Marathon Knitter to Finger Knit Through New York

Remember the knitting marathoner? Last year David Babcock become the Guinness World Record holder for knitting the longest scarf ever made while running a marathon (at the Kansas City Marathon in October).

Word has it Babcock is headed back to Kansas City this year, but only for a half, because he’s also planning to run and knit through the New York City Marathon in November, and that presents a bit of a logistical challenge.

Knitting needles aren’t allowed on that course (I guess because of their potential use as a weapon?) and neither are bulky bags to hold yarn, so Babcock experimented with both arm and finger knitting to use instead, but found them both lacking.

So he developed a method of knitting with his fingers, in which his fingers are working like needles, that he can still do while running.

The NYC Marathon is special for a lot of reasons. It’s the first marathon Babcock ever saw, and he’s running it with a group of about 150 from NYC Athletes To End Alzheimer’s. Lion Brand Yarn Company is sponsoring his run, and you can learn more about his method of finger knitting by visiting his website.

[Photo via Knitting Runner.]

Next Pattern:

Using your yarn stash is important to me throughout the year, but as I start to feel the end of the year coming on I get more excited about using things I already have in the house. Maybe that’s because I don’t want to go to a store in the thick of holiday shopping times, or I like the idea of having a little space in my stash when the new year rolls around.

It’s super satisfying to use up all the little odd balls you’ve made over the year (or years), and I have several stash busting blankets I work on when it’s cold and will maybe finish someday.

If you’d like to start a stash busting project that’s perfect for using up odd balls, check out the Soukish pattern from Neisha Abdulla. This pattern is made for fingering weight/sock yarn, and it’s worked in a tube with allover color work.

This is great for a couple of reasons. You don’t really have to weave in your ends when you can hide them in a tube (this is one time you might even get by just tying a knot when you change colors!) and you can change colors whenever you run out of yarn and it will look good.

Of course the pattern is made with blocks where the designer changed colors, but you can change yours more or less often as you need to make it work for your stash. You can use blank charts to design your own color combinations, or even your own stitch patterns if you like. You can also adjust the length of the scarf as needed or turn it into a cowl based on the amount of yarn you have.

This project looks like a lot of fun and would be a great thing to have on hand to stitch up and then to wear during the cold, gloomy months.

You can get a copy of the pattern on Ravelry.

[Photo: Neisha Abdulla]

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