Week 7 – semi-finals with a theme of upcycling – “Rags to riches.”
Week 7 saw Tom wearing a recycled top made from crochet flowers sewn together with the yarn ends hanging loose and patchwork trousers. Di Gilpin chose a colour top where the sections appeared to mix intarsia and stranded colour work, and Sheila Greenwell wore a rectangular black lacy shawl.
Holger chose to wear a traditional stranded tank top, Lydia a grey stockinette sweater with roll neck, Ailsa an olive green close fitting sweater, and Isaac a dark blue stranded sweater.
Following the theme of “rags to riches”, the team challenge was about modifying existing garments, and the individual challenge about creating yarn from discarded items.
Individual task
This week, the contestants had ten hours to create a bag from repurposed material. The judges were looking for the structure of the bag and the stitches chosen, the practicality of the bag and whether it would hold a 2kg weight.
Each competitor chose a different source material and a different inspiration for their choice of bag.
Lydia’s choice was colourful wax print cotton fabric that she knit with “lined stitch” in the round (knit one, slip one with yarn in front) that both looks and behaves like a woven fabric, although it takes two rounds to add the height of a stocking stitch round. Both Tom (who suggested yoga exercises) and Di (who said Lydia must be exhausted) noted the strain this put on the knitter’s hands using the cotton “yarn”. She reinforced her handles with plastic rings. The judges noted that it was a strong fabric that the bag would be a good fashion accessory.
Holger chose to make a brown saddle bag suitable for a festival using T-shirt yarn (for stitch definition) and crochet. He used a variety of crochet stitches (for which he used the USA terms while discussing his work with Tom), and reinforced his handle with a strip of cotton cloth between the layers of crochet (a useful technique to avoid stretching). The judges felt that the bag conveyed a sense of luxury, and were delighted that Holder had taken on board comments from previous episodes about their love of crochet buttons.
Ailsa’s inspiration was her family’s love of running and going to the gym, using yarn from discarded leggings and shorts to make a black bag. The judges noted that sourcing the yarn from many different garments created an unevenness in the yarn that detracted from the bag. Without extra reinforcement the bag suffered in the weight test.
Isaac also chose T-shirt yarn, but cut his into a spiral. This was a slow process, leaving him without enough time to finish is vision of a humbug with lacy ends (in a pattern used by his grandmother) and a zip fastening. The judges loved the concept, but were disappointed that it was not finished.
Crochet bag using gold rayon with a metal chain handle and metal clasp. From the Knitting & Crochet Guild Collection.
Brightly coloured knitted “miser’s purse” with metal rings from the Knitting & Crochet Guild collection.
Team challenge
The team challenge was to create a dress fit for the catwalk from two discarded Aran jumpers and scraps from the haberdashery in ten hours. Aran jumpers are highly cabled and originate from the Irish islands of Aran, Inishmore, Inishmaan and Inisheer that became famous after a documentary film was released in 1934 (“A History of Handknitting” by Richard Rutt, 1987). Although the film did not show the white, cabled jumpers with which we are now familiar, the rise in profile of the islands led to the Aran sweaters we know today. Tom described the sweaters as being “rich in symbolic meaning” – reflecting the successful marketing of the style rather than its origins. Members can read more about the myths around Aran knitting in and article by Rita Taylor in Slipknot 179 (June 2023).
This week there were two teams: Holger and Lydia, and Ailsa and Isaac.
Ailsa and Isaac sought a “Tinkerbell” look, with parts from the jumpers making the top and leaf-like segments for the skirt. The top was to have a contrast colour ribbed neck made from yarn unwound from other items and a crocheted section at the back that had a lace threaded through it to create a close fit on the model. Further embroidering would add colour to the body.
Holger took the lead on designing for the other team. Drawing on his tailoring training he proposed using the front and back of one of the jumpers to create balloon sleeves, and the remainder of the jumpers forming part of the skirt of the dress, with additional coloured fillers (triangular godets), and the body made from a length of cloth with a coloured square pattern.
The judges loved the fit of Ailsa and Isaac’s top, but thought that the dress needed more “wow” for a catwalk. Sheila loved the way the roles for sleeve and body had been interchanged, and both judges liked the was the strong colours of the cloth offset the cream of the jumpers.
All over patterned Aran sweater with panel of triangles in stocking stitch and reversed stocking stitches up centre of bodies and sleeves. High ribbed rolled neckband. Knitted flat and seamed. From the Patons/Coats donation in the Knitting & Crochet Guild Collection.
This Aran sweater with drop shoulders sweater, long sleeves, and heavily textured. Wheatsheaf Pattern was made from a pattern published in the Sunday Times colour magazine in 1984. From the Knitting & Crochet Guild Collection.
Next episode
Next week will be the final, with the “Best Knitter” being chosen.
First published: 17 December 2025 12:00 pm. Updated: 15 December 2025 3:10 pm.
