FEATURE Made with Love: Tom Daley’s a crafty influencer and a dad again

Why it’s important to find that one thing that you look forward to every single day

By SIMHA HADDAD

WEST HOLLYWOOD - British Olympic gold medalist diver, LGBTQ-human rights activist, husband and father of two boys, Tom Daley, whose enthusiastic passion for his knitting is well known, has recently partnered with Lion Brand Yarn for a new venture.

The crafty Olympian’s self-titled “Made with Love by Tom Daley,” is slated to arrive in Michael craft stores and online starting in September 2023. Made with Love will feature Daley’s custom patterns for beginners and yarn colors inspired by his life and career, such as “Gold Medal” and “Primrose Hill.”

Daley took a break from a Made with Love/Lion Brand Yarn photoshoot up in Laurel Canyon in the hills above West Hollywood recently to chat with The Blade about knitting, family life, and striking a work-life balance.

Early on

Daley grew up in Plymouth, a port city in South West England about four hours outside of London. His long competitive diving career started in 2003 when he won a medal at National Novice Championships in the 8/9-year-old category.

At age fourteen, Daley was the youngest qualifying British Olympian athlete since rowing coxswain Ken Lester. In 2007, he became the youngest-ever winner of a British senior title when he took the individual platform event and the following years retained his title and added the synchronized event with partner Blake Aldridge.

In March 2008 he scored a surprise victory at the European Championships in Eindhoven to become the young- est-ever European champion in either swimming or diving. After Beijing he claimed two silver medals at the 2008 World Junior Championships, before winning the senior World Championship in 2009 at the age of 15.

Daley won two gold medals at the 2010 Commonwealth Games, in the 10-metre individual and synchronized event with Max Brick. He competed in his second Olympics in London’s 2012 games and won an individual bronze medal. After the London Games, he gained celebrity status and hosted his own TV show titled Splash.

During the entire course of the Olympic games in Tokyo 2020, held from 23 July to 8 August 2021, audiences following the diving competitions were certain to see the British Olympian quietly and intently focused in-between matches- on his knitting.

The Gold medalist only picked up his first set of knitting needles in March of 2020 as the coronavirus pandemic first spread across the globe, strangling normal daily routines in its deadly grip.

After being seen knitting at the Olympic Games, Daley has become a craft influencer whose dedicated Instagram page attracts 1.4 million plus followers.

Daley founded his Made With Love fashion label in November 2021, stemming from his genuine love for knitting and crochet and his desire to share it with the world and encourage others to take up the hobby.

“It’s been a journey for me that started when I first picked up my knitting needles in March 2020. Fast forward 18 months and I’m so proud to introduce these kits to you all so that you can experience the joy I found learning to knit,” Daley said on his website at the time of the launch.

“I designed these knit kits to help encourage you to pick up those needles, learn the basics, and fall in love with knitting at the same time – all whilst creating something to show off or pass on. Ready? Pick up your needles, learn the basics and let’s have some fun!”

Daley recently moved to Los Angeles from London with his husband, D. Lance Black, and their two sons, Robertknown as Robbie (age 5) and newly arrived Phoenix (age 3 months).

A Passion for Knitting

Lion Brand Yarn, which has a long history of supporting the LGBTQ+ community with initiatives like Knit the Rainbow, “crafting handmade clothing for LGBTQ youth,” caught wind of Daley’s passion and approached him about collaborating on this project. In turn, Daley loved the idea.

“I love the crafting community,” Daley told the Blade. “Diving is extremely niche. People might like and enjoy diving, but everyone who loves diving doesn’t necessarily do it. Whereas with knitting, the people who love it are really doing it. It’s nice to have a community where everybody actually does the thing they are passionate about rather than one person watching and one person doing.”

Daley’s line will focus mainly on beginners and firsttime knitters, with a few projects for intermediate knitters thrown in as well. Although well-known for his knitting, Daley was a novice himself not so long ago.

“I started knitting in 2020,” said Daley. “My coach told me, ‘You’re always on the run. You’re always on the go. You need to find a way to slow down.’”

Daley was perplexed by the concept of slowing down. He shared that he is easily bored and is not prone to sitting and watching TV. Daley’s husband, an Academy Award winning filmmaker, who often saw actors knitting on set between takes, suggested that he take up the craft. The rest is history.

“I became completely obsessed with it,” said Daley. Daley knits for an hour every day after his children have gone to bed. He usually gifts his finished creations to his loved ones or donates them to raise money for those in need.

“Every stitch is made with love; every stitch is handmade; every stitch is imperfect in its own way. To be able to gift that to someone else is really nice.”

Daley stressed that he believes passion should be an integral part of everyone’s life.

“I think it’s really important to find that one thing that you look forward to doing every single day,” Daley told The Blade. “You have to find that something you can’t wait to get home to do. For me, that’s knitting. It’s my mindfulness. It’s like a meditation.

CONTINUES ON PAGE 04

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 02