Pages

Thursday, June 19, 2014

Poll: A Superhero Mask for Making Secret Identity Selfies?

I'm totally enthralled with the newness of my Instagram account right now and have been posting daily pictures based on Fat Mum Slim's photo-a-day challenge list. However, I'm a little jealous of other people's ability to post selfies since, as an anonymous blogger, I can't really show my face. :) But what if... I could somehow hide my face, like a superhero or something? Ooo, idea forming... Thus began my quest for the perfect mask.

1) Zsa Mask

My first attempt at making a mask seemed to fit all the requirements: the majority of my face/head would be covered and it kinda looked like a superhero/cat hat, which is super cute, right? Mmm, not so much. Maybe a kid could get away with it, but when I put on the final creation, I seriously got this weird vibe, like I was cosplaying for a furry convention (if you don't know what I'm talking about, don't look it up). In fact, K walked in on me trying it out for the first time and totally burst out laughing, saying something between gasps about me looking like Dex Starr the cat from the Green Lantern comic series. That kinda sealed the deal for me...

This is me being embarrassed (and K forcing me to take a pic)...
Anyway, if you're interested in being a cat for a Halloween costume, I welcome you to the changes I made. The original pattern is for children and uses bulky yarn. My alternations are for an adult female size using DK or worsted yarn with US 6 circular knitting needles (20" long).
  • I cast on 101 stitches to work the mask in the round, but it was still too loose (maybe only 95 stitches next time; must be odd-numbered if you plan on doing seed stitch for the next part).
  • To prevent curling on the bottom of the hat, make 1” of seed stitch before starting the eye holes.
  • I wanted smaller eye holes so I used 9 stitches for the width of the eye holes and 4 stitches for the nose bridge. This button hole tutorial is helpful for how to make the eye holes.
  • Make two more rounds of seed stitch above the eye holes and then began the stockinette stitch rounds until the hat is a total of 7” in height.
  • The top of the hat was sealed with the kitchener stitch. The ears were a little floppy so I used straight pins to pin the corners to fit my head and then lightly hand-sewed them shut using a simple running stitch.

2) Simple Superhero Mask

I then remembered that in one of my favorite quirky romance movies Amelie, the titular character dressed up in a Zorro costume while hiding her identity from the guy she liked. How about if I just make a basic mask that won't come off as too dorky or fetish-y?

Amelie in Zorro costume
Amelie is here to save the day!
The pattern was super easy and came together rather quickly. Unfortunately, K felt like it was too simple and didn't cover enough of my face. Booo... I guess it makes sense though. The Green Lantern and the Spirit are both heroes with similarly shaped facial coverings, and it's immediately obvious that they look exactly like their real-world counterparts.

3) Mardi Gras Mask

For my final attempt, I decided to look for a wider masquerade mask pattern that would satisfy K's concerns while not looking too creepy. What do you think?

Gasp... this is the most you've ever seen of my face!
I dunno, it kind of looks like a sleep mask you'd get from Victoria's Secret, but with eye holes cut out. It does cover half my face though and even has nice increases made for the nose. I made only two minor changes, but otherwise the pattern was pretty accurate.
  • Deleted rows 5-6 when making the eye holes because my gauge would have made the eye holes too large height-wise
  • Crocheted the border using one row of sc (single crochet) and then one row of crab stitch (reverse single crochet)

Question:
In reality, if someone really wanted to find out my identity, it wouldn't be too hard because I haven't taken all the precautions that are necessary for the truly paranoid. So be totally honest with me...

Should I wear the mask?
Yes, I want to see your selfies!
No, don't do it; the Internet will mock you for it.
Poll Maker

3 comments:

Unknown said...

I think it would look better if you just framed your face out of pictures if you felt so inclined than it would to wear a mask. The mask will make your IG shots look really staged and less candid since you won't be wearing that mask all the time, right?

Of course, I don't even have an IG account, so what do I know?

A Gamer's Wife said...

Jennifer - I like your idea the best. It's like a compromise of being able to take photos of myself without having to show my face or wear an embarrassing mask. :)

Anonymous said...

Such a cool idea :-)