Yes, you read that correctly. Olympic gold medallist, diver and television personality Tom Daley is launching his own knitwear collection, just in time to wrap up warm for winter. It looks like he finally heard our cries for his cardigans. We forgive you for making us wait, Tom.
Showcasing an adorable red and white Christmas jumper featuring a fluffy Christmas tree on his Instagram, Daley announced that the launch was on its way soon. ‘Knitters at the ready! The countdown has begun. Stay tuned!’ he wrote in the Instagram caption yesterday.
The 27-year-old athlete shared that his favourite hobby is now becoming a business and fashion collection on the Made With Love by Tom Daley Instagram, where he frequently shares personal knitting projects. Fans are able shop the collection now.
Daley has long shared his personal knitting projects on Instagram, even knitting a near-perfect dupe of the JW Anderson ( v expensive) wool cardigan Harry Styles wore to pre-Met Gala, which sent social media into a storm. It took him almost a month to replicate, but he didn’t seem to mind, stating in another post that he takes his knitting everywhere with him.
Daley shared that his ‘obsession’ with knitting and all things yarn was inspired by his husband, Dustin Lance Black. Through the Tokyo games, Daley was seen knitting often, even while watching the women's diving final.
In an interview with BBC Breakfast, Tom Daley explained how he started knitting because he is ‘terrible at sitting still’. He shared that his coach has always encouraged him to prioritise rest and knitting was his way of doing that.
‘It was actually Lance who said that on set, people will knit squares just to pass the time and I was like: "OK, I’ll try that"' Daley explained. ‘So I started trying it and fell in love with it and here we are.’
Daley said he quickly became obsessed with his new hobby and was breaking out the knitting needles everywhere including on buses to and from the pool, in the stands and ‘whenever I had a spare moment’.
‘While the other boys in our apartment were playing video games, I would just sit and knit,’ Daley recalled. ‘I’d wake up and if I had time to sit and knit, I would just continually knit.’
Daley knitted himself a woolly ‘Team GB’ cardigan to snuggle in between events during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic games, which he showcased on his Instagram, and later the cover of Wonderland magazine.
Daley even took to knitting to celebrate one of the biggest accomplishments of his life. After he took home his first-ever gold medal alongside his teammate Matty Lee in the synchronised 10m platform event at the Tokyo 2020 games, he knitted himself an adorable woollen cosy to keep the medal in.
Knitting obviously means a lot to Daley, having carried him through an entire pandemic and the Olympic games - and judging by his recent designs, we can expect some 70s waves, cute staples, bold colours and ultimately, comfort.
You can purchase items from the Made With Love by Tom Daley collection from 5 pm here.