Monday 13 May 2013

World Records - Knitting - A Guest Post

Today I am honoured to have Morag visiting Marigolds' Loft. 

She is going to share some really interesting info with us all.

Welcome Morag :)

crochet

It’s a growing hobby here in the UK and although most of us are quite happy churning out baby blankets, scarves and the occasional cardigan, knitting seems to bring out the competitive streak in some of us. There are a range of knitting world records, so if you fancy your chances as the quickest knitter in the world, or think your needles are the largest ever, find out below if you have a chance of getting into the record books.

Most Simultaneous Knitters

You’re going to need a few friends and a large venue if you plan to have a crack at this record, as the current record is 3,083 people knitting simultaneously for 15 minutes. The record was set by the ladies of the WI during a recent conference at the Albert Hall in London. What you knit during the record attempt doesn’t matter, as long as every participant is wielding his or her needles and some yarn they will count as a knitter.

Albert Hall

Fastest Knitter

A Shetland woman was awarded the World’s Fastest Knitter title back in 2008. She can knit at speeds of up to 255 stitches in 3 minutes, and has been working on her technique since childhood. The secret of her success is moving her hand as little as possible, and if you think you’ve got what it takes to beat her, check out the videos on the internet to see just how quickly her needles fly.

Finger Knitting

Most of us learned to knit using needles, but finger knitting is an even simpler technique which is similar to French knitting in that it produces a long, braided cord. The record for the longest finger knitting is 4,321 metres – almost 3 miles – by a German man in 2004. He knitted using scraps of yarn donated by friends and family, so clear out all those part balls of Patons yarn at the bottom of the knitting bag and start knitting.

Longest Knitted Scarf

The world record for knitting the longest scarf by one person only is held by a Norwegian woman, Helge Johansen, who knitted a scarf measuring 3,463 metres long. She completed the scarf in November 2006, but had been knitting for 23 years. Breaking this record is therefore going to require stamina and a long term determination. There is also the slight problem of what to do with a 3 mile long scarf once it’s finished. The largest scarf knitted by a team was made over a three year period to raise money for a children’s hospice in Wales and measured a staggering 33.74 miles long.

Largest Knitted Sculpture

An Italian art group holds the record for the largest knitted sculpture, which is a 200ft long pink rabbit. It was designed as an art installation and took the team over a year to knit, using 10,000 balls of pink yarn. It took seven weeks to stuff the rabbit and place it on a mountain in Italy. This is perhaps the easiest record to break, if you have a little imagination and a large team of knitters behind you.
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Guest article by Morag Peers.  Morag’s always been interested in arts and crafts and loves to knit in her spare time.  She shops online for yarn because of the variety available and has found a favourite in Patons yarn from Pack Lane Wool.  Morag’s love of knitting inspired her to write this wonderful guest article for us!

Thank you so much for being here today Morag. Don't forget to grab your Featured Button :)

If you would like to be the next guest-blogger on Marigolds' Loft I would love to hear from you.

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