This Knitted Ear Saver will help ease the discomfort for medical personnel who wear surgical masks all day long. Place the Ear Saver on the back of the head and fasten each mask strap to one of the buttons and give your ears a break! (See photo for how it’s worn)

For this pattern, yarn weight, gauge, and button size are not crucial. However, make sure you use acrylic or cotton yarn so that it can be machine washed and dried.

Also, it’s pretty easy to knit two (or more) at a time. If you’ve never done it, this is a great pattern to practice with since they knit up so quickly.

I wish I could say I invented the concept of Ear Savers, but I did not. I had seen a crochet pattern (see link below). Since I don’t crochet, I looked all over for a knit pattern, but did not find one anywhere, so I made one up and published it here. I hope you find it helpful. Please do leave a comment and share any feedback.

TIPS
Thank you to PuffkloudCo for these two BRILLIANT tips:

1) If you only have half-inch buttons, place them side by side (like an 8) to make them sturdy enough.

2) To make them adjustable (two sizes), simply add 4 buttons: Place the first set as the pattern calls for and an extra set further in. That way if the band is too long or stretched the wearer can use the inner buttons instead.

HELPFUL VIDEOS:

Knitting Help - How Should I Slip This Stitch?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9CTnjLFKFQA

Knitting Help - Knit Front and Back, or kfb:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tmOymzswPZA

Knitting Help - ssk, or slip-slip-knit
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cg1ykku04is

UPDATE: April 16, 2020
Modified row 4 for clarity (does not change the pattern).
Replaced one K2tog in rows 5 and 6 with SSK, which is a left leaning decrease and makes the ear savers a little more balanced.

UPDATE: April 12, 2020
Updated the length of the ear savers, as some people are reporting that 4” was a bit small. The length you choose to knit will depend on how much your yarn stretches.

Pattern inspired by “Mask Mates” by Regina P Designs (crochet):
https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/mask-mates

By request, I have added an image of the pattern that can be shared on Instagram. Whenever possible, please share the link to this Ravelry page so that others can get the latest updates. But when a link is not possible, you may share the image of the pattern I have provided (please do not create your own). Thank you!