“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 that’s how The idea of a heavy metal knitting competition was born in Finland, the land of metal music, and handcrafts.
On April 2nd, 2019 a hilarious promotional video (check video), and an application form were put in place. That’s how the first national competition turned into a worldwide championship real fast!
In 2019, 26 acts from 13 different countries applied, of which 12 acts from 8 countries made it to the finals. That was the first ever metal knitting competition! Watch the best moments from that first competition here!
Heavy Metal Knitting World Championships then returned in 2021 remotely due to Covid (watch it here). In 2022 the show was back live in Joensuu, Finland where the UK team “String Thing” beats Finnish and Scottish/Indian rivals to win the title of Heavy Metal Knitting World Champions! You can find the livestream of the event here.
The jury explained: “The winning team pulled off a surprising and energetic show. Creativity was shown in many different forms – from costumes to the using of space and stage. The show popped from the stage in the form of huge yarn balls and the audience was included to have fun with the artist. The jury was completely unanimous.“
The next Heavy Metal Knitting World Championships will be held 7 July 2023.
Watch all of the previous performances here.
