Ch 4 Game of Wool. Britain’s Best Knitter

Crimes against dogs. I could see the point of the coats as it tests shaping for something other than a human body but those silly hats???

Crimes against humans. Making them knit with mohair. Meadow is so inexperienced that it was wrong, wrong, wrong to let her loose on the front of an intarsia sweater when there’s someone as good as Ailsa in the team.

I felt sorry for precise Holger in the sweater challenge. I like him but clearly he's a man who would rather work alone.

I still think it's daft to judge the group challenge blind as it misses entirely how well or not they work together. Were they even aware that one team had to contend with one member walking off part way through?

Easy to pick the best and worst this week. Right decisions.

I'm very slightly warming to this show but woolly swimwear next week? Back in the 70s, I crocheted myself a teeny white bikini from a Golden Hands part works pattern. Looked great on but definitely not for swimming in, so why?

I have tried to watch this programme (in spite of the awful Tom Daley) but after 20 minutes today I just couldn't bear it any more.
Sad really. Textiles are a love of mine.

Once bitten and all that. I watched the first one and it was so utterly dreadful that I decided not to again .... it sounds as though I was right!

Well there is some talent there but the tasks are misdirected. Dog hats! Blind judging although they seemed to know who had worked on what. Actually I think I might carry on watching just because it is so weird.

I don't want to be mean but I really want to give that judge woman a comb to sort out her hair and take those silly needles out.

Poor Meadow .... an intarsia pattern of a guitar with mohair wool. Really hard to do.

I tried again last night, but gave up after about 20 minutes.

Absolutely dire. If ever a programme missed the mark it's this one.

I felt that in the group challenge both Ailsa and Stephanie hung Meadow out to dry. They are both very talented knitters but Meadow is in the very early stages. However, they gave her the most difficult part of the jumper to knit with stitches she hadn't even heard of. They should have given her the sleeves and tackled the main part themselves.
There are some very good knitters and at this stage Holger and Ailsa stand out but this show doesn't have anything like the same feel that Pottery Throwdown and Bake-Off have. Not even close.

ginny

Well there is some talent there but the tasks are misdirected. Dog hats! Blind judging although they seemed to know who had worked on what. Actually I think I might carry on watching just because it is so weird.

I feel the same about watching it. If they water test next weeks knitted swimwear it could get really exciting! 🤣

They didn't give it to here. As she was drawing the guitar, she said she wanted to knit the front. Stephanie said she was happy for Meadow to take it on. Meadow said she knew she was inexperienced but wanted to push herself. By the look on Ailsa's face, she wasn't happy about it.

The two more experienced knitters should perhaps have tried to dissuade her or swapped tasks part through but maybe felt she needed a bit of a confidence boost after the judges criticised her work in the first round.

From what we are being shown, nobody seems that bothered about gauge. Imperative I would say when different knitters are working on parts of the same garment.

I think I will keep watching or at least give it another week. What can possibly go wrong with knitted swimsuits and deckchairs other than a lot of sag where it isn't needed?!

I saw a clip of the knitted deck chair fabric being sat on. It stretched and sank to the floor. A bit like my childhood knitted swimming costume when wet!

The programme would be a lot more interesting to average knitters like me if there was an accompanying tutorial like a book or magazine devoted to the show itself which explains in more detail the techniques used week by week.
The tasks are impossible to follow if you are not familiar with the terminology but that doesn’t mean they can’t be followed if given a bit more information and guidance.

Millie22

I don't want to be mean but I really want to give that judge woman a comb to sort out her hair and take those silly needles out.

Poor Meadow .... an intarsia pattern of a guitar with mohair wool. Really hard to do.

On another forum one woman said the judges looked like a pair of down and outs. harsh!

Gave it a try last night found it a bit boring to be honest won't be bothering again

PaynesGrey. I also crocheted a tiny bikini and pretty sure that was from Golden Hands. My Mum used to buy that magazine.

The first thing I ever made was a waistcoat in DK yarn which looked like a spiders web on the back. I was 15 or 16 and that type of thing was very much in fashion. I also made several little crochet hats which were so popular then.

I have no strong feelings about the judges. They've got the 'not all knitters are like Miss Marple' thing going on with TD, and both of them know what they are doing.

I think mohair is quite forgiving. Horrible to knit back if you make a mistake, but minor things like twisted stitches are hidden, and you can use bigger needles because of the hairiness.

I think it's difficult to compare the show with ones like Bake Off, as knitting takes ages, but this one doesn't have an 'angle' of its own, which is where the problems are, IMO. I agree that there is not enough 'educational' content for people who want to learn more about knitting, but not all expert knitters can put their skill into words or know how to teach, so I don't know how that would work, unless they had a segment where one of the judges (or a guest expert) demonstrated a technique. I would rather see that than the group task, I think. Both episodes have featured Intarsia, for instance, and I'm sure a lot of people won't know what it is or how to do it, so it would have been good to see that, and some tips on Fair Isle in the first episode.

I suppose the producers had to decide whether to have an educational programme or an entertainment show.

I think this programme is about as disappointing as a programme could be! The idea is not bad but why, oh why, did they choose such dislikable presenters? Tom is irritating, and that dreadful judge with ‘the hair’! What is she thinking? I wouldn’t go out into my own private garden with hair that looked as bad as that.
To my mind, if presenters think it’s ok to look so scruffy, it tells me that they couldn’t give a sh*t about their viewers. Frankly, I despise them and won’t be watching this car crash of a programme ever again. Can’t think how it ever passed the test to actually be broadcast!

Crossstitchfan

I think this programme is about as disappointing as a programme could be! The idea is not bad but why, oh why, did they choose such dislikable presenters? Tom is irritating, and that dreadful judge with ‘the hair’! What is she thinking? I wouldn’t go out into my own private garden with hair that looked as bad as that.
To my mind, if presenters think it’s ok to look so scruffy, it tells me that they couldn’t give a sh*t about their viewers. Frankly, I despise them and won’t be watching this car crash of a programme ever again. Can’t think how it ever passed the test to actually be broadcast!

Careful crossstitchfan 😉. I was told by a GNer earlier on this thread to “maybe think about how you have internalised misogyny and ageism” and my comments were very watered down. I was also told my comments were “Disgusting”.

Has anyone read the open letter from Shetland knitters about what the show called fair isle. They made a mockery of an ancient tradition. Shetland knitters use only Shetland wool for fair isle and it's knitted using 2 strands of fine Shetland wool. Not what the show showed.

Google open letter from Shetland knitters and see for yourselves.

Mainly, I was very sorry for the dogs. They got no attention that I saw - only what they were wearing...! - and I am not even a 'dog person'!
I may try next week, but suspect I will turn off.

Crossstitchfan

I think this programme is about as disappointing as a programme could be! The idea is not bad but why, oh why, did they choose such dislikable presenters? Tom is irritating, and that dreadful judge with ‘the hair’! What is she thinking? I wouldn’t go out into my own private garden with hair that looked as bad as that.
To my mind, if presenters think it’s ok to look so scruffy, it tells me that they couldn’t give a sh*t about their viewers. Frankly, I despise them and won’t be watching this car crash of a programme ever again. Can’t think how it ever passed the test to actually be broadcast!

Wow! Don't hold back, will you?

I feel the same about watching it. If they water test next weeks knitted swimwear it could get really exciting! 🤣
😂😂
If they knit enough for the GB swimming team I reckon they would win the next Olympics hands ( or should that be something else) down!

I'm another one that had a knitted (or was it crocheted) bikini! It had plastic rings at either side of the bottoms and in the middle of the bust. It was definitely itsy bitsy teeny weeny but it was at least lined!

Whiff

Has anyone read the open letter from Shetland knitters about what the show called fair isle. They made a mockery of an ancient tradition. Shetland knitters use only Shetland wool for fair isle and it's knitted using 2 strands of fine Shetland wool. Not what the show showed.

Google open letter from Shetland knitters and see for yourselves.

I posted earlier, Whiff, about what the MSP for the Shetland Islands, Beatrice Wishart, thought about the programme.

It was not exactly complimentary!

Retroladywriting

Crossstitchfan

I think this programme is about as disappointing as a programme could be! The idea is not bad but why, oh why, did they choose such dislikable presenters? Tom is irritating, and that dreadful judge with ‘the hair’! What is she thinking? I wouldn’t go out into my own private garden with hair that looked as bad as that.
To my mind, if presenters think it’s ok to look so scruffy, it tells me that they couldn’t give a sh*t about their viewers. Frankly, I despise them and won’t be watching this car crash of a programme ever again. Can’t think how it ever passed the test to actually be broadcast!

Wow! Don't hold back, will you?

How do you know I didn’t?? 🤣

I’m loving it! Have always been in awe of people being able to knit. I did just nod off so need to rewatch some of it. I also get the dog coat bit as I’ve got a whippet and our dog walking group dresses the dogs up ( albeit not in woolly outfits). Holger seems very bossy from what I’ve seen. I’ve still got a jumper my mum knitted for me when I was a child, even though it’s a bit moth eaten. Along with the last thing she knitted for me which was a waistcoat. And all the matinee jackets she knitted for my children. I love going into wool shops, too, even though I can’t knit. I’m looking back on all of the woolly things I’ve had over the years , including an Arran sweater that my MIL knitted for my ex that the cat ate; such hard work had gone into it.