Yarn Bomb Some Old Beats

If, like me, you have a pair of Beats or similar over-the-ear headphones with any amount of age on them, I bet you're used to the annoyance of finding flaked pleather on your ears after using them. Mine had gotten particularly bad, and it was time to do something about it. I decided to either reskin them or ruin them in the process.

1. Medium(4) weight/Worsted/Aran yarn - I thought a two-tone looked nice
2. G/4mm crochet needle
3. Epoxy - I used JB Weld Clear Weld
4. A few clamps - 6 did the trick for me
5. Something small to pry the earmuffs off the beats like a pocketknife or a flathead screwdriver
6. Something to mix the epoxy in and with just before using it
7. Sewing needle and thread
8. Seam ripper (optional)
9. Super glue (optional)

For sake of clarity, I'll just stick with referring to "purple" and "gray" to align with the images, rather than "color1" and "color2". I'm using US terminology, and I referred to this set of abbreviations to make sure I didn't accidentally type in any homebrewed shorthand: https://www.craftyarncouncil.com/standards/crochet-abbreviations

Make 2 of the following pattern:

Starting in purple, ch20, sl st into beginning of chain - picture #1

Rnd1: ch1, dc19, sc into chain from beginning of round (20)

Rnd2: Working sc in BLO: (inc, inc, sc6, inc, inc) 2 times (28)

Rnd3: Working dc: (dc1, inc, dc1, inc, dc6, inc, dc1, inc, dc1) 2 times (36)

***The last stitch of Rnd3 is special. See picture #3. You'll work the first half of the dc into a lower gap, and the second where the dc would naturally start. This will make a rounder pattern.***

Rnd4: (sl st5, [inc with sc], [inc with sc1 + hdc1], hdc4, [inc with hdc1 + sc1], [inc with sc], sl st5) 2 times, swap to gray at end (44)

Rnd5: Working sc in BLO: (sc2, sc2tog, sc1, sc2tog, sc8, sc2tog, sc1, sc2tog, sc2) 2 times (36)

Rnd6: ch1, dc36, ch into initial chain to finish round (36)

Rnd7: (sc2, sc2tog, sc, sc2tog, sc6, sc2tog, sc, sc2tog) 2 times (28)

Rnd8: (sc3, sc2tog, sc6, sc2tog, sc) 2 times (24)

Rnd9: (sc2, sc2tog) 6 times, finish off (18)

If you pull at the seam right where the fabric cover of the muffs tucks into the plastic, you'll see how the whole piece can come off of the headphones. Slip a knife or flathead screwdriver into the seam, and slowly pry it off, working your way around the earmuff. Be patient. Better to have to go around a few times, prying a little each time than to risk breaking the plastic. The glue holding it is not that strong.

Once you've pried everything loose, take the time to clean the glue off of the headphones. Most of it will rub right off. The cleaner you get it, the better the epoxy will hold later.

In the end, I only did this on the first of the two earmuffs. If I could do it over again, I wouldn't have done it with either. I prefer having the worn, gray fabric showing through the crochet cover more than I do seeing the yellow foam showing through. Either way, I thought I'd still include it as an option.

The fabric will be loose from where you removed the earmuff from the headphones. Just pull it off and invert it, then go around with a seam ripper to cut the seam where you see it cut off in picture #1. Definitely don't cut lower than that. You want to leave plenty of excess beyond the covering in the interior of the muff.

After you've ripped at that seam, go around with superglue and this will hold the fabric in place long enough to finish the job. Once you've put the crocheted cover over it, it will be secure for good.

Invert the crocheted covers, run a needle and thread through the loops of the initial round of purple (picture #1).

Thread the needle through the inner part of the plastic puck on the back of the detached earmuff (picture #2).

Work the stitched end of the cover around the earmuff, reverting it to it's original state. Work the thread through the last round of gray that you've wrapped around to the other side. Essentially, you're stitching the two rings of the crochet piece together to seal off the donut/toroid shape but with the foam and the plastic puck of the removed earmuff sewn between them. It's easiest to slowly revert the crochet cover onto the earmuff as you sew your way around rather than trying to squeeze it all back on at once before sewing.

I'll be honest, I was very hesitant to believe that that epoxy was going to hold a layer of plastic covered by 4 mm of yarn to another piece of plastic, but it ended up being like concrete compared to what the manufacturer used.

To make sure you get a good hold, dab a ring of mixed epoxy into the back ring of the yarn-covered earmuffs. Give it 3-5 minutes to seep into the yarn and harden a little bit.

Next, place a ring of epoxy on the plastic of the headphones where the earmuffs will make contact. Be sure to not get glue on any of the holes venting to the speakers.

Place the yarn-covered earmuffs onto the headphones and clamp down with several clamps. 3 on each ear worked great for me.

It was sturdy enough to do a quick fit and listening test after about an hour, but I put the clamps back on overnight just to be safe. The next morning, the earmuffs were glued on tight and solid.

Hope you enjoy! I love mine more than I ever did before, and I've gotten tons of compliments on them in the last few weeks. I don't notice any difference in sound quality. They're about as comfortable as they were before, sans pleather flakes on the ears. Last but not least, they're noticeably warmer! Not uncomfortable warm, just cozy.