Me & The Guinness Book

Most likely those of you, who are reading the title of the post, are rolling your eyes asking yourself "who the f*ck she think she is" 🤣 and I can't blame you. Looks like showing off and it's definitely not me, but in this case, I have a little to do with the Guinness Book. Potentially for now.

Long story short, there's a slight chance I may have contributed to break a world record 😎 🤣 Ok, I'll stop with the teasing and I'll tell you what this post is about.

Sometimes during Christmas in 2023, I saw a very unusual Christmas tree in the city center. The tree was basically a cone shaped structure, covered with knitted scarf pieces. At that time I had no clue what that was all about, but later I was able to find out that the city made an attempt to break the world record of the longest knitted scarf made by a community. The attempt failed unfortunately and the organizers thought it would be a good idea to display the work of so many for everyone to see. A part of the citizens were happy, even thrilled by the idea, while there was a small and loud group, that found the idea tasteless and disturbing. This is why the unusual Christmas tree was moved to another location.

The main idea behind it basically it wasn't the scarf itself as it looks, but to connect people. Organizers said this project brought together different generations. Some got together and worked in groups, which is a huge thing especially for those who are alone, elderly people. Churches, schools organized knitting sessions and this is something you don't see every day.

When I learnt about the project, I was disappointed about not knowing about it in time, as I would have contributed to it for sure, but it was too late.

Then one year ago this time, I saw an article in a paper saying they are giving it another go! Imagine my joy when learning I have a chance to participate. Most of you know I'm not the type to look for attention and would never attempt to break any record to be famous, but I'd love to support the project, not just because I'd like a new world record, but also because this project helped me in many ways.

The most attractive part of the project was the time frame of one year we had and the technical details. All the organizers asked was a scarf of 20 cm wide. The rest, like color, pattern and so one, was up to the participants.

Like any other creative lady, I had a bag of yarn sitting in my drawer for years, leftovers if you like, that I have never thrown out because if you're a creative mind and soul, you don't do that. These yarns were of all kinds, bits and pieces and definitely not suitable for anything fancy, unless a granny square blanket or something small.

I saw the occasion to reuse all the yarn I had. Yes, reuse is the keyword here, because all the yarn I had had a previous life. Some were from pullovers and scarves.

Although I like needle work of all kinds, I'm definitely not the Miss Marple type, but was happy to knit while watching TV (multitasking) and while listening to music. I like to do this from time to time, to clear my thoughts but also to do something useful, not just sit around looking out of my head.

Even though the goal was to knit the longest scarf, I decided to not put pressure on myself by making it my life goal, so to speak. I wanted to enjoy the process and focus on what the colors can give me and enjoy the possibility to use my so called waste material for a good cause.

I tried to make it colorful and switched colors often, which backfired at the end because I was pressured by time and had to deal with a bunch of lose ends. Basically I punished myself with this, but lesson learnt.

It's interesting how my mind works. After a few months, I got tired of the colors I had, so I went to the charity shop and got this lovely and colorful scarf, just perfect for my project. I had to get the yarn first, then knit it and I must admit, mine didn't look this nice. The pattern counts a lot, but I had to choose something simple.

Today was the last day of the project and I shipped my contribution on Wednesday. You can see the result. I'm not proud of how this roll looks, so I need to apologize here, but I was in pain when I made the pack, had some crazy back pain and I'm happy I could finish it.

What do you think, how long my scarf was? 22 meters 😆 TWENTY TWO METERS! I'm no sure how much others are joining in with, but I'm proud of what I could contribute with.

This is the pack before shipping, sitting on my laptop. How much do you think it weighted? 3kg!

So this is the end of a project that lasted one year. We don't know the end result yet, but I'm waiting anxiously to know if we succeeded or not.

The other big question I have right now, besides the result, if we did it or not, is, if there will be another one. My bag or yarn is maybe 10% of what I started with, I don't see this as an obstacle. I'm ready to go to the charity shop to buy pre-loved sweaters or scarves to have yarn and I'm ready to jump in again. This time I'm not going to complicate my life with changing colors so often and will focus on knitting the longest scarf I can.

What do you think? Is this crazy? Would you participate if you'd have the possibility?

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