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Knit (Crochet or Sew) Ear Savers for Health Professionals

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There’s been a surge in making homemade cloth masks for medical professionals and everyday people to wear to help slow the spread of the virus and protect workers who might not have other equipment to use.

But the elastic on these and other masks can be really irritating to the backs of the ears when you need to wear a mask all day.

One option is to make masks with ties, but if you are making the elastic ear band ones you can also make ear savers, which is just a piece of fabric that can be sewn, knit or crocheted and placed on the back of the head. Buttons on each end hold the loops of elastic so they don’t have to rest on the ears.

The instructions for all three methods are available on Ravelry. (There are no actual knit photos in the instructions; but it’s just a strip of Garter Stitch.) Or check out my pattern for knit ear savers.

Want to knit a face mask? These are fine to wear over a medical mask, and are a fun conversation starter!

[Photo: Cuddly Crochet Creations.]

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A Few of My Favorite Things for Knitters

It’s that time of year when you might want to shop for something special for a knitter (or crocheter!) in your life, or when you might want to start dropping hints for someone who might want to buy something for you this holiday season.

Either way, I’ve got just the thing on my list of gift ideas for knitters and crocheters. The full list is over on my blog Our Daily Craft, but I wanted to share a few of the highlights here to get a conversation going about great gifts for knitters.

This year I really want to get some knitter’s barber cord. There are lots of knockoffs of this product out there, but as far as I can tell Handsome Fibers on Etsy was the first to sell it. It’s a flexible cord that you can slip over your needle points (up to size 9 US/5.5mm) so that you can slip on a top-down sweater or a sleeve without having to slip all the stitches onto a piece of yarn, then back onto the needle. I feel like this would save me a ton of time, and they’re just fun besides.

I love a good knitting toolkit that can hold a bunch of tools in one place for your travel knitting kit (or to keep near wherever you knit most often). I’ve got my eye on a Akerworks knitting and crochet kit, which includes a needle gauge, swatch gauge, tiny scissors, a tape measure, stitch markers and darning needles.

And this is one I already have, but I was recently reminded how much I love my set of Fix-A-Stitch double-ended crochet hooks. These short hooks are perfect for picking up dropped stitches, and because they have hooks on both ends you can move the tool around instead of having to flip the fabric when you’re fixing a dropped stitch in garter stitch. It’s honestly the coolest thing and they’re great for fixing stitches in any other kind of fabric, too.

So, you tell me, what did I miss? Do you have a favorite knitting tool or accessory that you think every knitter should have? Tell me about it!

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