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It has been a big Olympics for Tom Daley, the 27-year-old British athlete who has captured the country’s imagination with his twisting, gravity-defying, gold medal-earning dives – and his truly sensational knitting.
Daley went viral earlier this week when a photo emerged of the Team GB sportsman at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre, working on a purple and cream coloured design, while watching the women’s diving final. It’s a picture that will stand the test of time for the sheer juxtaposition – as funny-looking as an astronaut in a tea shop or the Duchess of Cambridge at the supermarket. Team GB also tweeted the photograph: ‘Nothing to see here – just @TomDaley1994 having a knit at the diving.’ Even the BBC sports commentators honed in on the action: ‘What do you think he’s knitting there?’ they questioned.
The picture sparked adulation – not everyone knew Daley, the diving wunderkind, was a knitting enthusiast. And then the public discovered his dedicated knitting Instagram account, ‘Made with love by Tom Daley’. Filled with 61 posts, spanning cardigans to rainbow fleeces, an Olympics medal pouch and doggy jumper, it has grown exponentially in follower count since the start of the games, gaining some 250,000 followers (bringing his total to 990k; his main account has 3 million followers).
The internet looks set to break again following his ‘Olympic Cardigan Reveal’ – and it’s a thing of beauty. Chunky, comfortable and oh so artfully done. To accompany the great Insta reveal, the caption said: ‘When I got to Tokyo, I wanted to make something that would remind me of the Olympics to look back on in the future. I designed a pattern for the colour work that would signify everything about these games! On the back I went for a classic @teamgb logo, the shoulders have a flag and GBR on them. For the front I wanted to keep it simple and I tried my best to embroider TOKYO in Japanese! 🇯🇵🔥’
Daley has rightly received overwhelmingly positive reviews of his work. He revealed he learned to knit and crochet prior to the Olympics in an effort to keep calm. Knitting has seen a surge in popularity among the younger generations in recent years, with the traditional craft becoming more fashion-forward and radical. Undoubtedly helped along by Harry Styles – not one to shy away from a kaleidoscopic cardigan. Styles’ patchwork cardigan – that prompted a knitting Renaissance on social media with followers trying to create their own variations on the theme – is now on display at the V&A. Designer Liv Huffman’s recreation is displayed alongside the original JW Anderson design worn by Styles. After all, it was her piece, which she posted to TikTok, that spawned the hashtag #HarryStylesCardigan and inspired thousands to create their own. And, now, Tom Daley, our Olympic poster boy, is also doing his bit to help the craft thrive in the 21st century. Knitting is certainly enjoying quite the youthful revival.
Harry Styles wearing the cardigan on the Today show in 2020
Nathan Congleton / NBC / NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images
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