Did You See the Heavy Metal Knitting Championships?

If you were on the Internet over the weekend you might have seen a video or news story about the Heavy Metal World Knitting Championships, which took place last week in Finland.

From the look of things, the event may have been even stranger than you would think from the name. People dressed as sumo wrestlers, in dresses that looked like wedding gowns and other wild attire banged their heads to the music while knitting.

According the AP story linked above, Finland has the highest number of heavy metal bands per capita (at more than 50 bands per 100,000 people) and there are tons of knitters, too.

The competition’s website says

Knitting to the rhythm of heavy metal music can be compared to playing air guitar – which is a Finnish way to goof around as well. In heavy metal knitting, the knitter becomes a part of the band, showing their best needlework tricks as the heavy riffs echo on the background. The knitter takes part in the jam while their balls of yarn and knitting needles swish through the air…

Competitors from nine countries took to the stage to stitch and thrash, with the Japanese team Giga Body Metal coming out the winner. I don’t know how the winner was determined or what the prize is, other than that cool trophy, and getting to say you’re a world champion of heavy metal knitting, which I guess is prize enough.

[Photo via Heavy Metal Knitting.]

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I love a good pattern with a bit of whimsy, and luckily for me that’s easy to find when it comes to Easter knitting patterns. Read on for fun patterns with a theme of bunnies, chicks and eggs, perfect to knit for Easter and beyond.

There’s something about the combination of babies and Easter (and knit things, of course) that is just extra cute, so I couldn’t help sharing this bunny ear hat for babies from Catherine Anfield. It’s actually a set that includes a matching romper, but I’m focused on that sweet hat with the droopy bunny ears. It’s worked in worsted weight yarn, sized to fit a newborn and available on Ravelry.

For bigger kids and adults, Amanda Berry has this cute bunny ears headband, which is a free pattern on Ravelry. They call for bulky weight yarn and are worked in garter stitch, so they’re a great project for beginners.

Whether your egg hunt involves real eggs or the candy variety, you might want to knit up something to keep them warm. WarmandKnittedS on Etsy has a cute set of egg warmers with an Easter twist including a little hat, a chick, a bunny, an owl, a carrot and a sheep. The patterns call for sport weight yarn.

The patterns from Wild Welsh Knitting say they are specifically for creme eggs, but they would probably cozy real eggs just fine, too. This set includes a rabbit, hen, chick and piggy all worked in DK weight yarn. These knit up super fast for a fun little addition to your egg hunt or as a fundraiser.

How about eggs that look like bunnies? Amy Gunderson has this cute pattern (with knit and crochet versions) for an egg shaped rabbit that looks like it’s wearing a little ear hat made with a contrasting color. The pattern calls for worsted weight yarn, but try different weights to get different sizes of eggs. You can find the pattern, called Egg-cited, on Ravelry.

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