills around the home LIBERALLY. I prefer upcycling things because it makes me feel warm and fuzzy to keep things out of the landfills.

And with the state of the world… I will take whatever warm fuzzies I can get! It’s a big part of what this blog is all about – surviving and (hopefully) thriving in an increasingly uncertain world.

So what will this blog be about? Excellent question!!

I don’t know. BUT. It will have stories about my journey through 2019 – a year where we might leave the EU and the world might go to war, and white nationalists might take over (they won’t… right?). It will also be about things like

  • getting fit as a fat woman without dieting
  • gardening for food as a terrible gardener
  • saving money without compromising ethics
  • pictures of us for my mother to show to my 95 year old Oma
  • nerdy shit like book reviews
  • my thoughts about things
  • unschooling teens
  • feminism
  • LGBTQ+ stuff
  • AND CAT MEMES!

xoxoxoxox Kate