COMM: Previously... (captivating music) COMM: Our remaining knitters tackled fancy dress fashion in Kids' Week... Hopefully they will look like a crayon.

COMM: ...before teaming up to make interactive children's wall hangings.

Tracy: Is it good?

It's matching up, yeah.

COMM: Isaac's spike stitch caught the judges' eye.

His explorer jacket was one of the best things I've seen.

COMM: Simon came under scrutiny.

There is more that you could have done, I'm sure.

COMM: But it was all over for Dipti, as she became the fourth knitter to be cast off.

Now... It's week five, and for our six remaining knitters, it's all about something Scotland is famous for.

Its dramatic landscapes, its rugged terrain, and... whatever that was.

Yes, it's Texture Week.

Welcome to Game of Wool.

(captivating music fades) (birds chirping and sheep bleating) COMM: It's week five, and with only six knitters remaining, the pressure is on, which is why this week I've come wearing a few little props, to give the knitters a helping hand.

Tom: This week's theme is texture.

This week's Solo Challenge is amigurumi.

Now, amigurumi is a trend where people make food, creatures, objects, so Di and Sheila would love for you to make your favourite dish.

(hypnotic music) We would like you to make the food look so real that we want to eat it straight away.

This is amigurumi without a smiley face, so this is serious amigurumi.

And it's a real challenge.

We'll be looking at choice of stitches, to create as much realism as possible.

Consider carefully the proportion of your plate.

(hypnotic music fades) Okay, knitters, you heard the ladies.

You have 12 hours for this challenge.

Don't forget to wash your hands before you start.

Let's get knitting.

(anticipatory music) COMM: This week's Solo Challenge is to knit or crochet amigurumi food, but the judges have asked for absolute realism, rather than cute little faces.

Knitting and crocheting a plate of food, not my thing.

COMM: Knitters must consider a variety of different textured stitches, to replicate the organic and irregular look of food, alongside subtle colour choices and painstaking shaping, for accurate proportion and scale.

Isaac: The pressure is definitely on, now that I have this sheep badge.

I need to keep knitting to the standard that I have, because competition is fierce.

COMM: First, knitters should start with the hero element of their plate, be it a pie or a pork chop, selecting the correct stitches to evoke realistic textures.

Next, they should move onto the sides, considering accurate size and shaping, to create balance across the dish.

Finally, they can embellish with embroidery or duplicate stitch, to create texturally accurate and realistic food, good enough for our ravenous judges to eat.

(anticipatory music fades) Making food, these are really small objects, and pretty obscure shapes, which takes a lot of working out on how you're going to actually create that, right?

When you use stitches in a really overt way, you're creating something sculptural, 3D, in the fabric.

They need to make sure that the stitches are chosen really carefully.

I'm hoping that there will be variety.

Well, it's not last orders yet, the kitchen is still open, so it's still all to play for.

Absolutely.

Knife and fork?

(playful music) COMM: Fresh from last week's Big Knitter win, the pressure is on for Isaac to maintain his own high standards.

He's getting started with his hero ingredient.

Isaac: I'm making a bacon, egg and cheese, and everything bagel.

COMM: For his favourite dish, Isaac will knit the bagel using short row shaping, an advanced technique where you knit part rows, before turning back to create the perfect curve.

He's using a combination of knit and crochet to create the bacon, egg and cheese elements for the inside, and will over embroider seasoning across the top.

Each half of the bagel hides a tiny magnet, so the two pieces cleverly pull apart and snap together.

(playful music fades) -Isaac.

-Hi, Tom.

Tom: All the maths that you've had to do with the short rows and the increasing and the magnets, I mean, it's all very scientific.

A lot of engineering gone into this.

Yeah.

I'm hoping to have all of my bagel pieces knitted by, like, the four-hour mark.

Because the bagel is, like, the biggest part of it, I want to make sure that it's, like, really, really good.

You know, you've only got 12 hours.

Make sure you finish your bagel.

(anticipatory music) COMM: Also working on the main element of her dish is perfectionist, Ailsa, and she's gone full carvery.

I'm making Sunday roast.

It's my favourite dinner.

I'm planning on doing most of it in crochet, but I'm going to do my roast potatoes knitted, because that gives a bit of a smoother finish.

COMM: For her Sunday roast, Ailsa has opted for roast beef, crocheted with a colour gradient effect.

It's served with all the trimmings, including carrots, Yorkshire puddings and roast potatoes.

To top it all off, she's planning a classic blue and white gravy jug, because you can't have a roast without gravy.

(anticipatory music fades) -Ailsa.

-Hello.

This is a very detailed challenge.

Are details something that are really important to you?

I do pay attention to detail.

If there's a wee mistake, it's all I can look at.

How often would you say you would cook a roast dinner?

-Never.

I would never.

-Never?

I never cook anything.

Really?

So, what do you eat at home?

-Cereal.

-Cereal?

(suspenseful music) I'm noodling along here.

It's a foundation chain and a slip stitch back, trying to do something a little bit more substantial here.

COMM: Holger is going east, with a seafood ramen.

He'll be knitting a base of broth, for his main event udon noodles to sit on.

Using a mix of knit and crochet, he will attempt to create shrimp, seaweed, carrot flowers, fishcakes and even a boiled egg, with tiny black beads of sesame seeds.

The judges will be scrutinising proportion and texture in every dish, and with this many different elements, this will be a tricky balancing act for Holger.

So, how will this all be placed?

We have the bowl.

In the bowl will sit a base that brings the level up.

So, this is knit?

-Holger: This is knit, yes.

-Knit fabric.

Holger: Yeah, and then the noodles will be applied.

I've got three different colours for the noodles, because I want to create a little bit more depth.

So, you're considering how they're going to look.

And I'm planning to come out a little bit more, a bit of 3D, but I'm not exactly telling you what I... -Di: No.

-Because I'm... A, a surprise, and B, it might not happen.

I hope to be surprised.

Yeah.

I want to make it a little bit more sculptural.

Tracy!

What have we got going on?

Let me have a little look.

Oh.

What is that?

Oyster?

Mussels?

It's a cockle.

Are you making some kind of chowder?

Yeah, no, it's seafood pasta.

Seafood pasta!

COMM: Experienced crocheter Tracy has gone for the standard double crochet technique, to create every element of her dish.

Accompanying her bowtie pasta shapes will be a tomato sauce base, basil leaves, lobsters, prawns, cockles and mussels.

What's the story behind this being your favourite food?

I used to pick winkles out of shells when I was a kid with my granddad.

Winkles?

They were like a little black shellfish.

-Never heard of them in my life.

-Really?

It was a real family occasion.

And now I do that with my children.

How many children and grandchildren do you have?

I've got three children, eight grandchildren.

-Eight?

-They all eat jellied eels, they all eat prawns, they all eat shellfish.

Okay, that's great.

Now, have you made food before?

Tracy: Not food, but I crochet a lot.

Trying to make it look as real as possible is quite a challenge, right?

Yeah.

Okay, well, I'll leave you to your seafood pasta.

-Thank you.

-Made me quite hungry, that, actually.

COMM: A few hours into the challenge, and knitters should all now be well into the main element of their dish and moving on to the sides.

I am making pie and mash, but East London pie and mash.

Let's just be real.

And just to add a pop more colour, I'm going to make individual peas.

COMM: From jellied eels to pie and mash.

Cor, blimey, governor.

For her East End staple, Lydia is crocheting her two pies and three scoops of mash.

The pies will sit on a knitted base of liquor sauce, and to round it all off, a rather fiddly portion of individually crocheted peas.

(suspenseful music fades) I mean, mash is actually quite a tricky proposition.

-Yes.

-Isn't it?

-Lydia: Yeah.

-Di: Are these finished?

At the moment, yes.

But they need to be brushed, to try and make it look more like potato.

I just, I think I felt this was the best way I could create realism.

-Di: Yes.

-For this, for the mash.

COMM: Having used a basic crochet stitch for her mash, Lydia now needs to brush out the strands of yarn to try and evoke a fluffy texture.

Good luck.

(playful music) COMM: Simon is one of the only knitters in the barn who has not yet claimed one of those elusive sheep badges, so this week he's going all out with a true British classic.

Simon: That badge you've got on there, that'd make a nice bit of roast lamb for my fry up.

Would you like it?

Would you like the badge?

COMM: Simon is starting the day the right way, with a full English.

He's engineering structured shapes for his hashbrowns, tomatoes and sausages.

But for his eggs, mushrooms, bacon and beans, he is planning to use freeform crochet, a bold technique that combines stitches spontaneously, without sticking to a rigid pattern.

In previous challenges, Simon's lack of planning has left the judges unimpressed, but this week he is determined to prove them wrong with his crochet skills.

(playful music fades) -Can I ask about making the bacon?

-Yeah.

So, you've used a lot of freeform.

Simon: Mm.

I've done the magic circle, and I've added extra depth in stitches, so I've used doubles, trebles.

I've embroidered the fat in there.

It'd be very easy just to crochet a flat piece of bacon, and we all know when you cook bacon it rises up and twists and turns.

The terms 'winging it', like, feel a little bit sometimes derogatory when it comes to crafting.

-Yes.

-So, in this instance, unlike some other elements of, like, the competition, I believe that, for me personally, freeform's been the way to go, because it really adds difference.

These are really beautifully done, I have to say.

(tense music) Knitters, you are halfway through this challenge.

Six hours till it's time to plate up.

COMM: At the halfway point, knitters should have completed their hero ingredient and be considering sides, to create the perfect scale and proportion across the plate.

Isaac: I finished my egg.

Did you know that Simon is also making an egg?

I did know that Simon was also making an egg, yeah.

Is yours going to be egg-stra special?

Mine has a magnet in it.

I don't know if that makes it egg-stra special.

Simon: Er, I mean, I've never eaten an egg with magnets in it.

Holger: He's not making an egg with magnets, though, he's making the bagel with magnets.

Simon: But he's making his egg with magnets as well.

Is he?

COMM: But Isaac isn't the only one attempting a feat of engineering.

With a place in the quarter final up for grabs, Holger has got a Michelin Star secret trick planned.

I had told Di and Sheila that I'm trying to add something extra, something, like, three-dimensional, like an optical illusion.

It is a bit risky, because I haven't really tried it before.

(tense music fades) (anticipatory music) COMM: The knitters are over halfway through their Texture Week Solo Challenge, to stitch up a menu realistic enough to tempt Di and Sheila's tastebuds.

I absolutely love my food.

Yeah, we can all see that, I mean, the stuff you're crocheting here.

How are you feeling for time?

Um, strapped.

Yeah?

COMM: In the final few hours, the knitters should be considering what extra details would give their knits that realistic texture the judges are expecting.

To make these as realistic as possible, I'm taking threads from yarns to try and blend the colour up.

I just want to make it just a tiny bit more fluffy, but not too fluffy.

(anticipatory music fades) COMM: But Tracy is methodically crocheting more ingredients for her seafood pasta, rather than adding textured detail to what's already in the bowl.

-Hi, Tracy.

-Hiya.

Di: You've got lots of elements in here.

And it's all crochet?

-Yeah, it's all crochet, yeah.

-I thought so.

COMM: Double crochet is a basic stitch, which creates a consistent texture.

Do you have plans to use other crochet edges and things like that, and embellishments?

Sheila: Shells, they often have a sheen, a shine to them.

Yeah.

I'm doing that, and I'm going to put that on too.

Okay.

Have you scaled everything?

-Yes.

-To actual size?

Yeah.

So, this is the size of a piece of pasta?

It might be slightly bigger, but I don't think it's a lot bigger.

-Okay.

Yes.

-Di: Still a lot of work to go.

Still a lot of work to go.

Sheila: Yeah.

Knitters, time to reveal today's special.

Oh.

Tom: One hour to go.

(suspenseful music) COMM: In the last hour, knitters must finish their lifelike details and plate up each ingredient.

What I'm going to do in the last hour is crochet as many beans as I can.

Just go nuts with beans.

I'm currently sewing as much of everything as I can onto my bagel.

Dun-duh-duh-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dah!

You're making your beans!

-Simon: Beans.

-Tom: Got your hashbrowns, your eggs, your mushrooms, your bacon, your tomato, and the... Um... The sausage.

No, it does look like a sausage.

It does look like a sausage.

Oh, I don't want to touch it now!

-Tom: Holger.

-Tom.

I think I know what your plan is with that.

Houdini.

Holger-dini.

Tracy.

How we getting on?

I've added detail to quite a few of them.

I've put little beards on, so I hope that that's enough.

-Yeah.

-Lovely.

Lydia.

You're actually stuffing those little peas?

Yeah.

Tom: In terms of finishing, you just have to stuff the mash, and then just make peas till you drop.

Yeah, I'm not stuffing the mash, because the bottom's open.

So, I'm just leaving them as is.

Right.

Ailsa.

A gravy pot.

Ailsa: And then there'll be a wee i-cord handle.

Tom: I like that.

I see you've got everything on the bagel now.

Isaac: Yeah.

Well, on that side.

I think there's only so much one can do.

I can't do any more.

(suspenseful music fades) Knitters, your time is up.

Time to plate up your food.

It's dinner time.

Ooh.

(foreboding music) COMM: After 12 hours knitting up a storm, six stitched-up suppers are ready to be served.

Really, really happy.

I feel really amazed the way it went, the whole challenge.

Obviously it didn't quite go to plan.

Just ran out of time at the end there to put my seasonings on.

But overall I'm really happy with the look of my bagel.

(foreboding music fades) Ready for the first dish?

Let's get to it.

Isaac, if you would like to come and present your dish.

(triumphant music) Ooh!

That is... really amazing.

And the construction, Isaac, is... really clever.

And I think you've engineered it really nicely.

Short row shaping, it shows real skill.

I suspect that a lot of maths has gone into that.

Yeah.

Yeah, definitely.

We have some bacon in here.

(triumphant music fades) So, Isaac, I'm not sure about the bacon.

(hypnotic music) It doesn't feel as if it's the right colour, and the shape doesn't feel quite right.

And surface decoration.

Isaac: Yes.

Sheila: There's quite a bit missing from the top here.

It was just a timing thing.

But it's fun.

Overall, it's fun.

(hypnotic music fades) Well, thank you very much, Isaac.

Isaac: Thank you.

Tom: Are you ready for dish number two?

Lydia, if you'd like to come up.

(light music) The structure's really good.

You've given it that pie crust feeling.

The peas work incredibly well.

They're a really vibrant pea colour.

You have slightly fluffed up your mash.

-Yes.

-Mm.

Could maybe have done with a little bit more.

Lydia: Okay.

Di: So, a few textural issues.

It could have been knit.

Mmhmm.

So it had a smoother surface... -Lydia: Yes.

-Of the mashed potato coming out.

-Lydia: Yeah.

-Plop, onto the plate.

-Lydia: Yeah.

-And I think it did need a bottom and a little bit more weight to it.

We wanted texture, so we wanted the potato to look like that smooth... Maris Piper... mashed potato.

(light music fades) -Tom: Thank you very much, Lydia.

-Thank you.

-There it is.

-Di: Whoa.

Simon, if you'd like to come up, please.

(majestic music) Immediately what I love about this is the bacon.

It's... impressive.

Di: Even down to the little bit of crisp on the bottom there, and the veins of fat running through different textures in the bacon, I think this is a really exciting piece of food.

The thing I particularly like about this is the combination of freeform and planning.

We were also asking for proportion.

Everything does sit in proportion.

(majestic music fades) Thank you very much, Simon.

You ready for another one?

Tracy!

(dreamy music) I really do like the shape of these.

Mussel shells are so decorative, they have so many colours running through them.

You could have worked more at creating that colour.

The pasta's a little bit too big for me.

It doesn't seem in proportion.

You've used mainly a double crochet.

-Yeah.

-Throughout?

Yeah.

We were looking for you to showcase your crochet skills in different stitches.

Di: I think that's where the problem lies for me.

There's not enough variation.

I'd have liked to see more types of stitches, to give the texture that this challenge is very much about.

(dreamy music fades) Thank you very much, Tracy.

Ailsa, if you'd like to come up, please.

(light music) As always, you're so neat and precise in your stitchwork, grading from one colour into another, and then back again.

Yep.

They're gorgeous, but they do look like two little bowls.

During every challenge, Ailsa, we've seen how neatly... and carefully you work.

It's beautiful, but it's not quite real.

It is very perfect, but it needs a little bit more abstraction to give it that realism.

It's too neat.

(light music fades) Thank you very much, Ailsa.

Here we go.

Are you ready?

Final course.

Holger, if you'd like to come up.

(judges laughing) (anticipatory music) Di: I love the construction.

I think it's really fab.

You've achieved your special effect.

Yes.

I didn't want to say what it was, because I didn't know whether it would work, but... Well, it has.

It has worked.

Thank you.

What's holding it up?

Well, two of the noodles are wire that has been crocheted around.

You actually created a surface for this and sat it into the bowl to raise it up, so you didn't have to fill it full of noodles.

Holger: No.

Di: The texture in here is really good, 'cause it does actually look like a prawn that has just been pulled out of its shell.

The colour is very good as well.

Particularly like the balance, the variety.

I think it has absolutely achieved that realism that we were looking for.

-Tom: Well, thank you very much, Holger.

-Thank you, Holger.

(anticipatory music fades) I want to say the gloves are off maybe now.

We've, kind of, reached the business end of the competition.

The judges did say exactly what I had been thinking the whole time, that I was just being a bit too precise.

I need to step up my game.

Tracy: The judges' comments were fair, but a seafood pasta does look like a bowl of mess.

(birds chirping) (bleating) (rousing music) COMM: After knitting up a feast for the solo, it's now time for the team challenge.

(rousing music fades) Tom: Hello knitters, and welcome back.

For your group challenge this week, you'll be split into three teams to create three slouchy cardigans.

(hypnotic music) Di: This is a chance to make something which has got lots and lots and lots of stitches.

Really create something dynamic.

We're asking you to adapt a basic cardigan pattern.

We want you to use a minimum of three stitch techniques.

We will be looking for clear, clean stitch definition.

Absolute precision.

No mistakes.

(hypnotic music fades) This challenge is judged blind, so I'm going to have to ask Di and Sheila to leave the barn.

Knitters, you will be working in pairs, so for cardy A, Tracy and Isaac.

Okay.

For cardy B, we have Holger... and Ailsa.

And for cardy C, Lydia and Simon.

Now, you have ten hours for this challenge, so your time starts now.

Let's get knitting.

(adventurous music) COMM: For this challenge, the duos will be using super chunky wool in one colour only.

I do actually like this kind of mossy green.

Isaac: Yellow, yellow, yellow.

-I like red.

-Go for... Yeah, let's go red.

-Okay.

-Okay.

COMM: They've been given a basic cardigan shape to create, but must figure out the construction and stitches themselves.

With literally hundreds of options available, from the playful bubble stitch, to the traditional honeycomb, the knitters will need to judiciously select which stitches will create impact and texture, within a slouchy cardigan.

We do it like that, but we bring it right in, so it ends up one of those sleeves that's really tight and goes like that, and that would be really textured.

I know what you mean, but I think we also need to consider time, because we only have ten hours.

COMM: With the clock ticking, our duos need to stitch, shape, and slay their way to cardigan victory.

(adventurous music fades) At this stage in the competition, I really would hope that they are going to push themselves.

We want to see them taking a few risks, and pulling it off, and showing us something really different and original.

What are some of the techniques and stitches that you'd be excited to see today?

I would like to see the reverse fabric, something like this.

The bubble.

You can also reverse it... and use the bubble stitch on the wrong side.

Yep.

We really do need to see them pushing themselves out of their comfort zone.

(soft music) COMM: Isaac is first to come up with a quirky idea.

I don't know if you've ever seen where you're knitting a stocking knit, and then you do reverse stocking knit on some stitches, kind of like intarsia, and it basically paints a picture.

-Yeah.

-I was thinking we could do that with, like, a massive smiley face, and then the rest of it could just be texture city.

Alright, okay, right.

COMM: Isaac plans to knit a smiley face motif into the back panel of the cardigan, using reverse stocking stitch to outline the image.

They'll use bubble stitch for the sleeves, a tricky stitch which creates a raised 3D texture that looks like bubbles popping out the fabric.

Isaac will knit the back and one sleeve, leaving Tracy to knit the front two panels and the other sleeve.

-Isaac: See that, you see what I mean.

-Tracy: Lovely.

COMM: While Isaac charts out his smiley face, Lydia and Simon are keeping it classic with their stitch selection.

The back and the front will be done in an all-over, kind of, cabled pattern that looks like this.

COMM: Simon and Lydia will knit the front and back panels of their cardigan in a rippling cable stitch, which creates a gentle raised pattern across the fabric.

For the arms, they will use a honeycomb stitch, creating a tighter hexagonal beehive pattern.

Lydia will work on the body, while Simon will knit both sleeves.

Simon: Too much.

Too big.

Is it too big?

That's quite slouchy, isn't it?

Lydia: Mmhmm.

I think we're good.

COMM: Ailsa and Holger are leaving no stitch behind with their cardy.

-Ailsa: I'll take waffle for one.

-Holger: I'm thinking the seersucker.

There's going to be a cable running up the middle.

Holger: There's a wealth of gansey patterns.

COMM: They are also the only team who are unusually constructing their cardigan in two pieces, rather than five.

Holger: You could transform those five pieces into just two, by splitting them and having this, kind of, T-shape.

It would join together in the centre.

I really like that.

I don't think anyone would think to do it that way.

Well, I think we probably have to talk a little bit quieter.

Yeah.

(soft music turns captivating) COMM: Ailsa and Holger will knit one half of the cardigan each, meaning the stitches will run horizontally across the garment, rather than vertically.

Ailsa plans to use a waffle stitch to create little raised squares, and a Scottish fleet stitch, which uses columns and diamond motifs, to create a wealth of texture across the fabric.

Holger's half of the cardigan will use a seersucker stitch to create a bumpy, dimpled surface, and a diamond gansey stitch, which creates beautiful diamond motifs.

Both will use cables to create a raised line across the middle of their halves of the cardigan.

They will then join their two pieces together and add a tassel.

(captivating music fades) If you want texture, you can't really get a lot more texture than that.

Shall we get going, then?

Yeah.

All that's left is to actually make it.

(serene music) COMM: The knitters are a few hours into their textured cardigan challenge.

In about five rows' time, I'm going to start on the smiley face decal.

So far, so good.

I'm working on the sleeve.

You can see we've got the cuff on the bottom.

This is what I've done so far.

It's a two-by-two twisted rib.

(serene music fades) -So, team cardy B.

-Hello.

Quite a thing to construct.

For people at home, if you were to go and get a knit out from your cupboard, the knit stitch, they always go down.

Whereas this is going to be going sideways, which creates texture in itself.

I mean, we have to go for the win, right?

Mm, go for gold.

Although I sometimes feel like silver looks nicer.

-I'm more of a silver person.

-I'm silver.

It's alright, I've got one of each, so... COMM: While Holger and Ailsa work their way through over eight different stitches, Lydia and Simon are on their honeycomb stitch, which has resulted in a beautiful texture, but a tight fabric.

Tom: So, you've done a bit of shaping here, to make it come in at the sleeve.

Simon: Yeah.

-Quite thick arms.

-Modelling it on mine.

Yeah.

Look.

Yeah, look at that.

Have you had a chance to look at what anyone else is doing yet?

Yeah, I definitely have.

I mean, it's easy just to take a little sneak peek at other people's work.

But what I have found is that whenever I do that, I catastrophise and start to doubt my own decisions.

Tracy and Isaac.

How's it going over here?

I've just finished the back panel.

It's got a wee smiley face on it.

(ethereal music) Do you think that... the smiley face is going to have enough texture to it for the judges?

Er, I think that because the smiley face itself, like, the details of it are in texture, I might be able to get away with it.

They never said that we had to cover the whole thing in texture.

(ethereal music fades) (foreboding music) Knitters, five hours have gone.

That's halfway through the challenge.

You have five hours remaining.

-More than enough time.

-Yeah, we'll be fine.

COMM: With half the challenge left, teams should be making good progress on their individual sections.

It's starting to take shape, the idea that we had, and then they'll join together once there's two of them.

COMM: Tracy has tentatively moved on to her bubble stitch sleeve.

Her simple double crochet stitch in the solo left the judges unimpressed.

She needs to wow them with her stitches in the team challenge.

I've never done a bubble stitch before, no.

COMM: The bubble stitch is created by intentionally dropping a stitch and then picking it back up multiple rows below, to create a bold 3D bubbly texture.

But it's not an easy stitch to master.

There's always the worry when you drop the next stitch that you won't be able to pick it up anywhere, so I'm really out of my depth with this one.

What are you doing here?

(Ailsa laughing) That's good texture in there, mate.

It's looking really good.

Simon: What are you guys up to?

We were knitting until you, kind of, plonked your fat arse onto my wool.

-Give me the craic.

-There's lots of texture.

Right now, if I'm being completely honest... Lydia: Mhmmm.

Simon: ...I don't know whether it's just too much of the same.

(foreboding music fades) COMM: It's Texture Week in the Yarn Barn, and the knitters are into the final stages of their slouchy cardigan challenge.

There you go, beautiful.

Well, how far away are you from getting that done?

Tracy: I've got another four rows.

Isaac: Okay.

COMM: Lydia and Simon are adding a lace edging to the hem of their cardy.

I'm just doing the eyelets now, in garter stitch, and Simon's sewing up.

Yeah, I think actually that little lace eyelet will look really nice.

-Simon: Yeah.

-Lydia: I actually think... it is going to be a lot of texture.

Simon: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

No, I'm happier now.

Well done, mate.

Knitters, you have one hour to go.

(ticking rhythm) COMM: In the final hour of the challenge, the teams should be seaming their individual sections together.

Simon: I'm currently sewing this cardigan to Lydia's leg.

You buy a cardigan and you get a free Lydia.

We will now join our two pieces.

COMM: Ailsa and Holger are using a Kitchener stitch, a clever technique to graft two sets of live stitches together, and create a seamless join in the fabric.

Holger: This is literally not something you want to do under extreme pressure.

COMM: Isaac and Tracy are attaching the sleeves to the body of their cardigan.

That's your sleeve, that's my sleeve.

COMM: But Isaac has spotted an error.

Tracy hasn't picked up her dropped stitches, meaning the whole thing could unravel.

Isaac: You slipped the wrong one.

It's because you've gone in between the stitches.

Tracy: I thought we were meant to go in between.

Isaac: No, it's supposed to go in this one down here, and then you slip it, and it hides.

Tracy: Oh right, okay, right.

I went in between.

Isaac: It's alright, it's done now.

COMM: And Holger's also spotted a problem with their cardy.

Holger: Hold on, hold on, hold on.

Please don't tell me that the Kitchener stitch was wrong.

Well, something has gone wrong, I think.

This is inside out, this is outside in.

(ticking rhythm fades) Oh yeah.

Holger: Yeah.

COMM: Holger has incorrectly sewn his section to Ailsa's section inside out.

One side is inside out, and one side's outside in.

Holger: Mm.

Do you want me to try and redo it, or do we leave that and chance it?

Doesn't necessarily need to be Kitchener to redo it, does it?

That is true.

Do not tempt me while I have the scissors at hand at the moment.

Ailsa: Yeah, we're done, we're done.

Knitters, finish casting off, needles down, and get those cardigans on the mannequins.

(playful music) COMM: That's three slouchy cardigans complete in just ten hours.

Having a garment that is half inside out and half outside in is still better than having two pieces.

I know that the sleeves are not exactly even, and I think that's something that they're going to pick up on.

(playful music fades, birds chirping) Well done, knitters.

Now it's time for the judging.

So, let's bring Di and Sheila back into the Yarn Barn.

We are going to start with the green cardigan.

(upbeat music) Sheila: Well... Di: There is some super cable fabric here.

And it's very well executed.

Beautiful.

Di: Oh, and some open work.

Sheila: An eyelet edge.

Di: Very, very firm.

Really nice edging.

Okay, so I have a problem with this bit at the back.

You can see this eyelet pattern... has actually pushed and distorted the fabric.

Because the cable fabric pulls it all in above it, and it's just made a slightly strange shape.

It's made it balloon out at the bottom.

I don't feel that this sleeve is wide enough.

The honeycomb cabling has pulled them in considerably.

-Too dense?

-Not slouchy enough?

Not slouchy enough.

There is much more give in this wave fabric.

Apart from that, I absolutely love the fluidity of this garment.

I think it's a really beautiful textured jacket.

(upbeat music fades) Well, thank you very much.

And now, what do you think of the yellow cardigan?

(anticipatory music) Sheila: We have a smiley face.

So, for me, the smiley face doesn't give enough impact.

It doesn't give enough texture.

It's pictorial rather than textural.

I would have liked to have seen more texture.

I absolutely love these sleeves.

Sheila: Some very effective increasing, so that they can balloon out, and this sleeve works really, really well.

Mm.

So, Sheila, there is a big problem with this sleeve.

Oh yes.

There are dropped stitches.

Here.

-Di: Yeah.

-Sheila: Lots of them.

This would unravel very quickly.

Di: It's unstable.

I'm... really, really sad to see this, because... It's not really a viable, functional sleeve.

(anticipatory music fades) Thank you very much.

And now, the red cardigan.

(regal music) What I'm seeing... is a very different construction.

Each knitter has cast on here and knitted up and over.

The texture in this is fantastic.

(regal music turns tense) I have an inside-out cable.

Di: That's really, really playful.

Do you think it's intentional?

What if this is actually a mistake?

Shall we turn it inside out?

Yes!

Di: 'Cause it may be that it's meant to be reversible, and it's playful.

Whatever has happened, this is intriguing and... It's a bit of an enigma.

Some stitches work both ways.

This is all about texture, and it does work.

Yes.

(regal music fades) (bleating) Sheila and I have come to a decision.

(suspenseful music) So, in third place... we have the yellow cardigan.

Can we ask who made the yellow cardigan?

-The dropped stitches... -Tracy: It was me.

I'd never done the stitch before.

And what about the smiley face?

-There we go.

-Might have guessed.

There we go.

In second place, and this has been a really difficult decision... is the green.

Who did the green?

So, the winner is the red cardigan.

The texture was exceptionally good.

So, please put us out of our misery.

What happened?

It was a mistake in the joining.

When I seamed the rest up, I had the outside on the outside, and that's why it ended up like this.

Whether it was meant to be or not, it does still work.

(suspenseful music fades) Well, con-stitch-ulations, Holger and Ailsa.

Would I have agreed with the ranking?

No.

I don't.

Ailsa: I stand by our work.

We did fill it with texture, which is what we were supposed to do in the brief.

I did something I didn't know.

I took a risk and it didn't pay off.

COMM: It's now up to Di and Sheila to decide who has performed the best across both challenges, and who will be cast off.

So, who's in line for that lovely sheep badge this week?

Holger.

With his amazing bowl of noodles.

And he was in the winning cardigan team.

They've created a fully reversible jacket, full of texture.

So, Simon... Simon really has shone this week.

I think he's really showing far more skill than I think he even knew he had.

Just like his egg, he's coming out of his shell.

Oh, bless.

Yes.

And on the flipside of that, who's in danger this week?

Tracy's in danger.

I was quite disappointed with Tracy's bowl of food.

It was just one stitch, effectively, throughout.

I honestly nearly burst into tears when I saw, in the sleeve, those dropped stitches.

It was just such a terrible moment.

We have to talk about Isaac.

Although he did create a bagel with amazing shaping, yet again he didn't finish it.

Isaac often doesn't manage to finish, and his performance on the cardigan, the back really let down the design.

It's getting tougher and tougher each week to say goodbye to someone, but that decision has to be made.

Well done, knitters.

What a week Texture Week has been.

We've had ups, downs, inside outs... but as you know, each week that goes by, it gets harder and harder to choose who is going to be the Big Knitter, and even harder to decide who is being cast off.

(gentle music) Our Big Knitter this week... is... Holger.

(gentle music fades) Di: Well done.

Very well done.

Holger, here is your sheep baaaaaadge.

-Thank you very much.

-There you go.

-Congratulations.

-Thank you very much.

But sadly, we do have to lose someone each week.

So, the person that's being cast off this week is... Tracy.

Thank you.

Come on.

Come up and give us a hug.

Oh, Tracy, we love you.

I've met some incredible people, and I've had the greatest adventure, er, and I feel, you know, eternally grateful for that.

(overlapping dialogue) Holger just has to steal my thunder right at the end, which is fine, 'cause it's Holger, and he's amazing.

Who knows, if I hadn't have put a massive turd on my plate, then I might have even come first.

Yeah, it feels great to be the Big Knitter for the week.

Feels flocking good.

COMM: Next time... knitted jewellery sparkles.

I'm doing some Viking knitting.

Viking knitting?

Simon: This one is going to be won and lost on detail.

COMM: And our final five tackle the ultimate test.

Lace.

This challenge is the most difficult we've set so far.

It's that point in the programme, because we're looking for the best.

Sheila: There's nowhere to hide.

It does get tougher every week.

(rousing music)