Hey, it's MPR's Book of the Day. I'm Andrew Limbaugh. My favorite scarf, the one I reach for every year when it gets cold, was a Christmas gift from my sister-in-law who knitted it herself. It's this black and gray infinity scarf from when those were big that's kept me warm for like eight years now. I thought about it as I listened to today's interview with Tom Daly,

who's got a book out called Made with Love,

which is all about knitting and crochet tips and patterns and all that.

Now, knitting isn't his day job.

In fact, he says in this interview that he learned from watching YouTube videos.

His actual gig is being an Olympic swimmer.

In fact, during the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, you could see him in the stands knitting before

winning the gold that year. And he talked to NPR's Ellis and Nadwarnie about why he started

knitting in the first place. In the U.S., national security news can feel far away from daily life. Distant wars, murky conflicts, diplomacy behind closed doors. On our new show, Sources and Methods. NPR reporters on the ground bring you stories of real people helping you understand why distant events matter here at home.

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So knitting helped you win the gold in Tokyo?

How?

Honestly, it was when I first started knitting, I had no idea of the impact that it was going

to have.

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 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. Can you take us back to that

like first piece you ever made? What was the moment that you started to be like, oh, this is going to work for me? Well, actually, the first piece you ever made what what was the moment that you started to be like oh

this is going to work for me well actually the first piece i ever made was a scarf for my mom and i

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