Meet Tom Daley, Olympian and Knitter

Tom Daley is best known as a member of the British Olympic team, who recently won gold with Matty Lee in synchronized diving.

When practices and meets were curtailed in 2020, Daley found himself with a lot of time on his hands and took up knitting, and, later, crochet. He started an Instagram account where he shares his makes, and has even released a pattern for a crocheted granny square jumper that’s sold on Love Crafts as a benefit for a brain tumor research charity.

In an interview with Rowan Yarns he said his first project was a knit scarf for his mum, and while he likes the ease of shaping and adjusting sizes in crochet, he prefers the look of knitting.

He’s been quite prolific in his year and a half as a stitcher, making sweaters, toys, baby things, even a crocheted cat couch.

He said in that post he planned to take his knitting to Tokyo, and he posted the adorable medal cozy he made for his new hardware on Instagram. We wish him and all crafty Olympians well in the Games!

[Photo via Made with Love by Tom Daley.]

Looking for more Tom Daley knitting items? Check out these items we found on Etsy

I don’t often share knitting patterns for pets, mostly because I don’t think of it. I don’t have a dog, and I’ve never knit for my cats except a knit couch and a little cat bed I made on a knitting machine, both of which were pretty much ignored.

I have shared some pet bed knitting patterns, and both hats and sweaters for dogs.

But I don’t think I’ve shared a pattern for a cat sweater, until now.

This one is the Bunny sweater by Sarah Zhou, so named because her cat is named Bunny, of course.

It’s a made to measure pattern because cats come in all shapes and sizes, and you can also use any yarn you like and whatever gauge you are getting with that yarn.

The design is knit from the bottom up, that is, from the tail side up toward the head. Pairs of decreases shape the body as you work toward the armholes, which are made by binding off a few stitches. Then the belly and the back are worked flat, then joined and worked in the round for the chest part.

There are some design options in the pattern, from the look of the photos they include using a contrasting color for the edging, working a scalloped edging, maybe a foldover collar? But of course you can add your own embellishments, stripes, make it in team colors or for a Halloween costume. I’m sure they’re quick to knit so you can make a bunch if you have a cat who is willing to submit to such torture.

Bunny looks like a very good and mostly tolerant girl; I don’t think either of my cats would be willing to wear a sweater. But if you make one (the pattern is available on Ravelry) and successfully get your cat to wear it I would love to hear about it!

[Photo: Sarah Zhou]

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