Skulls, Balls and a Knitting Marathon Runner – It's a Friday Night Round-Up

Ben’s Kitterly Kit

You definitely want to pick up fiber artist Ben Cuevas’ latest creation — a mini knit skull kit! The El Craneo kit from Kitterly comes with a mini-skein of Cascade 220 with enough yardage to make two skulls and black scrap yarn for embroidering the facial features. I totally bought one.

Feeling Fluffy Handmade Wool Dryer Balls

So when I first got these, I was a little freaked out by the sheep smell. I’m a knitter who normally loves sheep smell, but not for drying my clothes! Ignoring the odor, the first load really impressed me – no doubt these balls do everything they claim to. They softened the clothes, they cut down dryer time, they weren’t too loud in the dryer (I could hear them, but very softly) and above all, they’re great quality. So kudos on all fronts except for me, as I said I couldn’t get over the sheep smell in the clothes on that first load. That said, my husband and son didn’t notice one bit and I’m happy to report that after that first load, there was no sheep smell and I use them with every load now. If you like, you can add essential oil, but I’m a no-smell kind of gal when it comes to laundry. Anyway, thumbs up on these.

20 Flowers in 5 Hours While Running a Marathon, Can He Do It?

Do you know about David Babcock? He is the Guinness World Record holder for knitting the longest scarf while running a marathon – it’s true! And last year, he raised just under $10,000 when he ran the New York City Marathon and double-knit a six-foot scarf with the words “I’ll Remember For You.”

This year he’s finger-crocheting six-inch flowers and handing them out along the marathon route in support of The Alzheimer’s Association, an organization he runs to fundraise for. The color of the flowers is representative of one’s relationship to the disease – blue if you have Alzheimer’s, purple if you’ve lost someone, yellow if you’re a caregiver, and orange if you just support the cause.

David wants to crochet the flowers as a powerful symbol to reinforce the fact we can all support Alzheimer’s treatment. Currently he’s raised 20% of his $3500 goal.

Can you help? It’s such a worthy cause! If everyone who read KnitHacker donated just $10, he’d reach his goal. I’m personally proud to work at the company that sponsors David, Lion Brand Yarn.

* I received a package of Feeling Fluffy Handmade 100% Premium Organic Wool XL Dryer Balls in exchange for writing a review on the blog. This is a post that contains affiliate links.