Mike Egerton/PA Images©Tom Daley isn’t just an Olympic gold medallist, he’s also a knitting influencer who has made some fantastic knits during the Olympics to calm his nerves. Let’s take a look at some of his best work and the cosy crafting community he has created online!
The British diver was spotted at this year’s Paris Olympic Games sitting poolside and relaxing with a bit of knitting while he cheered on his teammates.
He was seen knitting a small Union Jack rectangle while supporting Team GB’s Yasmin Harper and Scarlett Mew Jensen, who both won Bronze medals in the 3m synchronised springboard.
This rectangle progressively transformed into a full jumper over the course of a few days, and Tom shared a sneak peak of the project on his Instagram story.
Image: Tom Daley on Instagram.
He wrote “Nearly done.” and tagged his knitting and crocheting brand ‘Made With Love by Tom Daley.‘
Before this year’s games began, the Olympian shared on social media some initial sketches and videos where he was casting on his Paris Olympics knitting project.
Tom captioned the collection of pictures and clips: “My 5th Olympics is underway! I just wanted to jump in here and say a big thank you for all the support, and to let you know that we have so many exciting things coming up for #madewithlove!”
Image: Made With Love on Instagram.
Tom Daley and Noah William won silver in the men’s synchronised 10m platform in Paris, so we expect to see the finished piece very soon once Daley’s done celebrating.
How did Tom Daley fall in love with knitting?
It was at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, that Tom Daley was first caught on camera knitting away in the spectator seats as well as under the diving board right before climbing up to his own Olympic dive.
He went on to win gold and credited the craft for helping him with his mindfulness between events.
During the Tokyo Olympic in 2021, Tom Daley knitted a little Union Jack pouch for his gold medal, plus an impressive cardigan. Image: Tom Daley on Instagram.
Tom Daley gained a whole new fan base! In November 2021, after the games has ended, the athlete decided to start his own online community and knitted clothing line called ‘Made With Love by Tom Daley’.
Knitters, crocheters and crafters across the globe were thrilled.
The Olympic gold medallist took a two-year break from diving before deciding to return to training in 2023 for the Paris Olympics. During the break, however, ‘Made With Love’ became a huge success and now has 1.2M followers on Instagram.
Daley even released a book called ‘Made with Love: Get hooked with 30 knitting and crochet patterns’.
In an interview with the blog Rowan, the Plymouth-born diver explained how he first started knitting in March 2020: “It was something I started to learn on a trip to Canada from a YouTube video.
“I was absolutely awful at first, I couldn’t get the hang of it. One of the Australian divers and one of the Russian divers on that trip helped me while we were there and then on the flight home, one of our coaches on the British team gave me some tips and then with a lot of practice I started getting the hang of it.”
In an emotional video shared to social media, Tom Daley discussed how much knitting meant to him and how it was a huge surprise he’d fallen so in love with the craft.
“If somebody had told me that I would probably be most remembered from the Tokyo Olympics for knitting, rather than winning an Olympic gold medal, I probably would have laughed.
“I started knitting back in March 2020 and it was a way of me being able to slow down, unwind, and be a bit more mindful.
“Initially my coach said to me that I needed to slow down and learn how to unwind better on the weekends to rest and recover, and to find something to fill my time with.”
The story behind the name is also very sweet, which he went on to explain.
“The name Made With Love came from the very first thing I made, which was a scarf which I made for my mum for Mother’s Day, and I wanted to sew something into it so that she could remember that I made it for her.
“So then Made with Love by Tom Daley was born off these tags.”
The brand has been a bit quieter than usual for the past couple of years, presumably because the Olympian has been busy being one of the world’s best divers.
We can’t wait to see what Tom Daley does next with his craft. He has promised the Made With Love community that there’s more to come!
Hannah McLaren I've worked at DC Thomson for six years! I began as an intern at My Weekly and The Scots Magazine, which was extended by a few months to help out at The People's Friend. I then covered maternity as Celebrity Editor for My Weekly, before I became Multimedia Journalist at The Scots Magazine. Currently I'm writing digital content across each title.
