Knit a Sweater (Sort of) Like Tom Daley’s

By now you’ve probably seen the amazing Olympics sweater Tom Daley was knitting during his time in Tokyo. From what I can gather from pictures, it looks like he did the colorwork — a class British Olympic team logo and rings on the back, a British flag, and GBR on the sleeves, and the symbols for Tokyo in Japanese on the front — were done in duplicate stitch rather than stranded colorwork or intarsia.

I saw on Facebook that British yarn company Wool and the Gang said the sweater itself was their Blake Minimal Cardigan, which makes sense because he made the original Blake Cardigan for his husband’s birthday.

It’s a bulky V-neck cardigan with no buttonholes, so it is actually a pretty fast knit, though most of us wouldn’t knit it as fast as Daley did.

If you don’t want to knit that exact pattern, I’ve scoured the Internet for similar possibilities.

Sixth Street by Amy Miller has buttons (and pockets!) but you could leave both off for a simple bulky V-neck cardigan that’s a lot like the one he made. (This pattern is available on Ravelry.)

This vintage men’s V-neck cardigan pattern from Etsy is similar to the original in that it uses bulky yarn, but the shoulder shaping is different and it has buttons. There’s also an option for a shawl collar if you’re into that.

Martin Storey’s Stour is a buttoned V-neck cardigan designed for men. It also uses bulky yarn and can be found on Ravelry.

This longer-length open Rathnelly Cardigan from Yarnspirations uses a sort of textured yarn but you could use something smoother if you want to do colorwork on it.

Caitlin Hunter’s Reluctant Homeschooler also has buttons and pockets but could be worked without them. It uses bulky yarn and has a wide range of sizes to fit men and women. You can grab it from Ravelry as well.

Daisy and Peace’s easy cardigan has the relaxed fit of the original, but more of a cropped length (which you could change) and it’s worked in lightweight yarn. This one is on Etsy.

Maritsa from Berroco Yarns (designed by Amy Christoffers) is a little more structured and has shorter sleeves, but it’s a really pretty basic that could be altered to have full-length sleeves if you like

Sarah Hatton’s Tyburn is longer than the original but has the same relaxed fit. It’s a free download on Ravelry.

The closest thing offered by Lion Brand is actually a super bulky cardigan called Back to Basics, which is available as a free pattern or in a kit.

One of my favorite things to make on a circular knitting machine is scarves, because they’re a great way to use leftover yarn and certainly faster than knitting by hand.

But if you pay attention to the colors you’re using and how you are using them, you can make fun knitting machine scarves that look like something different when you roll them up.

One of the first versions of this I saw was the sushi scarf, are there are a lot of variations on this one. For example this one from Flower and Anchor that uses five colors of yarn, or this one from Three Threads NE that uses four. These generally are made to look like California rolls, but you could change up the colors to make them different things if you like. Just make sure the outside of the “roll” is black or green to indicate the nori. I found another version on Pinterest if you’re looking for a free pattern, but there’s no image of it rolled up.

Another popular variation is making a scarf that rolls up to look like a mug with coffee, tea or another fun beverage inside. This collection of three mug scarf circular knitting machine patterns from Idaho Cottage Creation includes green tea, a pumpkin spice latte with whipped cream and a candy cane colored confection (which honestly reminds me of the Grinch since it has a green mug!). Again you can change the colors of the mug part and the drink part. The little handle looks like it’s crocheted on these, and it doubles as a loop you can thread the scarf end through when you wear it.

Again there’s a version of the green tea scarf on Pinterest with crocheted elements. I also found a latte done with a striped yarn and a red mug that’s pretty cute and gives you an idea what a different beverage would look like.

I also love this pumpkin pie scarf designed by Jodi Favish Saunier. It has a bit of crocheted edging to give it a fancy crust but you can omit that if you don’t crochet. These are all on Facebook but she also has a watermelon and lemonade pattern that are super cute.

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