Easy Knit Ear Saver Pattern

With all the mask making that is going on (side note: I’m involved with a group called Masks Now, which is working to meet requests for cloth masks from across the country) people are looking for different ways to help. If you’ve been making masks with elastic that wraps around the ears, or you know people who wear those kinds of masks, it’s a great idea to make some ear savers for them.

This is just a little strip of fabric with buttons on the ends that can hold the mask in place instead of having to wrap the elastic around the ears, which can be irritating when worn for a long period of time.

I had some questions about how to do this with knitting, so I wrote up a quick pattern. I made them both horizontally and vertically, with worsted and heavy worsted weight yarn, but you can use the same idea with whatever washable yarn you have handy. Let me know if you have questions!

Check out this article about all the different options for safe and suitable mask filters. Wondering how to strengthen your mask? Add interfacing. We also found a supplier for the metal nose clips.

We have also added a tutorial for making the Face Shields for medical staff which can be found here.

Need to make a lot of masks? Check out this amazing Mask Cutting Machine. It cuts 6 masks out at a time!

Wanting to create your own custom face mask? Check out this Website that allows you to design your own mask with ,photos, font and colors.

Not too long ago I did a test knit for another designer that was for a cabled cardigan. It’s really cozy and nice but it just about broke me in a ton of different ways. I couldn’t get gauge, which I suppose is my own problem, but mainly I was somehow both bored and forced to pay attention at the same time.

Because it used the same cable all over, I always had to know what row I was on, but nine out of ten of those rows, nothing in particular was going on. So I couldn’t stop paying attention, but what I needed to attend to was boring.

It may have ruined me for knitting cabled sweaters, but maybe I just need something that’s more engaging. Like this Modern Aran Cardigan pattern from Lion Brand Yarn.

This is a reworking of an old pattern from their archives, and you can tell that form the classic look of the cables and the oversized feel (nothing cropped about this one!). It has allover cables, but like a classic Aran sweater it’s not the same cable, so you’ll have to pay attention to what row you’re on and what cable turns happen for which cables on that row.

Because of this, it’s considered an intermediate knitting pattern, but if you’re comfortable working from multiple charts at once it shouldn’t be a problem for you. There are three different charts and seven different cable moves.

Also because the pattern is so big and boxy there are only two sizes available, with a finished chest measurement of either 49 or 63 inches (that’s 124.5 or 160 cm). It’s up to you to decide how much ease you would like and whether that will work for your body.

The pattern uses worsted weight yarn (and calls for another classic, Lion Brand Fisherman’s Wool). It calls for six buttons and includes pockets to make it extra cozy.

This one looks like a great winter project to make and to wear if you’re up for a bit of a challenge. You can grab the free pattern or buy a kit with the yarn needed direct from Lion Brand Yarn.

[Photo: Lion Brand Yarn]

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