WATCH: Derbyshire TikTok star Tattooed Knitter who conquered world record for making most blankets in 24 hours in memory of his nan

TikTok star Dan Soar, of Shirland, embarked on a challenge to knit the most blankets in a day during a 24-hour livestream which began at noon on Friday, April 5 and ended at the same time the following day.

Dan, who has only been knitting for a few months, organised the fundraiser for Ashgate Hospice in memory of his late nan Margaret Emily Soar, from Hasland, who was cared for by the charity at the end of her life.

He said: “I already wanted to do a 24-hour knitathon as a personal challenge to myself, then my friend suggested that arm knitting so many blankets in 24 hours may be a world record, and it spiralled from there.

“We contacted Guinness World Records directly as the timeframe was very short, and they were super enthusiastic and supportive of the idea.

“I was able to achieve the world record as I had to make at least 15, and I made 19! My arms and wrists were very sore the next day and by the 20th hour I was a little delirious, but I just kept on knitting!”

No record for the most amount of blankets knitted in 24 hours has previously been set. Dan will send footage of himself completing the challenge to Guinness, which will review it before confirming whether he has officially set the world record.

In the livestream, which he said reached five million likes, Dan used the arm knitting technique – with extra thick yarn and no needles – to create chunky blankets. The fundraiser helped raise £1,195 for Ashgate Hospice, as well as £1,156 for mental health charity MenWalkTalk.

The 31-year-old locksmith has more than 300,000 followers after starting to knit on his TikTok channel in December, and his videos have been viewed more than six million times. Dan uses his platform to encourage people to have open conversations about their struggles with mental health.

He said: “Knitting helps me so much with my mental well-being and I wanted to share that with others. I have had so many people reach out to me with their own personal stories and struggles and share how knitting and our community has helped them.”

In addition to arm knitting, Dan uses large needles to knit hats, scarves and other items while filming tutorials for his viewers in an effort to get them to try knitting.

His passion for the craft was inherited from his nan, whom he describes as a strong, independent, caring woman who loved knitting, going on holidays, bingo and her family.

Margaret, who was diagnosed with lung cancer, was “treated like a queen” during her time at Ashgate Hospice before she died in January 2014, aged 81. Dan said: “The care from Ashgate was second-to-none. She would visit the hospice on a Wednesday and they used to give her massages, paint her nails, give her lunch, make tie-dye scarfs – they did all sorts.

“The doctors made sure she was comfortable and that she wasn’t in any pain and if she was they’d change her medication. The aftercare our family received was especially good as my little sister was only five and they were extremely good at explaining the grief.”

*You can watch the Tattooed Knitter’s videos on his TikTok channel.