Ch 4 Game of Wool. Britain’s Best Knitter

Watching The Repair Shop, for instance, it seems everyone chosen has to have a back story now about loss or a traumatic time in their lives

so agree, more story and less repairs.

Tizliz

*Watching The Repair Shop, for instance, it seems everyone chosen has to have a back story now about loss or a traumatic time in their lives*

so agree, more story and less repairs.

My Teddy could relate his own traumatic sob story about how the little girl who owned him tried to mend his paws with green felt 😀
So embarrassing.

Sorry, Teddy.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=jTJ8OfjnINM

I found this an interesting watch. Gordon the first contestant eliminated, and he says the steek was nothing to do with his elimination.

Allira maybe your teddy would like to make a friend of my husband's old (and special) teddy - who suffered an unfortunate trip to the barbers when quite young ...
🧸 🧸

www.youtube.com/watch?v=19kB4T5isNE

Just viewed this, found her very insightful. (or maybe hat's because she expressed what i felt!)

Sorry my laptop keyboard is playing up, some very 'sticky keys' that always malfunction when I fail to preview!

NotSpaghetti

Allira maybe your teddy would like to make a friend of my husband's old (and special) teddy - who suffered an unfortunate trip to the barbers when quite young ...
🧸 🧸

My brothers both played barbers with their teddies too, I remember the rumpus!

This came IP on my Facebook feed today:

Shetland News

MSP Beatrice Wishart has written to the boss of Channel 4 to criticise the misrepresentation of Fair Isle knitting in its show Game of Wool.
Wishart has also lodged a motion in Holyrood highlighting the locally controversial elements of the first episode of the knitting show.
And she flagged up a 2024 Channel 4 press release in which Fair Isle was called “Fair Aisle”.

up up up not IP!

Allira

This came IP on my Facebook feed today:

Shetland News

MSP Beatrice Wishart has written to the boss of Channel 4 to criticise the misrepresentation of Fair Isle knitting in its show Game of Wool.
Wishart has also lodged a motion in Holyrood highlighting the locally controversial elements of the first episode of the knitting show.
And she flagged up a 2024 Channel 4 press release in which Fair Isle was called “Fair Aisle”.

I was about to post something similar. There’s also her further comments which allude to the dumbing down of the Fair Isle’s culture.
After all the Great Pottery Throwdown wouldn’t give the contestants Plasticine to work with.

NotSpaghetti

Allira maybe your teddy would like to make a friend of my husband's old (and special) teddy - who suffered an unfortunate trip to the barbers when quite young ...
🧸 🧸

My Teddy was put through an old fashioned mangle, by my brother. Teddy survived, but my brother broke his finger!

www.shetnews.co.uk/2025/11/07/wishart-expresses-extreme-disappointment-game/?fbclid=IwY2xjawN7_tlleHRuA2FlbQIxMABzcnRjBmFwcF9pZBAyMjIwMzkxNzg4MjAwODkyAAEeSfJAmbnoEX-naZHtd3LrrioJ3ocehe3xuAto80cM06HWqpGzC_SHo5m8eF4_aem_Tio3hvHQDMesKq8gh_OJ0A

I'll watch it again, I suppose. One thing I will not like (from the ads I've seen) is the dogs dressed up like dolls!

I wish we could have seen the actual way each knitter was dealing with a stitch. From my lifelong friend, a lifelong knitter and born in Fife, I learned the way she did it; not to move the wool up and round the needle, but to push the needle in to pick up the wool from the other side.
- I hope this made sense! Is there a word for this method?

🤔 I've seen it, tried it, can't do it.
Is it Continental knitting?

Allira

🤔 I've seen it, tried it, can't do it.
Is it Continental knitting?

Allira. Continental knitting is just using the needles in a different way. It is supposed to be faster. My late MIL was German and she knitted that way and was really fast. I do it from time to time.

I will be watching again tonight.

I've just looked on YouTube.
The yarn is held around the fingers of the left hand, the needle pushed through the stitch and the yarn picked up and pulled back through.

I knit by holding the yarn in the right hand fingers, inserting the needle into the stitch and 'throwing' the yarn around then pulling through, without lifting hands off the needles.

Allira

I've just looked on YouTube.
The yarn is held around the fingers of the left hand, the needle pushed through the stitch and the yarn picked up and pulled back through.

I knit by holding the yarn in the right hand fingers, inserting the needle into the stitch and 'throwing' the yarn around then pulling through, without lifting hands off the needles.

Yes. My brain is addled today and I couldn’t explain how to do it. Your way is the method mostly used in the UK.

People who learned to crochet before they learned to knit often stick with the continental way of knitting because they're used to tensioning the yarn with their left hand. I learned to knit as a very young child. When I taught myself to crochet many, many years later I found it too difficult trying to tension with my left hand, so crochet how I knit with yarn and hook both in the right hand. It works for me. Whatever works for the individual is the best way to do it.

This is bonkers.

Those poor dogs with knitted crowns. I'm a bit confused about what's going on.

Anyone else find the tears by the judge embarrassing. It's a piece of knitting, i just don't understand the crying!!!
Perhaps I'm getting cynical in my old age.

Tizliz

*Watching The Repair Shop, for instance, it seems everyone chosen has to have a back story now about loss or a traumatic time in their lives*

so agree, more story and less repairs.

I know someone that was in a tv programme that was shown recently ( not repair shop) and he told me they had to find an angle for the show, even if it’s a bit obscure. Since then I see some programmes in a different light eg in those auction programmes they always have to have a reason for wanting the money such as a holiday. Whereas they probably just want to have a jolly good clear out.

Really disappointed that again, they've sent a creative one home.

And the guy whose crochet skills are weak decided to wing the crochet bit. Why?

Tonight’s was so embarrassing, ridiculous dog coats and 3 different people knitting one jumper!
No description of the stiches or technique used.

At times the judges didn’t quite know what to say and either stroked their faces or looked sideways.

I thought using mohair was very unfair on some of the contestants because mohair is a pig to knit with. A couple of them were quite new knitters and probably more used to plain DK yarns.

I didn’t like the idea of dog clothes but they all made a great effort. The dogs didn’t look impressed.

Have gone off the German guy. Far too bossy. Tracey was itching to get some embellishments on their jumper but he was having none of it. The judges saying you could see they were all working together as one! 😂

I am still favouring Ailsa to win.

It was awful again. Dog coats, chunky tank tops, 80s jumpers, sofa covers - why not make something people might actually want to knit?

I can't be doing with the back stories either. It's as bad as the 'What would you do with the £500 prize money if you win?' questions. It's obvious that they are supposed to say it will change their lives, when it would be a nice treat, but between a team of three is unlikely to go very far.