Simon Fannon Breaks World Record for Marathon Knitting

I’ve been writing about knitting long enough that I remember (and wrote about) when knitter David Babcock broke the world record for the longest scarf knit while running a marathon. I don’t know why this is a thing people would want to do or why there is an official record for it, but here we are.

He broke the record at the Kansas City marathon in 2014 with a scarf that was 12 feet, 1.75 inches long (that’s about 3.7 meters) and a run time of five hours, 48 minutes and 27 seconds.

Over the weekend British knitter Simon Fannon shattered the record at the London Marathon, producing a scarf of 18 feet, three inches, or 5.59 meters in five hours, 48 minutes and 8 seconds.

The Guinness world record website has already been updated to mark his record.

Fannon is known online at veteranknitter, and was a Royal Marine and was a contestant on the first series of Game of Wool. He used his run to raise money for the Huntington’s Disease Association and Reorg, a group that works with veterans, members of the military and emergency services workers who face physical and mental health issues as part of their jobs.

Simon said he cast on as soon as he started running and tried to knit constantly until the last mile or so of the race. Because he was looking down at his knitting so much, he says he missed a lot of the landmarks you run past on the route. He said he aimed to change colors on his bulky garter stitch scarf every meter or so, and he used five colors in the project.

He kept his yarn in a pocket at his waist and knit with straight needles in continental style.

Congratulations to Simon! Makes me feel like my marathon knitting sessions on the couch (LOL) aren’t nearly as impressive as I thought.

[Photo via BBC]

It feels like it’s too early to be thinking about back to school, but as I write this my daughter has just a couple of weeks of summer left! So let’s get in that school and fall knitting spirit by looking at some apple knitting projects.

If you have a 22 needle circular knitting machine, knitting an apple is one of the easiest things you can do. I have an apple pattern over at Our Daily Craft that will take you just a few minutes to knit and they’re a great addition to your fall decor.

Apple hats are a classic, and whether you want to knit a hat that looks like an apple or one with apples on it, we’ve got you covered. For hats that look like apples check out the rolled brim version from Emma Crochet Design 4 U, which uses worsted weight yarn and comes in sizes for kids of all ages; and the ribbed brim version from Hand Knit Hugs. This one also calls for worsted weight yarn and comes in four kids sizes. Both include a stem and leaf.

If you’d rather have apples on your hat, try the Red Apple Hat from Little Red Window. This one is sized from newborn to 2T and calls for four colors of worsted weight yarn.

How about apple socks? You’ll find Ariel Chang’s Apple Picnic Socks as a free download on Ravelry. These use three colors of sock yarn and come in three sizes. Stone Knits also a pair of stripey apple socks that show the inside of the apple. These also have three sizes but they use six colors total, with the main color being a self-striping yarn.

If you want a little apple accessory for the house, the apple potholder from Nifty Knitter Designs is cute and a great way to practice double knitting. It uses two colors and you’ll find the colors in the reverse on the other side. The pattern only uses about 50 yards of each color of worsted weight yarn, so it’s a great use for odd balls, too.

Once you’ve got your double knitting skills sorted you can also try the double knit apple scarf from Crow and Chai Shop. The Winter Apples scarf is shown in red and gold, but you can use whatever colors you like. There are apples, stars and random stitches in the design, which calls for DK weight yarn. There’s also a matching fingerless glove pattern.

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