Tom Daley wows fans with clever trick to avoid 'the worst part of knitting'

He shared a snap with fans of a fabulous knitted make he created in his spare time.

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Plymouth's Tom Daley has taken to Instagram to show off pictures of a hat and cardigan he knitted for his birthday. To celebrate his 29th birthday last month, he shared a snap with fans of a fabulous knitted make he created in his spare time.

The Olympic gold medal-winning diver is also an accomplished knitter. And he made up the cardigan in red and pink patches, with added heart motifs – including a crochet heart stitched over the top of a patch on his lapel. He used garter stitch, rib stitch and moss stitch to make up the design. There were also some stripes, with a 2x2 rib stitched collar and a surface crocheted heart.

He explained that he hates the process of weaving in the ends – that's the tails of yarn left after the yarn has been cast off. He instead used the ends to create a boho tassel-effect across his cardigan.

Alongside the picture, he wrote: "So what d’you think?! My birthday patch work cardigan. I can't always be bothered weaving in ends so I thought why not make a feature out of them and this is what I came up with... I love it."

Fans rushed to congratulate him on his clever idea. One said: "I hate weaving in ends. So this is a really clever way of avoiding it! I love it, it looks so effective!" Another said: "It makes me feel a bit better that i hate weaving ends if even tom daley can't be bothered weaving ends."

The dad-of-two previously said: "I started knitting in 2020 as a way to relax my mind between dives and to give my hands something to do... never thought it would become such a big part of what I do now but I’m grateful it is.

"Initially, it was because my coach said that I'm terrible at sitting still and resting and recovering, and I need to find something where I can just sit still.

"So then it was my husband that suggested that I try knitting because he's a filmmaker. And people on set, while they're waiting, they sometimes do some knitting. So I was like, you know what? I'll give it a go. And it just turned into my mindfulness, my meditation, my calm and my way to escape the stresses of everyday life and, in particular, going into an Olympics."

He explained: "The first piece I ever made was a scarf for my mum. And I - initially, I found it extremely difficult, like, just to be able to have the patience and the concentration. But once I learned, it kind of, like, went flying from there, honestly. And the whole reason that "Made With Love" started was because, when I was finished the scarf, I wanted to sew something into it that my mum could know that I had made it."

Tom said he learned to knit watching YouTube videos so he is self-taught, learning a new skill with each project he'd make. After finishing his fan-favourite Olympic cardigan in August 2021, the diver's knitting talents thrust him into the limelight almost as much as his gold medal.

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