In June 2019, I flew to Chicago to visit my aunt for several days. She loves to crochet and I wanted to learn how, so she taught me at her house. I remember she taught me the single crochet stitch with pretty chunky yarn. This was my first time picking up a crochet hook. At first, my stitches were pretty uneven and a little messy, but I kept at it. I continued to crochet at home and sometimes at a local crochet group. Eventually, my stitches started to look much neater. Over time, I made a variety of scarfs and beanies using the single crochet stitch. I proudly gave them away to family members, friends, and some of my chess students.
One of my missions in life is to inspire millions of people around the world in a positive way. In order to do this, I want to do something extraordinary. Since I enjoyed crocheting, I thought maybe I could crochet the longest crochet scarf by an individual.
After taking a look at the official Guinness World Records
website
I learned that the official world record at that time was 150 meters, or about 492.126 feet long. I thought that this record was reasonable to beat, so I officially applied to try to beat the record.
Several months later, Guinness World Records officially accepted my application and I started my scarf on November 19, 2019. Now during a typical week, I work on this scarf almost every day. When I wasn’t crocheting, I was often teaching chess to kids and adults who lived in many areas in the United States. I also played tennis and did other hobbies.
Since I am a chess teacher, chess book author, YouTube/Twitch livestreamer, I hoped that my crocheting and chess would “meet” and others would be inspired. And, yes, my scarf has a chess theme: almost all of the yarn balls in this scarf are black and white – the same colors as a typical chess board.
Like successful chess, I wanted to be consistent with the presentation of my scarf. All the yarn I used and will continue to use will always be Red Heart Soft Yarn and Red Heart Super Saver Yarn. All the yarn I used and will continue to use will always be created by
Yarnspirations.
By October 2021, I had completed about 244 feet and that’s when I received a surprise. A lady from the United Kingdom officially broke the world record. Her super long crochet scarf was 646 feet and 7 inches. In March 2023, another lady from the United Kingdom broke the official world record. Her crochet scarf is 834 feet and 8 inches.
At the time of this writing, which is June 2023, my super long crochet scarf is about 414 feet long and I am proudly currently working on my 208th yarn ball. On average, I complete one yarn or two yarn balls per week. Did you know that 410 feet is longer than an American football field? Since I average about 100 feet per year, it would probably take me about 4 to 5 years to get the scarf to be around 835 feet long for a new shot at the record. Unfortunately, I don’t want to commit another 4 to 5 years (I’d rather be doing other interesting things in life) to get my scarf to be over 835 feet in length. There is also a possibility that the world record could officially be broken again. For these reasons, my official goal is get my scarf to be 500 feet in length, and thus officially beat my initial goal of beating the world record of 492.126 feet long, the record when I started.
Once my scarf is about 500 feet long, I am assuming that this will be North America’s longest crochet scarf by an individual! I want the scarf to be displayed at a public place, such as a major airport terminal tunnel (By the way, I love airplanes and airports), a famous museum, a lobby at a huge company, or something similar.
I am very confident that if my finished scarf is displayed in a public place, this will be a positive inspiration for others! Since my scarf is primarily black and white, I’m sure the scarf will inspire others to play chess. The 100th yarn ball is primarily pink in color because pink is my favorite color. The 200th yarn ball in my scarf is dark blue. The 201th yarn ball is light blue. I chose the color blue because blue means ocean. I want people to take care of the oceans. I want people to believe in themselves, think big and go for their dreams in their life. I want to inspire more people to play chess.
Please join me on my livestream and watch me get my super long scarf to 500 feet. I usually live stream mostly on weekday mornings and some evenings.
Click here to get to my YouTube crochet channel! Please join me on my livestream and watch me get my super long scarf to 500 feet. I usually live stream mostly on weekday mornings and sometimes evenings.
