Yarn News

From Yarn Market News, here are a couple bits of news ...

Hazel Tindall is the queen of speed knitting. The 55-year-old Shetland Island native was crowned the winner at the World Speed Knitting Championships, held during February Mall of America Knit-Out. She lined up a remarkable 262 stitches in three minutes on custom-made steel needles. In comparison, her closest competitor, Miriam Tegels of the Netherlands, who holds the Guinness World Record as fastest knitter, worked 243 stitches in the same time span. Named Fastest Knitter in 2004, when she worked 255 stitches in three minutes at Ally Pally (London show), Tindall traveled to the competition under the sponsorship of the UK Hand Knitting Association. “I think you need to have good technique and move your hands as little as possible,” she told The Scotsman, Scotland’s national newspaper.

An online petition, demanding that the DIY Network (owned by Scripps Networks) give the green light to a new season of Knitty Gritty, has drawn almost 2,200 cyber-signers. They want a fresh lineup of shows, with Vickie Howell retaining her hosting duties, and to make sure episodes air during an hour conducive to viewing -- not in the 5 A.M. slot in which repeats from previous seasons are now broadcast. Interested in adding your name? Go to www.petitiononline.com/1234lulu/petition.html.

Contests and tournaments continue ... a fact noted by no less a journalistic bastion than the Wall Street Journal, which ran a feature article (“Sock It to Me: Competitive Knitters Get Deadly Serious”) about Sock Wars last December.

Magazine readers are also getting a shot at socky sport: Vogue Knitting is currently judging its Ultimate Sock Contest, while Knitter’s is gearing up for its yearlong Think Outside the Sox challenge.