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]

Adding a bit of knitting to your fall decor is a lot of fun, whether it’s knit pumpkins or a bunch of adorable knit ghosts like these.

Knit ghosts can be super simple like this free ghost knitting pattern from Trixie Zynch on Ravelry. Using about 50 yards of worsted weight yarn, they’re worked from the bottom up and are super cute as a pair.

This fuzzy little ghost from Forest Knitting Toys is holding a pumpkin and wearing a witch hat, though of course the accessories are optional, as is the fuzzy yarn. The main yarn is chunky and the ghost measures about 10 cm/4 inches tall. It’s worked in the round.

Another fuzzy ghost in more of a Pacman style is this ghost plushie form South Stitch Girls. It’s worked in the round with bulky yarn and includes a sweet little bow you can make in whatever color you like.

The ghost doll from Edith Grace Designs has little arms and a curl at the top of its head. The body is worked flat using DK weight yarn and you could also work it in glow in the dark yarn for extra fun. The body and head are worked in one piece with the arms knit separately.

The Grim Grinning Ghosts from Susan Claudino are super cute and you can knit them in any yarn and gauge you like to make ghosts of different sizes. These are worked in the round with the body done in one piece and the arms are knit separately. The ghosts shown were knit in sock yarn, DK and worsted weight yarn. You can find the pattern on Ravelry.

Make a ghost with funny striped legs with this ghost shelf sitter design from Claire Fairall Designs. It’s worked in three colors of DK weight yarn, and the letters spelling out boo are made with strips of garter stitch sewn into shape.

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