Are you familiar with the world of Heavy Metal Knitting? Before a few minutes ago, I was not. But according to Loudwire, the world championship of the activity (sport? hobby?) was held last week in Finland.
The idea is to have intense knitting performed on stage with the backing of a metal band. Essentially, the knitting contestant is the frontman (or frontwoman) rather than a lead singer. Check out the video below for a look at the 2022 World Championships.
WTF Productions, the organization behind the Heavy Metal Knitting, describes the concept and how it was created as follows:
Heavy Metal Knitting – the odd ball of all sports, crafts and hobbies was coined during the darkest and coldest hours of the Finnish winter in Joensuu, Finland. The year was 2018 and the term was said aloud by a journalist in a radio interview covering local handcrafts professionals.
Knitters were knitting for the whole duration of the interview (of course), which eventually led to the magical question that apparently no one had asked before:
“Is it possible for a knitter to knit eyes closed, hands behind neck like Yngwie Malmsteen does play his guitar?”
“Well of course it is!”, was the reply. And there it was. The idea of a knitter as a lead performer in a band playing heavy metal music. Let’s make it a competition!
Photo: YouTube/Heavy Metal Knitting