Nine-hour show on knitting to go live on Norway on Friday night, as part of their 'Slow TV' success

A Norwegian television station has announced that they plan to broadcast the world knitting record for the fastest time from "sheep to actual finished sweater"—earmarking a full five contiguous hours for the purpose.

In an attempt to beat the world 'sheep to sweater' record, a team of Norwegian yarn enthusiasts will shear a ewe on live TV before spinning its wool and knitting a jumper, all against the clock. The previous record, held by Australia, is four hours and 51 minutes.

"We'll start with four hours about knitting in general before starting the record attempt. Then we'll just broadcast as long as they keep going. It should be a hit." Rune Møklebust, head of programming at Norwegian public service broadcaster NRK

The Norwegian concept of 'Slow TV' has been a hit in Norway since 2009, when NRK showed the view from the roof of a seven-hour train ride from bergen to Oslo to an audience of millions.

"It was the 100th anniversary of this route and we'd planned a couple of documentaries," says Mr Møklebust. "Then someone said, 'why not film the whole trip?' We thought it would be something completely new … and cheap."