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.

When I discovered Kate Atherley’s book Circular Knitting for Beginners and Beyond, I wasn’t sure there was enough to say about circular knitting to fill a book. It’s a pretty short book (144 pages) and includes 10 patterns to practice working in the round on small projects, and it provides a decent introduction to the various ways of working in the round.

The book covers using double pointed knitting needles, flexible double points and circular knitting needles with cables. It talks about working using the full circumference of a circular needle and various ways to work smaller circumference projects, such as using DPNs, magic loop and knitting with two circular knitting needles.

In addition there’s a discussion of preventing problems like twists and ladders, swatching in the round without actually swatching in the round, grafting, blocking and weaving in ends.

More specialized techniques likes knitting from the center out, stranded colorwork, helical knitting and jogless stripes are also explored, as well as working pieces like socks or mitts two at a time.

There’s also some information about seamless sweaters, including the different sweater designs that can be worked seamlessly (and why you might want seams in your sweaters) and how they are worked from the top down or the bottom up.

There are 10 patterns in the book, including a basic stockinette stitch cowl and one with a deliberate twist, wrist warmers, mitts and a pair of colorwork mittens, a hat worked in a solid color or in helical stripes, toe up and top down socks and a beret. It would have been nice to have a basic sweater pattern, too, since the book does talk about working larger garments with circular needles, but it’s still a nice collection of basic patterns worked in the round.

If you’re already comfortable working in the round in different ways, I’m not sure there’s much for you to learn in this book, but it is a good reference for people learning circular knitting or who maybe haven’t tried all the techniques yet or need skill building projects to try.

About the book: 144 pages, paperback, 10 patterns. Published 2026 by David & Charles. Suggested retail price $24.99.

Have you read?