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.]

Over the years I have shared a lot of pumpkin knitting patterns, and I’ve knit and crocheted a lot of pumpkins myself. But it feels like there are always more fun things to try with knit pumpkins, so this year I wanted to look a little more beyond basic stockinette or ribbed pumpkins and share some pumpkin patterns with cables, bobbles and colorwork.

In the cable collection we’ve got these cute little basic cable and ribbed pumpkins from Elly Bear Knits. There are two sizes that make a wide, flat pumpkin and a taller round pumpkin. Both are worked in the round as a tube that’s cinched top and bottom when you’re done, and they use bulky weight yarn.

Another cute cable pumpkin knitting pattern comes from Gray Bear Akswokrat. This one is knit flat and it looks like a chunky yarn but you could use other weights to make pumpkins of different sizes. This one also has an I-cord stem and uses yarn to cinch up the sections of the pumpkin, giving it a more natural look.

Add some bobbles to your pumpkins with this design from Autumn Shelter Makes. Also worked in the round in a tube, it features a repeating pattern of bobbles and uses yarn wrapped around the outside to make segments. This one looks like worsted weight yarn to me.

Of course there’s nothing that says your pumpkin has to be a single color, so let’s throw in some colorwork. I love the look of the Cozy Fall Pumpkin knitting pattern from South Stitch Girls. The little leather loop adds a rustic touch but you could also just add a stick. These pumpkins have five colorwork options and are worked in worsted weight yarn in the round.

There’s also the Autumn Fair Isle Trio pumpkins pattern from Equestriann Style, which has three different sizes of pumpkins with four colorwork designs. They are worked in super bulky yarn in the round and look good with high contrast or more muted color combinations.

Have you read?