‘Tattooed Knitter’ Dan Soar sets world record for 24-hour knit-a-thon
Source: TikTok
A 31-year-old man from the UK may have just landed himself in the Guinness Book of Records for knitting the most blankets in 24 hours, and he did it all for a very sweet reason.
Dan Soar, 31, also known as the “Tattooed Knitter” on social media, started sharing knitting content on TikTok in December.
According to the BBC, that’s when he decided to pick up the hobby, which was also a beloved pastime of his late grandmother, Margaret Soar.
Last weekend, to honour his grandmother, Soar decided to do a knit-a-thon live on TikTok. He just had to make 15 blankets in 24 hours to beat the record.
On TikTok, the Tattooed Knitter has more than 300,000 followers. His knit-a-thon raised more than £2300 ($4420) for Derbyshire’s Ashgate Hospice, which cared for his grandmother, and mental health charity MenWalkTalk.
For the knit-a-thon, Soar didn’t use any knitting needles, only his arms and extra chunky yarn.
In a video leading up to the knit-a-thon, Soar said his goal was 18 blankets and said completing one usually takes him 90 minutes.
“I already wanted to do a 24-hour knit-a-thon as a personal challenge to myself, then my friend suggested that arm knitting so many blankets in 24 hours may be a world record, and it spiralled from there,” Soar told the BBC.
“We contacted Guinness World Records directly as the time frame was very short, and they were super enthusiastic and supportive of the idea.”
The new knitting record?
In the end, Soar managed to arm-knit 19 blankets – but it came at a cost.
He said by the 20th consecutive hour he was a little delirious and the next day his arms and wrists were sore.
According to the Derbyshire Times, Soar will provide the Guinness Book of Records with evidence he completed 19 blankets.
@dansoarr
However, his love for the craft goes beyond setting records.
“Knitting helps me so much with my mental wellbeing and I wanted to share that with others,” he told the Derbyshire Times.
“I have had so many people reach out to me with their own personal stories and struggles, and share how knitting and our community has helped them.”