This new ‘Bake Off’-style competition is moving and surprisingly gripping – even with the terrible puns
How do you turn knitting into a competition show? People love it because it is creative and engaging, yes, but also meditative, repetitive, time consuming. Surely once that has been mangled by time-based challenges and TV tropes, what makes the hobby so wonderful will be lost?
This is just one of the reasons why the knitting community have been wary of Game of Wool: Britain’s Best Knitter, Channel 4’s new competition series in the mould of Bake Off. Another is the host. While Olympic diver turned knitter Tom Daley is charming, TV-ready, and clearly passionate about all things wool, there were assumptions he would take the spotlight and make the show about his own brightly coloured, chunky knits which are… not to everyone’s taste.
As a proper knitting head, I was ready to find fault in the show – that it would make something I love too cringe, or undervalue its history, or just ask the impossible and humiliate contestants. How wrong I was.
Game of Wool sees 10 contestants from across the UK and Ireland head to the Scottish Highlands, where each week they will compete in both an individual and a team challenge.
This first episode introduced us to the contestants – a cast of characters that undermine any stereotypical vision of what a knitter looks like. Among them are Simon, the former marine turned builder, young mum and charity worker Lydia, psychotherapist and grandmother Tracy, cyber security student Isaac, cruise ship singer Gordon, library worker Dipti, and the youngest in the “yarn barn”, 18-year-old fashion student Meadow.
Tom Daley is a surprisingly capable host and, despite my reservations, is only centre stage in the press coverage, not the show proper. The judges are titans of knitting – Di Gilpin and Sheila Greenwell have extensive experience designing for brands like Chanel, Vivienne Westwood and Nike, and an encyclopaedic knowledge of the art. Di is gentle, Sheila has more bite, and they are both meticulous and thorough.
The first challenge saw contestants make vests using Fair Isle (a traditional technique that uses strands of different colours to create repeating geometric patterns) and that could tell the judges something about them. They were told about this ahead of time and planned their patterns in advance, before knitting them in 12 hours straight (I have only managed this when very fixated and unwell – it’s exhausting for the wrists and brain).
Then there was a team challenge for which they were not prepared: 10 hours to entirely cover a sofa. By the end of each episode one will be crowned “big knitter of the week”, and another “cast off” the show.
Evidently the puns are rife (I audibly groaned when Tom calls the judges “boss stitches”) and there were moments that feel hyperbolic. The tension when Gordon steeked (cut into) his vest made me genuinely quite panicked and when ferry worker Ailsa presented hers – complete with neck tie and port hole at the back – Di was moved to tears by her skill. After the team challenge, the show made a point of how awkward Isaac and Meadow were in refusing a group hug.
This sense of peril is both knowingly ridiculous and dead serious, balanced with a sense of fun. German Savile Row designer Holger is bound to be a fan favourite with his palpable loathing of chunky yarns. He compared being asked to express himself in super chunky yarn “like asking a vegetarian to express themself in steak”, and deadpan quipped about the “straightness” of the sofa.
Stephanie, a life coach and, at 65, “not your average gran” is also a delight – giddy and determined and brimming with self-belief, she’s the only one so far who has expressed a confidence she will win. I wouldn’t put it past her.
And Game of Wool even pulls off moments that are genuinely moving. When one team finished before another, they jumped in to help their opponents. It might seem performative but it speaks to something that can be missed by outsiders – that knitting and crochet are communal sports. You share knowledge, you help out when you can, you don’t horde. It scratches that very specific Bake Off itch that leads Americans to describe British TV as “wholesome”.
I doubt such sportsmanship will last. As tensions escalate and more tears are shed, the nebulous prize of being crowned Britain’s Best Knitter might be more tempting than camaraderie. I am staying tuned in hopes of some yarn-based sabotage.
‘Game of Wool: Britain’s Best Knitter’ continues next Sunday at 8pm on Channel 4
