Tom Daley Launches Knitting Store, Partnership with We Are Knitters

Tom Daley has been busy since he dove into the hearts of knitters everywhere with his prodigious knitting and crocheting while competing at the Summer Olympics.

He recently launched the website By Tom Daley, which includes knit and crochet patterns and kits, yarn and other merchandise.

He also has a collaboration with We Are Knitters (whose yarn he has used for many of the projects featured on his Instagram account). This partnership includes two knitting patterns kits so far: a sweater with pleated sleeves and a classic vest.

On their website he notes that knitting has been great for stress relief since the pandemic started:

Knitting has become my happy place. It allows me to be calm, still and be extremely mindful. So I first got out the knitting needles in March 2020 and I haven’t looked back – and knitting’s now been with me for some of the bigger moments in my life and each piece really means something.

We’re so excited to see where knitting continues to take Tom and what comes from him using his platform to share the fiber arts with others.

[Photo via We Are Knitters.]

Looking for more Vest patterns to knit? Check out these Vest Knitting patterns on Etsy and these designs on the Sirdar Website.

Next Pattern:

Linen stitch is one of my favorite knitting stitch patterns that, every time I use it in a project, I think about how I don’t use it often enough.

It’s an easy stitch to make, with slip stitches done with the yarn held to the front of the work on the right/front side and to the back on the wrong/back side, which makes the strand of yarn a visible part of the pattern.

It also makes a fabric that is thick and looks kind of like a woven fabric.

I recently used linen stitch to make a double-thick pot holder, which I worked in a kind of interesting way. I didn’t want to have to do any sewing on the project, so I started it from a crochet cast on and picked up stitches from the side of the cast on to make the hot pad all in one piece in the round with the edge sealed.

This requires working on two circular needles, which is another technique I don’t use that often and am always reminded how much I like it when I do.

The combination of double thickness and the stitch pattern makes for a hot pad that’s already pretty thick, but I also added a bit of old towel to the inside before I closed up the end to make it super thick and extra protective for your surfaces.

I found the engineering challenge of this construction method to be a lot of fun, but you could also just knit it as a tube (casting on twice as many stitches as I did) and sew up the ends by hand when the knitting is done. Either way you’ve got a useful and pretty addition to your kitchen, whether you work it in a solid color, stripes or as a stash busting project will all your cotton odd balls.

You can grab the pattern over at Our Daily Craft, or check it out on Ravelry.

40+ Hot Pads You Can Sew For The Kitchen [Sewing]

A Cozy Knit to Calm Your Mind

Double Knit an Infinity Scarf

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