The 2022 Heavy Metal Knitting World Championship went off in Joensuu, Finland, last week. And footage from the competition looks just as ridiculous as it did during the first one back in 2019. See the archived stream of the 2022 championship below.
Imagine performing live only to stop playing your instrument and pick up some needles to start knitting. That’s what happens at times in this tournament.
The contest Facebook explains, “In heavy metal knitting, needlework and music become united like never before. On the same stage … heavy metal music and knitting shaking hands. Knitting to the rhythm of heavy metal music can be compared to playing air guitar.”
At this year’s, the U.K. team String Thing beat their Finnish and Scottish/Indian rivals to win the 2022 Heavy Metal Knitting Championship, per Euronews.
Before a German and Swedish team withdrew, eight teams in total — including Australia, Finland, the U.K., Scotland/India and Japan — were vying.
But the winning team did a “surprising and energetic show,” the competition’s judges said. “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.”
After the first Heavy Metal Knitting Championship in 2019, the competition didn’t return until a virtual tournament in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. But the live competition was back in Joensuu this year.
The organizer, WTF Productions, calls it “the oddball of all sports, crafts and hobbies … coined during the darkest and coldest hours of the Finnish winter.”
The idea for the competition first came in 2018 after local knitters in the area were asked if it was possible to knit with their eyes closed, much as a seasoned guitarist might do when performing onstage, a la Swedish shredder Yngwie Malmsteen.
Learn more at heavymetalknitting.com.
Heavy Metal Knitting World Championship 2022 Livestream – July 8, 2022
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