Shetland islanders have criticised a television knitting competition hosted by Tom Daley of misrepresenting their heritage.
Shetland’s Organisation of Knitters (SOK) has accused Channel 4 show Game of Wool: Britain’s Best Knitter of “cultural appropriation”, arguing that ancient knitting traditions were misrepresented on the programme.
The debate revolves around Fair Isle knitting, a specific needlework tradition pioneered by fisherwomen to keep their husbands warm at sea during the 18th century.
Fair Isle, the southernmost Shetland island, is home to a passionate community of knitters and many fear their ancient traditions passed down generations are being lost.
Tom Daley with Game of Wool contestant Lydia – James Simpson/Channel 4
Terri Leask, a founding member of the group, said residents were furious about errors strewn across the programme.
“The main thing folk were up in arms about was the terminology they used, which was either misused or mispronounced Shetland words,” she told Shetland News.
According to Ms Leask, the production team had contacted Shetland knitters to ask for advice before the programme aired, but their advice had been “completely ignored”.
SOK needlework enthusiasts were particularly upset to see a contestant criticised for successfully cutting his knitting, which Fair Isle knitters say is standard practice.
They fear the show’s treatment of the contestant perpetuates “negative misconceptions about Fair Isle knitting techniques”.
Fair Isle knitting skills are passed down generations. Here, two women are seen in their cottage in the Shetland isle in 1970 – Chris Morphet/Redfern
Ms Leask said: “The SOK are having to stand up for ourselves. The term Fair Isle is going to be lost. Fair Isle is being used when what they are making is not Fair Isle. It’s appropriation.”
One of the errors that particularly frustrated Ms Leask was the use of the term “peeries”, which she said has “never been used by a Shetlander”.
Small patterns in Fair Isle are referred to as “peerie patterns”, but Ms Leask has said they “would never” refer to them as “peeries”.
Elizabeth Johnson, an SOK trustee, said: “I was knitting in the Fair Isle style before I went to school and selling garments by the time I was seven or eight. This is our heritage.
“It seems disrespectful that they changed our traditions to something else.”
Daley with Di Gilpin and Sheila Greenwell, judges on his TV show. The diver has 1.4m followers on his knitting-themed Instagram account
Show host Daley’s knitting-specific Instagram account boasts more than 1.4 million followers.
The champion diver, whose debut knitting book Made With Love was published in 2022, credits his needlework hobby with securing his gold medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
He previously told The Telegraph: “The fact you only get one opportunity every four years is super-intense, which is why knitting really helped. It took the stress out of it.”
Recalling long afternoons stuck in his hotel room during the pandemic, he added: “I owe the Olympic gold to knitting – mistakes can teach you lessons.”
A spokesman on the SOK’s Facebook group said that disinformation about Fair Isle traditions was “especially disheartening from a series meant to encourage more people to take up knitting”.
Channel 4 said: “We hold Shetland’s knitting culture in the highest regard,” adding that the challenge on the show’s first episode was to create “a garment with a modern twist that acknowledged and celebrated the traditions of the beautiful Fair Isle technique”.
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