The Game of Wool | Wk1 – Shetland Organization of Knitters responds

A group protecting Shetland’s knitting heritage has criticized the new BBC 4 show Game of Wool for spreading “negative misconceptions about Fair Isle knitting techniques” (read our Game of Wool Week 1 recap here). Shetland Organization of Knitters (SOK) also accused Game of Wool of “appropriation” because of its incorrect references to Fair Isle knitting. See their comments below:

The Game of Wool was a hotly anticipated show, in Shetland and through the world. Unfortunately, the knitters of Shetland were shocked and saddened by the way Fair Isle knitting, a living heritage craft native to the United Kingdom, was depicted in episode one of the show.
Despite Gordon successfully cutting his knitting (or steeking, as it is called elsewhere), the method was vilified as the reason why he was ejected.

Gordon has spoken out on this matter, explaining that the reasons why he was unable to finish his tank top were because he needed to take his work back, had incorporated additional features, and was working with imperfectly modified needles.
Rather than using the other contestants’ and hosts’ fear of Gordon cutting his knitting as a moment to teach viewers that cutting your knitting properly, as Gordon did, is a safe technique—something we all witnessed—and instead building drama around his actual difficulties, the show leaned into the misunderstandings about cutting your knitting, perpetuating negative misconceptions about Fair Isle knitting techniques. This is especially disheartening from a UK-based show meant to encourage more people to take up knitting.

There were additional issues.

The most glaring was referring to the small patterns of Fair Isle as ‘peeries’. Peerie is a descriptive word. Small patterns in Fair Isle are referred to as ‘peerie patterns’. Many of the designs accepted as Fair Isle in the episode are more accurately described as stranded colourwork. The over application of the term Fair Isle to refer to any colourwork not only muddies the boundaries of this living heritage craft, but it erases the other forms of colourwork knitting in the world, which deserve to be named.

There are other troubling issues being raised about the show that we will allow others to speak to directly. Shetland knitters are busy, yet again, taking on the cultural and emotional labour related to seeing their heritage misrepresented to the wider public. Many have been speaking out, and more are planning to comment in the coming days. We’ll be sharing their posts, hoping the show will acknowledge and correct their errors.

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”