Tom Daley and his knitting

[ssd]

I bloody love him

Thinking a bit more about why i love him, its probably because sitting knitting poolside shows he has learned to control his anxiety and strengthen his mental health. And hes not afraid to show that to the world. Exactly luke Simone Biles saying no, im not performing right now. They both put their mental health first and personally i think thats so brave and inspiring. Plus tom auctions his knitting for charity.
Brilliant guy.

@ArcheryAnnie well put.

I love that he used a surrogate to bring a much loved baby into the world too. I dont care how a baby gets here, the only thing that matters is that it is loved and properly cared for. Tom and his husband certainly seem to do that and dont need anyone's approval. So many babies are born in the normal way to people that should never have had them and thats where the condemnation should lie.

Of course this is not the point of the thread, but hey its mn, full of men hating bitter posters who must lead such perfect lives themselves.

As a knitter, am very impressed. The mixed colour work on his cardigan is genuinely very difficult to do.

I like Tom. He's been open about his struggles, and how he manages them, and anything that gets people talking about mental health is a good thing to me.

But, whatever he does, I'm still shit scared of water!

I think hes amazing! Loved the other day ,he was busy knitting at the poolside .Looked up every time a dive happened .and waved ,smiled thumbs up to the Diver .

BreakfastOfWaffles Its the cream cardigan with Olympics TeamGB on it I think .

@ssd

I love that he used a surrogate to bring a much loved baby into the world too. I dont care how a baby gets here, the only thing that matters is that it is loved and properly cared for. Tom and his husband certainly seem to do that and dont need anyone's approval. So many babies are born in the normal way to people that should never have had them and thats where the condemnation should lie.

Of course this is not the point of the thread, but hey its mn, full of men hating bitter posters who must lead such perfect lives themselves.

Perhaps they could have considered adopting one of those children from a disadvantaged background instead?

It was me who bought up Harry Styles cardigan because posters said women dont got recognition for knitting. DDs friends have sent me so many compliments over the knitting i did over lockdown.
The Harry Styles cardigan was an inspiration to so many to take up knitting ,A women put up a crochet instruction youtube she made herself and it went viral . J Anderson the original designer put up the knitting instructions for free.
There instagram with thousands of photos of home knitted Harry Styles cardigans, it was such an inspiration that it is now in the V&A museum along with the youtubers version.

Harry Styles cardigan at the V&A

@Foxyloxy1plus1

Many people who knit and crochet, do so for charity- hats, cardigans, blankets for local hospitals. Tom is auctioning his garment for charity. Not only is it a skill and beneficial for mental health, it also benefits others.

This is very true. I do know for myself (I have a bit of a scarf/shawl addiction) but for years I've knitted for charity, either hats/blankets for my friend who's a nurse at the local neo-natal unit, or for a charity called Knit for Peace who send out stuff to care homes, refugees and other groups who really need them.

Currently using up aran weight yarn making a selection of toddler sweaters.

I just like the fact that he is an athlete who knits. When I'm not knitting, I'm sitting on my arse eating crisps. Maybe I should take up diving in my spare time. I honestly don't care if he's male or female - just that he has a high profile and is helping to make knitting look cool - because it is cool. It is also creative and can be very complex. When my anxiety is spinning out of control, knitting helps. As does crochet. They are wonderful crafts in every way. I taught DS1 to knit because he asked. DS2 is about to learn how to knit on a loom and hopefully he will progress from there.

I dont care how a baby gets here, the only thing that matters is that it is loved and properly cared for.

I think the woman that’s ‘used’ matters too.

Nobody is saying Toms child won’t be loved. But that is not the ‘only thing that matters’.

There’s a lot of issues around surrogacy such as the rights of the children produced, the exploitation of poor, low income women and the moral and ethical issues around turning pregnancy into a commercial transaction to name just a few.

I’d suggest you do some reading on the subject, the issues and some actual real life cases where the mother has died, suffered a birth injury, the child is disabled and the parents decide they do not want the child, the parents not being able to ‘collect’ the child due to covid restrictions.... there’s lots of issues that matter here.

I love that hooded jumper @bruffin. Are you still knitting now?

Hi Sparklingbrook, I have been but a little baby cardigan has just defeated me! I didnt learn to knit over lockdown, i used to knit in my 20s. But dd wanted the cardigan in the warner bros store and i decided to knit it instead, i started just before lockdown.
this is the cardigan it was based on i found a pattern in Raverlry and went from there.
As many have said knitting is brilliant for MH and it got me through lockdown, i learnt to make socks inspired by the knitting threads on MN so dcs got socks for christmas.

Knitted socks for Christmas sounds lovely @bruffin.
I might revisit knitting and see if I can remember how to do it. My Nan used to do those cream cable jumpers and she would knit initials in, I think my Dad still has his.
I was only ever a one colour, knit or Pearl stitch person though.

@sparklingbrook

You can get some lovely wools now called yarn cakes which are multicoloured and you could do a sampler scarf without having to change wools. There are loads of youtube channels devoted to knitting now, so much easier to learn how to knit new stitches.

@ssd

Thinking a bit more about why i love him, its probably because sitting knitting poolside shows he has learned to control his anxiety and strengthen his mental health. And hes not afraid to show that to the world. Exactly luke Simone Biles saying no, im not performing right now. They both put their mental health first and personally i think thats so brave and inspiring. Plus tom auctions his knitting for charity. Brilliant guy.

Completely agree with this.

[quote bruffin]@sparklingbrook

You can get some lovely wools now called yarn cakes which are multicoloured and you could do a sampler scarf without having to change wools. There are loads of youtube channels devoted to knitting now, so much easier to learn how to knit new stitches.[/quote]
I think i might give it a go this Autumn. We’re lucky to have a wool shop in town. Pre Covid they used to do groups.
I bet sales of knitting paraphernalia is through the roof currently off the back of Tom.

According to his Instagram he’s currently on the flight home. I expect the media will be in a hurry to get him on every show assuming he’s flying back to the U.K.

As I said, my knitting is a bit useless, but I do like to draw and write, and create. I quite like crafting, but aren't great at it. I do try though.

@Sparklingbrook

According to his Instagram he’s currently on the flight home. I expect the media will be in a hurry to get him on every show assuming he’s flying back to the U.K.

Look forward to seeing him! Very proud of how well he's done. (And all the other Olympians too!)

I'm proud that I can crochet a small blob. Knitting has always mystified me.
I think it's great that an Olympic athlete is channeling their nervous energy in such a healthy and productive way.

It would take drugs to get me somersaulting off a top diving board, nit yarn and needles

My son met him and his husband in London. He said he was a really nice bloke.

@BogRollBOGOF

I'm proud that I can crochet a small blob. Knitting has always mystified me. I think it's great that an Olympic athlete is channeling their nervous energy in such a healthy and productive way.

It would take drugs to get me somersaulting off a top diving board, nit yarn and needles

Me too My dd started diving lessons inspired byTom Daley at 18, i was proud of her even though she gave herself 2 black eyes from kneeing herself

Funny how we pick up different vibes about celebritied from our observations because I don t think he comes across as humble at all!
I don't really care about his hobbies either.

Now Laura Muir qualified as a vet whilst becoming a world class sportswoman! That really gets my shockmeter twitching in admiration!