JKR

It’s possible that you’re reading this wearing your ‘Christmas jumper’. Only this year, it might be more out of choice than duty. Thanks to a little help from the BBC’s ‘Consider yourself’ idents, a former festive faux pas is fast becoming seasonal chic.

Making something inherently cringeworthy look appealing takes some doing. Although it’s probably fair to say that some of the BBC’s personalities do it more effectively than others – Michael McIntyre still looks more geek to Tess Daley’s chic. There is a real innocence to the design of the jumpers that makes the whole ident concept more believable. That’s because they are the genuine article. They were all hand-knitted in Wales by David & Judith Fitchie from The Christmas Jumper Shop who said they had “been knitting 18 hours a day” to meet the demand that followed.

The idents are representative of a broader renaissance for knitting which has been casting off (sorry) its traditional associations on the back of celebrity backers, groups for young knitters such as Stitch ‘n Bitch, and websites like Knitty and Knit on the Net. Sales of yarn are up significantly on last year and Google UK say that online searches for knitting-related terms have increased over 150%.

Also, since The Killing became the last word in box sets on Scandinavian murders, the lead character’s jumper has become an ironic/iconic wooly gift of choice!

All good reason to wear this year’s Christmas jumper rather than stick it straight in the bottom drawer. But what do you think? Will you be wearing yours?

By James Joice, jkr.