A new generation of knitters are taking the world by storm.

COMM: With just two needles, or a hook, they are testing the limits of creativity.

(airy music) COMM: And ten of the nation's most talented are joining me in Scotland to battle it out, stitch by stitch, to secure the ultimate crown.

Each week, they will face two mind-blowing challenges right here in our magical Yarn Barn.

-Oh wow.

-Wow.

Stephanie: Wow!

Look.

COMM: The Solo Challenge will test the knitters' individual talents and skill.

Tracy: Think those are going to look visually very pleasing.

COMM: While the Team Challenge will see them collaborate on a scale never seen before.

-Simon: Is it straight?

-What do I care about straight?

COMM: Nothing escapes the forensic gaze of judges Di Gilpin and Sheila Greenwell, softly spoken, but with eyes sharp as steel.

Sheila: I will be looking at the smaller technical details.

I want to see that creativity coming out.

Oh my gosh, Sheila!

I always cry when I see something beautiful.

COMM: Ten knitters, eight weeks, 16 spectacular challenges.

And one ultimate champion.

I need small sharp scissors.

Sew as fast as you can.

Tracy: Oh, I've missed a stitch.

We can do this.

We can, we can, we can.

Isaac: At the end of the day, this is a competition, and someone has to be cast off.

COMM: This is knitting like you've never seen it before.

Holger: It's a big woolly adventure.

Ailsa: Britain's Best Knitter, that would be unbelievable.

Welcome to Game of Wool: Britain's Best Knitter.

(airy music fades out) (light music) COMM: It's week one, and ten talented amateur knitters have arrived in Scotland, historic home of all things wool where the sheep are fluffy, the stakes are high, and our magical Yarn Barn awaits... (gasping) Wow!

Oh gosh, look.

Doesn't this look fabulous?

Ailsa: Oh, wow.

COMM: ...as our knitters battle it out to claim Big Knitter of the Week, and avoid the dreaded cast off.

(light music fades) Welcome, knitters.

I'm Tom, and over the next eight weeks I'm going to be guiding you through some incredible challenges where nine of you are, sadly, going to be cast off, but we will be left with one Game of Wool Champion, Britain's Best Knitter.

And although I am knitting-obsessed, I'm not going to be judging you through this competition.

I have two people next to me who are true knitting VIPs.

We have Di Gilpin and Sheila Greenwell, who have worked for the likes of Chanel, Vivienne Westwood, and even His Majesty the King himself.

COMM: These queens of couture have built their career on high fashion, hand-knit show-stopping garments, and in this competition nothing less than perfection will do.

I'll be interrogating all of the technical choices that they have to make.

Di: I want to be completely blown away by creativity.

Every stitch counts.

These two boss stitches are going to be responsible... ...for setting... -Seriously?

- ...your challenges each and every week.

And speaking of challenges, this is your first Solo Challenge where you will be able to show off your individual talent and skill to impress our lovely judges.

For your first Solo Challenge, we'd like you to reimagine a Fair Isle.

(suspenseful music) We'd like you to make a tank top.

And we'd like you to make it your story, defining who you are as a person.

There are a few key elements to include.

Repeating patterns, we would like to see peeries or motifs in your tank top.

Don't let the people of Fair Isle down.

Ohh!

(suspenseful music fades) There you go, I mean, you've heard Di and Sheila.

They would love for you to make a modern twist on the classic, the Scottish Fair Isle, but as a tank top.

You only have 12 hours, so let's get knitting.

(adventurous music) COMM: Fair Isle is a traditional, but tricky knitting style which was invented here, on Fair Isle, a tiny island in the Shetlands, centuries ago.

Fair Isle is a visual story told through repeating bands of symmetrical patterns, larger motifs and smaller peeries.

Ho-hoo-hoo.

COMM: The Yarn Barn's fully stocked haberdashery is now open.

This is my idea of heaven.

COMM: And knitters have full creative freedom to design and knit their own Fair Isle story.

Lydia: Right.

Come on, Lyd.

COMM: To knit their tank tops they will all start from the hem of the garment and work upwards using circular needles.

Which means they can knit continuously in a loop.

Then, they will move onto their Fair Isle peeries and motifs, which they have meticulously designed beforehand.

To knit these, they will use a technique called 'stranded colourwork', which is where they alternate two coloured yarns along each knitted row to create their iconic Fair Isle pattern.

Once the body of the tank top is done, they switch to straight needles to create the arm and neck holes, before finishing and weaving in any loose ends.

An average Fair Isle tank top could take over 40 hours to finish using a fine-weight wool.

Our knitters are using chunkier yarn because they have just 12 hours to complete this first challenge.

(adventurous music fades) Tom: This is quite a first challenge.

Creating a modern twist of a Fair Isle, but with a tank top.

Sheila: We deliberately set a really tough first challenge.

We wanted to push in both creative and technical terms.

It's a visual world, Fair Isle.

We really want them to be telling their own story.

Talking about themselves through the medium of knit.

(anticipatory music) I've started my tank top at the bottom edge with the ribbing that will then go into the main body of the tank top.

COMM: Originally from Germany, but now living in London, is Savile Row fashion designer, Holger.

Holger: I was always very much interested in the construction of clothes, the way they are made, and obviously for men... classic men's tailoring, Savile Row is, like, the place to be.

Fair Isle is very much what I like doing.

But not on this yarn and not on this needle, so to tell me that I have to express myself on a super chunky yarn is like asking a vegetarian to... to, you know, express themselves in, what, a medium of steak or something.

COMM: Holger has chosen ribbed neck and arm holes for his tank top.

On the body he's gone for classic Fair Isle motifs and peeries in a red, yellow and blue gradient, inspired by a previous project.

(anticipatory music fades) She came into being around the time as everybody seemed to have been knitting emotional support chickens.

It does represent me.

A nonchalant chicken.

For my design I've got a repeating pattern throughout of the Sierra Leonian flag because my family is from Sierra Leone.

COMM: Cyber security student, Isaac, learnt to knit when he was ten years old.

I knit, primarily, for myself because I don't have to impress too much.

It's quite handy, I don't need to stick to any deadlines.

Er, I have, in the past, knit for my mum and my granddad.

(upbeat music) COMM: Isaac's family-inspired tank top features a gaggle of geese marching across it as his motif, and peeries in the colours of the Sierra Leonian flag.

It's finished with a ribbed hem, neckline and arm holes.

(upbeat music fades) Tom: So, Isaac, what exactly are you up to?

You've gone through the ribbing and you've done your first motif.

My main motif is a series of geese.

My mum calls me a silly goose, my girlfriend calls me a silly goose.

I'm just a silly goose.

In terms of time, is it something that you're worried about with this challenge?

I'm not great at estimating time.

So, I suppose we'll see.

(adventurous music) Fair Isle is largely a lot of what I do when I knit for myself, so, I sort of feel I know what I'm doing.

COMM: Already familiar with the Fair Isle technique is cruise ship singer, Gordon.

I'm a very traditional knitter.

I've never tried anything particularly avant garde.

COMM: Heritage knit enthusiast, Gordon, is combining his love of Shetlands with his passion for music by knitting peeries of piano keys, accompanied by the oxo motifs used in traditional Fair Isle designs.

Gordon is the only knitter attempting the risky traditional Fair Isle method of steeking, which means to cut open the neck and arm holes.

You heard that right.

Cut into the knitting.

You can't spell steek without spelling eek.

(adventurous music fades) It won't ravel out.

People think it'll just completely disintegrate.

Er, but it won't.

Knitters, that's two hours gone, you have ten hours remaining.

Pile of wool next to me, cup of tea on the side.

-Nice.

-Sorted.

Simon: You guys are loving this, aren't you?

Time of your lives.

The best part of any day is a cup of tea.

COMM: Hoping to impress the judges with a nature-inspired knit is psychotherapist, Tracy.

-Sheila: Hello.

-Hello.

Tracy: I'm a grandmother of eight and I've been knitting as long as I think I've been breathing.

Do you want to tell us a little bit about the design?

Tracy: As I kind of thought about what I'm going to do with this, I saw a picture in a charity shop and it was a picture of trees.

So I kind of believe that everyone's born as a little seed, and then they grow into a mighty tree, and no one says, "Oh that's a fat tree, that's an old tree, it's a weird tree", we just love trees the way they are.

COMM: Tracy's Fair Isle design story is all about the circle of life and incorporates nature symbols and scissors to represent pruning and shaping your path.

So are you going to embellish it?

I might be.

You know, I've been known to add pieces of chandelier to a shawl, so I do like to change things as I go along.

This whole thing has been absolutely new to me, I've never done Fair Isle before, ever, in my life.

COMM: Library worker, Dipti, knits to unwind, but is still getting to grips with some of the trickier techniques.

I generally am very amateur.

I have told my son that I'm going to be in a knitting competition, and he said to me, "You're not very good so you'll come home soon anyway."

Tom: Dipti.

-Hello, Tom.

-How are we getting on?

I am a massive fan of soft toys, and so is my little boy.

This is a design for the love of his favourite soft toy.

We love him so much, that's his own bedroom.

He literally is a member of the family.

We even celebrate his birthday.

The first of August.

Wow, okay.

Oh.

Dipti: Literally, it is adorable.

COMM: Dipti's knit has both heart-shaped motifs and her son's favourite birthday-celebrating bunny, all incorporated in a blue, white and pink design.

Is there anything with this project, in this challenge in particular, that you're concerned about?

Er, for me it's always the fit.

I'm not a massive maker of garments, and finishing it, because I'm quite a slow knitter.

(anticipatory music) (sheep bleating) I'm back on track.

I thought I was behind, but I'm back on track now.

I'm so delighted, it's really exciting.

And it's making me knit faster.

Oh dear me, can't stop.

There'll be smoke coming off my needles soon.

COMM: This giddy knitter is life coach Stephanie, who first picked up a set of needles 45 years ago.

I'm not your average gran, I do all sorts of things, and now I'm in an extreme knitting competition that I'm going to win.

COMM: Stephanie's Fair Isle design features motifs of all the things she loves.

Games at the table with her daughters, knitting needles, and a cup of tea, but she's hoping to wow the judges with a unique roll-neck collar.

(anticipatory music fades) Tell us a little bit about the design.

I'm going to do a roll-collar.

Di: A collar?

That's exciting.

That's the plan.

Fingers crossed.

(hypnotic music) COMM: 18-year-old fashion student, Meadow, only got into knitting recently, but already loves its creative potential.

For my motifs I've decided to go with daisy for my granny, like I just really like bright colours.

I'm the youngest knitter in the competition.

I'm very excited to show people what I can make.

COMM: Meadow's Fair Isle tank top is a multi-coloured love letter to her gran.

Complete with checkerboard peeries and a giant daisy motif, her gran's favourite flower.

(hypnotic music fades) Meadow: I have my granny's knitting needles.

Well, she taught me how to knit when I was really young, so it's always something we've had a bond over.

COMM: During the first half of the challenge, it is essential the knitters complete the body of their tank tops to allow time for the fiddly neck and arm holes.

Well, unless you've found a cheeky shortcut like me.

Tom: Oh, stunning.

That's me finished with my Fair Isle sweater, and we're only halfway through.

So, knitters, you're halfway through.

Six hours to go.

How you doing, Gordo?

Gordon: Er, I'm further behind than I would have liked to have been.

It's like being in one of these anxiety dreams, except it isn't a dream.

I'm really here and I'm knitting like mad.

(birds chirping) (adventurous music) COMM: It's week one here in the Game of Wool Yarn Barn, and our ten knitters are over halfway through their first Solo Challenge, a modern Fair Isle tank top.

The plans are still fine, I've just messed up this motif, so I'm just trying to fix it at the moment.

COMM: Ex-marine turned builder, Simon, has been knitting for over ten years.

Simon: Generally, knitting on a building site goes down with a bit of shock, like, "What the hell's this dude doing with a set of knitting needles?"

Simon, can you tell me about your tank top design?

So my motifs are based around my life story, really.

COMM: Simon's tank top is partly inspired by his time with actual tanks, as it uses the colours of the Royal Marines.

He's also adding a trowel motif as a nod to his new career as a builder, and to reflect he and his wife's IVF journey, motifs of Petrie dishes and egg timers.

(adventurous music fades) Simon: Each egg timer should, if I can get there, go down in time to signify IVF and the amount of time it took.

Oh that's such a great idea because Fair Isle usually repeats, but there's, like, subtle differences.

-How far in are you?

-Not as far as I should be.

Tom: Oh.

(hypnotic music) (exhales) COMM: Also struggling to stay afloat is cruise ship entertainer, Gordon.

I decided to... to do what I always do and I'm steeking the arm holes.

Ah.

COMM: Steeking using a chunkier yarn will be tricky because this wool isn't as sticky so it won't cling together like a Shetland wool, which is traditionally used in Fair Isle.

(hypnotic music fades) Di: That's quite a risky decision, Gordon.

So timing... Timing, yes.

I'm hoping I'll be okay, but I don't think I'm going to be sitting around having a cup of tea.

(adventurous music) (sheep bleating) COMM: With just a few hours remaining, the knitters should all have moved on to the neck and arm holes.

(adventurous music fades) I've done the main body of my vest and so now I'm picking up stitches for the neck line.

COMM: Lydia juggles her passion for knitting with a career in the charity sector, whilst also raising three-year-old twins.

So I... I don't knit for barely anyone but myself, and yes I have kids and no, I don't knit for them.

Wow, Lydia, what have we got going on here for your Fair Isle vest?

Lydia: I'm doing a take on a Kent apron, which is a traditional West African material, so I was inspired by this dress.

Tom: Oh wow.

Lydia: This is me and my husband at our wedding party.

COMM: Inspired by her wedding dress, Lydia's Fair Isle story explores her Ghanian roots, combining traditional symbols representing love as her motifs and peeries, within a bright West African colour palette.

Wow, that's so special.

Like that... The meaning behind it, the patterns.

You're cracking through it.

I think I'm... I'm about an hour off.

COMM: And she's not the only knitter approaching the finish line.

It's possible, looking around, that I might be one of the first to finish.

But I've also got a couple of design features further up that take a good bit of time.

(light music) COMM: Ailsa works for a ferry company and has been knitting for over 20 years.

Di: Ailsa.

Do you want to tell us a little bit about the story?

My design is based on a day in my life.

I live next to the beach with my dog, Brillo, that's who this is.

Sheila: Oh, lovely.

COMM: Ailsa's tank top is inspired by her local beach, with a waved peerie, accompanied by a motif of her beloved dog, Brillo.

She's pushing the boat out with a few extra flourishes, such as a vintage ribbon-inspired necktie and a surprise on the back.

I'm creating a hole, like a port hole.

Di: Oh.

Ailsa: Because I work for a ferry company, I'm bringing that into my design because I'm lucky enough, through work, to be able to go to places with some of the best knitting and wool history.

When I discovered that there's a his... a history to knitting and it's such an interesting history, I was just down that rabbit hole.

I have been called an old soul quite a few times in my life.

I'm probably perceived as being quite quiet, but I'm just soaking everything up and seeing what I can do to be really loud with my knitting, albeit being quiet myself.

(light music fades) Simon: How you getting on, mate?

I'm feeling very stressed about time.

I am whizzing up my front piece, unfortunately the whizzing is not quite as whizzy as it should be.

Simon: Do you want me to run across for a cuddle?

(laughing) I'm... I'm... I'm busy.

I'm busy knitting here, don't... I think a lot... I'm here to just try and put a smile on Holger's face.

Yeah, amazing, thank you.

(all laughing) (bewitching music) So, right now, I'm adding a duplicate stitch to add the orange bills, so instead of being these... these sad little bill-less geese, they're nice and happy and they can honk at you.

COMM: Duplicate stitch is a common technique used to embroider over existing knitting to add detail.

But Isaac is unusually combining this with the ladderback technique, a method to neatly hold strands of yarn on the inside of your garment.

I've done duplicate stitch before, so I'm... I'm quite confident doing it.

I've never done it er, catching it on the back using the ladderback, but that was just as easy as doing it on the front.

But I think, timing wise, I might be running a little bit behind.

Still got three to go.

(bewitching music fades) Knitters, that's one hour to go.

Is it really?

No.

No, no, no, no.

One hour.

I'm in big trouble.

Major big trouble, I've got about 16 rows still to knit.

COMM: In the final hour, our knitters must complete their garments and cast off their designs, which means securing their final row of stitches before presenting to the judges.

Holger, how you doing?

Concerned about time or are you...?

Yep.

Somebody just told me I've only got one hour left to do it in.

Tom: And how are you doing, Dipti?

Honestly, I haven't got the time, sorry.

Tom: I'm going to leave.

COMM: While some knitters are finishing up... I'm just finishing casting it off here.

Happy to have finished.

Good to go.

COMM: ...for others, the knit goes on.

I'm unfortunately going to have to sacrifice the finish that I wanted on the neck and arms.

Time-wise it's... it's not going to be feasible.

This thing's not getting finished.

I might not be able to sew the ends in, but I should have a garment that goes on a mannequin.

Knitters, you have ten minutes remaining.

Gordon: Okay, I'm going to cut these.

I'm going to just steek the arm holes and the neck hole.

It's not really feasible to do steeking with such a chunky yarn because the risk of the... the steeks coming loose is far, far greater.

I certainly admire Gordon for doing it.

Takes guts.

(tense music) (whispering) Gordon's steeking.

(hardly audible) Oh, his hands are shaking.

That gives me one arm hole.

Gosh, he's cu... he's steeking.

Gordon: And... All done, the openings are now made.

I've just got two big raggy gaping holes where your arms poke out.

(tense music fades) Knitters, cast off your stitches, this challenge is complete.

Your time is up.

Tracy: I embraced my ends.

-Put them on show?

-Yeah.

-Beautiful.

-This looks absolutely appalling.

Dear God!

COMM: Birthday bunnies, a gaggle of geese and steeking scares, that's ten Fair Isle tank tops done in just 12 hours.

Hope the judges see the fact that I've had a bit of fun with it.

I've worked really hard to create something that I think represents the culture well, so I hope I've done the side proud.

Well done, knitters.

Before we get to judging, I should let you in on a little secret.

We're not going to be trying them on mannequins today.

(suspenseful music) We have a special guest coming in to model them for you.

Me.

(everyone cheering) (suspenseful music fades) Let's get to judging with the first person, and that is Lydia, please.

(foreboding music) Di: Wow.

I mean, I could see somebody going straight down a catwalk wearing that.

Thank you.

The colourways that you've chosen are so vibrant.

Beautiful.

It's a story, and Fair Isle, and knitting, generally, is all about making stories.

This has really answered the brief to show us you and your roots and your heritage.

Tom: Well, thank you very much, Lydia.

Stephanie.

Stitch work is really even and flat, and as you would hope for a really nice piece of Fair Isle knitting.

Collar, Stephanie.

Yeah.

Sheila: Yeah.

Well done.

(foreboding music fades) Tom: Next up, we have Meadow.

-Great colour choices.

-Yeah.

-Thank you.

-Di: Contemporary, modern, dynamic, can I say?

Great peerie.

-Sheila: Yes.

-Di: There.

It's... it's... really worked out very well.

-Di: Yeah.

-Thank you.

Next up, can we have Simon?

I think this is just such a lovely design story.

And these I particularly love.

Sheila: The egg timers.

Tom: Thank you, Simon.

Next up, can we have Gordon, please?

Hoo-hoh.

The walk of shame.

Sheila: Okay.

So... you were steeking.

Yes.

Quite an undertaking in the chunky yarn.

Di: I think that's what has caused it to be more complicated.

Those are difficult decisions when you're a steeker.

Can I just say, Gordon, I really like the overall design.

It tells me a lot about you.

Piano keys.

Lovely Fair Isle.

And it speaks Scotland.

Sheila: We're very sad that you ran out of time to finish it because there is so many elements that we really appreciate.

-Well, thank you, Gordon.

-Yeah, thank you so much.

Well, be careful.

-Oh, are you okay?

-Tom: I'm alright.

It's alright, there we go, we're out.

I'm going to come and get yours, Tracy.

-Tracy: Thank you.

-Tom: Thank you.

-Di: Got tassels, Tom.

-Sheila: Wow.

Di: Got embellishments.

It makes you do that.

It's like... Di: I actually love what you've done here, Tracy.

Sheila: We weren't... We weren't expecting the tassels.

Thank you so much.

Tom: Next up, we have Ailsa.

-Di: It is... -Sheila: Wow.

Yeah.

...really, really something else, actually.

Sheila: Yeah.

I find this quite emotional.

Sorry, because it is just so beautiful.

Oh, thank you.

(emotional music) Di: There's so much about this which is the balance, the wave pattern, your little fine detail, little tweaks that can make something completely new and different.

The neckline, the classic V-neck with the tie, you've appreciated that this wool is quite chunky, and that actually looks fantastic.

Very much like the green touches.

Di: You know, the stitch work is... is really lovely.

Yeah.

And oh my gosh... -Sheila: I've just spotted... -Di: Sheila.

Sheila: There's a port hole on the back here, Tom.

It's not every day that you see a port hole in a Fair Isle tank top.

(emotional music fades) Tom: Well, thank you very much, Ailsa.

-Thank you very much.

-Thank you.

Next up, Isaac.

(mesmeric music) The geese, that's a stroke of genius really, I love it.

I love the way you've put the feet one step in the grass, almost, the green.

And the thing that really, really I love, and we would need to just hold this up, the way you did a ladderback for holding your strands, to use it for... for the duplicate stitch.

It's very clever.

And quite innovative, really.

I haven't seen it used very often in Fair Isle.

Tell me about the neck, Isaac.

I had been planning on doing a ribbed neckline and arm bands, er, but obviously I sort of ran short.

(mesmeric music fades) -Yeah.

-Di: Yeah.

-Thank you very much.

-Thank you very much, Isaac.

Next up, we have Holger.

(captivating music) Di: Really lovely colour.

Sheila: Yes.

Di: And I love the transition.

So how would you, Holger, have finished off the arm holes?

Holger: Well, I've finished one of the arm holes.

It's not ideally finished off either.

Ideally I would have finished the ribbing off with a er, Italian bind-off.

But there was, like, no time.

Er, it's a real shame about the arm holes, because that detracts from a really nicely tailored piece.

Tom: Well, thank you very much, Holger.

And last but not least, Dipti.

Oh.

Oh.

Di: Ooooh.

-Tom: Unfortunately not.

-Di: Oooh.

-We'll hold it up like this instead.

-Hold it up in front so we can see it.

Sheila: Let's have a wee look.

Well, it's a fab design.

Do you think you just had not quite enough time to plan the neck?

Yes, I was rushing quite a lot to actually just get it into a... -Di: To a top, yeah.

- ...garment, yes.

Yeah.

And then it was after I'd finished it, I realised that the neck hole was just far too small.

-Di: Yeah.

-Thank you very much, Dipti.

Dipti: Thank you very much.

It wouldn't go round his neck, so... I was very upset that he couldn't wear it.

That really upset me, but... Yeah.

I mean, I spend my whole working life under pressure, playing music live on Radio 3 and things and that's pressure, but this really got to me somehow and I've disappointed myself, how I sort of cracked under the pressure of... of knitting.

That no one was paying me to do.

(captivating music fades) (adventurous music) COMM: With the tank top Solo Challenge complete, it's time for our first Team Knit.

A surprise challenge on an epic scale.

And one last opportunity for knitters to impress.

(adventurous music fades) This is going to be knitting like you've never seen it before, so grab on to those needles and get ready.

You're going to be working in two teams to transform... a sofa.

Oh wow!

What?

Stephanie: What?

A sofa?

We want you to come up, as a team, with a fitted sofa cover using a chunky yarn.

You can use as much colour as you want, or you can use as little as you want.

We're looking for a really cohesive design concept.

And we want the best possible practical fit, all parts of the sofa must be covered.

And it's a sofa that, when we walk in, we really want to go 'Wow'.

(mouths) Wow.

Now, for this challenge, it is going to be judged blind, so now I am sadly going to ask Di and Sheila to leave the Yarn Barn and come back a little bit later on to see your lovely creations.

Now, knitters, you are going to be working in two teams of five, so Team One is going to be Isaac, Gordon, Meadow, Tracy and Dipti.

And in Team Two we have Simon, Lydia, Stephanie, Holger and Ailsa.

So now you know your teams, there's no time to make friendly here, it's time to get going.

And you're not going to have very much time to do it.

You have ten hours to complete this challenge, so, knitters, let's get knitting.

COMM: Our knitters are used to working alone, but to beat the other team they must now combine their technical skills and work together to pull off a cohesive design in just ten hours.

This is quite an ambitious challenge.

Di: Well, not very many people have knitted a sofa cover.

-Tom: True.

-There's five people working on it.

And they have to work together to make it cohesive.

At this point, we know they can knit.

-Yes.

-But it's down to those little details.

They have to have planned right to the very end, including how they're going to put the pieces together.

(birds chirping) Has anybody done anything like this before?

-Holger: No.

-Stephanie: Okay.

Lydia: We need to think about when we're splitting it up, how people knit differently, so how does that fit into the design concept?

COMM: With his experience of precise Savile Row tailoring, Holger is the first knitter to pitch a plan.

As it is a fairly angular design, it lends itself to being er, split up into lots of geometric shapes, as in, like, rectangles.

The concept could be, like, let's say it's a gradient.

You know, you could then do... various colours in different textures, for example.

We could have a cable at every join.

-Simon: A diamond.

-Yeah.

You know, one person knits solid yellow, one person knits yellow orange, one person knits orange, and so on.

It could literally be any colour gradient, and then you would join them together.

Or actually, some sort of look like that.

-Stephanie: Yeah.

-It would be a relatively simple concept.

Stephanie: Mm.

But visually it's quite impactful and strong.

(anticipatory music) COMM: Holger's idea is for each team member to knit strips in different colour combinations, holding two different coloured yarns together to create a marl effect.

These will be accompanied with strips of a more complex cable stitch, to add detail and texture.

These strips would then be sewn together, creating a gradient, or ombre effect.

Okay, team, each of us are going to do a panel, we're going to knit the length of the panel.

Holger: Two metres.

Two metres?

-Holger: Just under.

-Lydia: Two metres.

Whey!

Once we've done that, we can allocate who's going to do the cabled panels in the solid colours.

I'm good with chunky.

Whatever you need me to do.

Chunky.

Hm.

Okay.

We'll see.

We'll see how it goes with chunky.

COMM: The other team haven't been putting their feet up either.

Student Isaac has already hatched a plan.

I had a thought, I'm a fan of colour work.

We can maybe do some kind of like sunset across the back of the sofa.

That sounds nice.

How about holiday scene, so we have beach, sand... -Beach, sea, sunset.

-Sea.

Maybe the sunset would be the... the star of the show.

COMM: The team have struck on an ambitious design, built around a picture postcard holiday scene, of rippling waves, sandy beaches, and even the starry night sky.

But the centrepiece will be Isaac's sumptuous sunset.

The team have decided to use a variety of stitches across the entire sofa.

Tracy: If you garter stitched them, that would be quite good.

A garter stitch.

Yeah.

We'd have the stockinette on the front, that was my idea.

I'm happy to do anything.

Isaac: I think that's going to be like a series of... Do we agree that we think it's cohesive enough, yeah?

-Because that was... -Yeah, I mean, it has a story, right?

Yeah.

(anticipatory music turns suspenseful) COMM: With only ten hours to execute these designs, both teams are getting to grips with the sheer scale of this sofa stitching showstopper.

Tracy: Got a new found respect for people who consistently knit in really chunky yarn.

I physically can't cope with size-20 needles.

COMM: Isaac is tackling the centrepiece of his team's design, the sunset.

(exhales in frustration) Isaac: I've been quite ambitious with what I'm aiming to do, intarsia is a different beast.

COMM: Intarsia is a colour technique used to create blocks of colour by using separate lengths of yarn.

But unlike Fair Isle, where the yarn is carried along the back of the work, with intarsia you use a separate ball of yarn for each colour change.

Every time you see a colour change in a single row, you're carrying a new set of yarn behind it.

I'm basically switching which colour I'm using, so I have to, like, cross them in the back, right here.

This... it sounds like a different language, doesn't it?

Room for a little one?

Wow, look at all this.

Isaac: It's getting a big hectic over here.

I've added in the gradient and it's starting to take shape.

So quite an ambitious panel to be making.

-Yeah, it is.

-Was it your idea?

Yeah, it was.

Isaac: If we can get it done, it's going to be really fantastic, it's going to have that wow factor.

Yeah, because look at that.

That's... Even as a knitter, that is terrifying.

Isaac: Oof.

(suspenseful music fades) Here we go.

Wow, so this is the plan?

Lydia: It's a gradient.

Tom: Okay, with a bit of cabling?

With a bit of cabling.

So we've got these various colour combinations going on.

This is what we've got.

Great.

Who has knit with wool this chunky before?

-No.

-Never?

-Stephanie: No.

-Tom: I love a chunky thing.

-It's just not me.

-Not for you.

I just can't knit with really chunky yarn or really chunky needles.

These needles are some chunky... -They're huge.

-Chunky chunky.

-Huge, 20 mils.

-Really like that.

Yeah.

-They're massive.

-Holger: Yeah, we love it.

(laughter) COMM: While the chunky yarn is slowing Holger down, on the other team, Meadow is racing through her pieces.

Nearly done the first of the three back panels.

Whoa!

That's quick!

So, Meadow, when did you start knitting?

Well, my granny, she taught me when I was really young.

Like, because I'm autistic, and I was having a really hard time managing some things in school.

My mind could be so busy and stressed sometimes, so it's just really relaxing to just sit and focus on a project.

It's, like, once I started, it was just like 'Whoa'.

Yeah.

"I've found my thing."

It's the thing that I do for myself.

Yes, it is.

It is.

Gordon, did you say you did knitting at school?

-Oh yes.

-Even as a boy?

I've always been a boy.

COMM: Cruise ship entertainer, Gordon, is knitting the beach using garter stitch, a beginner-friendly stitch.

I don't often knit in a public place, especially onboard the ship.

Most of the time I do it in the cabin.

It's only maybe in the last few years I've been a public knitter.

I was once on a cruise knitting and a lady came past, she looked at me with great disgust and said, "I think a jigsaw puzzle would be a bit more manly."

Oh.

So that was me told.

I don't know any of this business of it being like, "Oh, you know, it's... its not very manly."

Like, there are going to be people in life who don't like you, and if the reason that they don't like me is because I'm a bloke who knits, then I've got more... like, I've got better things to worry about, really.

-Stephanie: Little stars on there.

-Meadow: I'm noticing that.

We've got quite different designs.

You say it.

No, you say it.

Wee Tom doesn't want to say it.

You're halfway through.

Five hours to go.

Lydia: Oh my gosh.

I think we need to start seaming because if there's a problem then we need more time.

COMM: The gradient team are now moving on to the critical stage of sewing their strips together.

Right, let's see if we can put this baby together to see how the whole principle that the whole design's based off, whether this actually works.

With that many strips, it's obviously crucial that they're going to be nicely aligned.

As an analogy, this team, the gradient team, are doing a modern twist on a Victoria sponge.

When executed well, lovely.

Is it as ambitious as the other team?

No.

COMM: But while they're now racing to turn their strips into one cohesive cover, the sunset team are still knitting their individual panels.

I'm slightly concerned that they're going to finish in time.

Mainly Isaac.

The intarsia work and the colour work and the stranding that he's doing is very complicated and... he still has a way to go.

We need to start joining.

We haven't... We've got panels missing, haven't we?

Currently, we don't have enough pieces to cover the sofa yet.

Which is slightly panic-inducing.

Do we think we're on track?

Debatable.

-Tracy: It's getting tight.

-It's getting tight, isn't it, guys?

Yeah?

Tracy: Yeah, I don't think we're on track.

(tense music) COMM: The knitters are running out of time in their first Team Challenge to design and knit a sofa cover to wow the judges.

Gordon: Currently running across this vast expanse of sand.

COMM: While the gradient team are now sewing theirs together... Simon: I'll sew from this way, that way you sew... -Yes sir.

-We pass somewhere in the middle.

COMM: ...the sunset team are still knitting individual panels.

-Close?

-No.

Sorry.

Meadow: Isaac, how you looking at that last bit?

Isaac: Not fantastic.

Do you think your time might be better spent joining pieces together?

Isaac: If I start joining stuff together, there's going to be a massive hole.

-Okay.

-If I don't start joining stuff together and other people are doing it, there's going to be a smaller hole.

-Okay.

-I don't want to say that I've bitten off more than I can chew, but I think it just took me a bit of time to find my flow.

(tense music fades) Knitters, you have one hour remaining.

No way... -No!

-No!

Simon and Holger are doing the sewing up and almost finished, I'm on one of two of the pink legs.

I don't know whether it's blind hope or optimism, but I think we're going to be alright.

-Meadow: Right, I'm winning.

-Dipti: Well done.

Meadow: I'm crocheting the back pieces together.

Do I just cast this off and we have a massive hole?

Yeah, let's just get those other two bits on.

Tip it up so that I can put the feet on.

Two, heave.

(grunting) -Holger: Feet.

-Simon: Take a look.

Is it straight?

What do I care about straight?

-Holger: Are we all good?

-Tracy: I think so.

Tom: Five minutes, guys, five minutes.

-Should we offer to help?

Yeah.

-You think?

Come on then.

Guys, do you need help pinning up?

Tell us where you want us.

Tracy: Thank you so much, guys.

Holger: This goes together, right?

Four balls of wool to put round the legs.

-What colour?

-Anything.

(overlapping dialogue) Stephanie: Can you pin a star on there?

Knitters, needles down, place your final pins.

Time is up.

Thank you so much, guys.

Well done, guys.

I'll go and have a good cry.

Isaac: Yeah, right.

It's just such a hodge podge.

We need to do... We need to finish on a group hug or something.

-Shall we have a team hug?

-I'd rather not.

-We need a team hug.

-I'm not a massive hugger.

Okay, I'll hug you two then, that's fine.

COMM: In ten hours, both teams have completed their sofa covers.

Sort of.

Well done, knitters.

It is now time to hear from the judges.

So, Di and Sheila, would you like to come back into our Yarn Barn and let us know what you think?

Starting with the sandy sunset sofa.

What do you think?

Well... (light music) Di: I mean, it's a very ambitious design.

It saddens me to have to say that it's not properly finished, is it?

It's not finished.

There's some car crashes.

Well, there's lots, actually.

Di: Yeah.

We've got lots of holes.

Sheila: Well, it's the garter stitch, it's stretched.

Di: Yeah.

Sheila: There has had to be some intarsia work done here which is... commendable.

Di: Mm.

The stocking stitch, going to garter, there's no cohesion, is there?

Sheila: No.

Di: I do think they're an inventive group.

I mean, the balls of wool for the legs, we said covered.

Look.

(Di laughs) Sheila: Indeed.

It is really quite fun.

But... It's... It's incomplete.

(light music fades) Di and Sheila, can I ask you what you think of the gradient sofa?

(foreboding music) Sheila: It's the cables that strike me first, but you would probably say it's the sweep of the colour... -Colour.

-Sheila: ...going through.

Di: It's very cuddly.

That's because of the raised effect.

Di: With the wide cable... -Sheila: The diamond.

-Di: ...interlocking diamond design.

That's why this works so much, it does have feet.

The feet.

The feet are fabulous.

Have each of these panels actually been knitted separately?

Di, that's an incredible amount of sewing up.

You end up with an uneven effect.

It hasn't been neatly finished at all.

Di: It's actually, do you know, a very simple design, and we did want something that is, like, wow, wow, wow.

It's wow, but it's not... incredible.

(foreboding music fades) Di and Sheila, have you come to a decision?

Ladies, tell us.

One sofa demonstrated... a better design concept, and execution, overall.

And that sofa is... (suspenseful sounds) the ombre.

(clapping) Whose idea was the ombre sofa?

-Holger?

-Yeah.

Congratulations.

Tom: Well, knitters, those are the challenges complete for this week, so, it's time to wind up your wool, and let Di and Sheila decide your fate.

Intarsia is a different beast, when it comes to a lot of types of knitting.

I don't know why I said I would do it.

Gordon: I think the bits that I completed were fine.

If I do go home, I'd be disappointed.

It was just time, and if we had more time, it would have been better executed.

I'm worried.

COMM: It's now up to Di and Sheila to decide who will be cast off based on their performance across both challenges.

I mean, wow, what an incredible first two challenges.

You asked a lot of the knitters.

We certainly did.

So who has done particularly well this week?

Lydia... we found very striking.

Ailsa.

Her attention to detail.

Who are you worried about?

Isaac.

Sheila: The sunset sofa... was a car crash.

He didn't quite have enough time to finish.

And then in the Fair Isle challenge, Gordon.

I don't love the steeking.

Sheila: No.

Dipti... didn't quite produce a garment that was fit for purpose.

So... have you come to a decision?

We have.

It's time to hear who has knit big and whose journey has started to unravel.

Di.

Di: So our first Big Knitter of the competition is... Ailsa.

Ailsa: Thank you.

And to commemorate the occasion, I'd love to present to you the sheep baaaaaadge.

Thank you.

You're very welcome.

You deserve it, congratulations.

(melancholic music) But, this is a competition, and sadly we have to say goodbye to someone.

The person being cast off this week is... Gordon.

(melancholic music fades) -Awww.

-Oh, don't.

That's very kind of you.

Come on, give us a hug.

You did so incredibly well.

I just was so keen to come on and show that everyone can knit nowadays without shame or embarrassment.

Have a group hug, come on.

Everyone in.

Sheila: Gordon.

Gordon: Thank you, everyone.

Oh my goodness, I can't believe I'm here next week.

I... I genuinely thought I was for the chop.

That is literally going to diminish the humour in this room by about 50 percent.

-Lydia: Yeah.

-No.

-Lydia: We've only got Simon to listen to.

-Simon: I know.

I didn't expect to be the first Big Knitter.

It's a good confidence boost going into the next week.

COMM: Next time, iconic knits, for dogs.

Don't hate me, I'm not a dog person.

She's so beautiful.

COMM: And a throw-back to the 80s... We all remember the 80s, right?

The shoulder pads, the big hair.

COMM: ...results in fashion fabulousness.

I love a big puffy sleeve.

(rousing music)