"Knitting (like I do) and travel go together very well," Sam told Bored Panda. "Since many of the sweaters I have knitted are of landmarks around the world, traveling gives me the opportunity to experience the very places I have depicted on my sweaters. I also get a chance to teach my knitting skills to others, give speeches about it, and meet fans wherever I go. In addition, traveling enables me to see sites that give me inspiration for more sweater ideas".
"The most challenging types of scenes to knit are urban scenes and bridges. Some of the challenging ones I have done are Times Square, Las Vegas, and the Mackinac Bridge, which was my most recent."
Sam started knitting in 1999 when he met the owners of a local yarn shop. "I asked them where you can learn to knit," he told us in an earlier interview.
"They offered to teach me for free under one condition - that I buy their yarn. I agreed. It was a dream come true after years of signing up for knitting classes that would always get canceled due to low enrollment. In the years that followed, I have knitted 106 sweaters featuring various nature scenes, landmarks, holidays, and more, all freehand without a graph. Each sweater has an interesting (long) story behind it."
Sam says he's had to overcome plenty of challenges to complete his sweaters, including traveling long distances to obtain yarn and rushing to knit them in time for a specific event. "At first, I didn't think anything of the idea of posing in front of the landmarks or objects they represent. But it seemed like the natural choice to wear them there. Before long, I had 10-15 such pictures. I realized this was a form of art of its own and I started making a conscious effort to create more pictures like these."
Keep scrolling to see more of our favorites, and check out Sam's website for more info!
#8 M&t Bank Stadium - Current Temporary Picture Is At High School Football Field
