Crafting Is on the Rise

Written by Ashley Holloway | Art by The Editor

I find myself more and more these days becoming attracted to hobbies and activities that other people my age growing up would have classified as “granny” activities. I’m talking about leisurely pursuits that are strongly based in being hands-on, such as gardening, crocheting, embroidery, cross-stitching, etc. However, I am definitely not the only millennial partaking in such hobbies. I suspect that one of the main reasons this is happening is that we often feel a loss of connection with the real world due to being so strongly connected with social media. These hands-on activities bring us back to the “real” world and help ground us. On a personal level, these kinds of activities are relaxing to me, they help me to focus nervous energy into something productive, plus you can get some pretty fabulous results!

I surveyed a few of my peers who also expressed an interest in “old-fashioned” hobbies and definitely found some of my opinions echoed in their responses! Myranda H., who enjoys crocheting, knitting, and embroidery, said she enjoys working with her hands to create things, but she also brings up that she “love[s] the excitement you get when you remember that it’s there, unfinished, waiting on you to work on it more.” Hobbies really bring an immense sense of gratification as Renae D. puts it, and the hands-on involvement can bring a “sense of relaxation and calm” as you’re “taking time for [your]self ” as another friend, Daniela M. put it. In an increasingly turbulent world with what seems to be a growing amount of anxiety, what could be better than stopping and taking time for yourself? Kacey C. furthered this point with me by saying that for her, sewing “makes [her] feel engrossed and focused,” and she says that “I don’t think about what I am doing BUT the sewing.” I could also relate to Laureen C.’s comment that the focus and the repetition is “almost meditative” to her when it comes to crocheting and knitting.

The majority of the friends I surveyed said they grew up with family members who did these same oldfashioned hobbies as they now do, but many of them said they didn’t learn from these people they watched growing up. Instead, many of them were self-taught, some through books, but the majority through Youtube videos and online tutorials. In the past, I’d dare to guess that most people were taught these skills by family and friends, but perhaps if you didn’t know anybody that did these activities, you would not have had the chance to do them at all! In fact, the internet has exposed a variety of people who might never have had the chance to learn otherwise. So, it might not come as a surprise that many of the people I surveyed also like to put a more contemporary twist on their hobbies. For example, Carla C. says that she likes to use “more traditional stitches [...] to create more modern looking pieces.” Marion M. mentions that her crocheting creations strike a chord between traditional and contemporary, she enjoys making headbands with bows, but also makes extremely contemporary things like laptop covers. Renae D. even says she loves putting a nerdy spin on her crafts by referencing different fandoms!

One other thing that was mentioned a lot in the responses was that they enjoyed using their hobbies to bring joy to others. “Even if it’s small, people enjoy it more because you’ve made it for them,” says Marion C. She also says that her crocheting is a great conversation starter with older people on the metro. Using these crafts and hobbies to connect with older generations I think is something quite special. With a rapidly changing world, it seems as though nothing is the same as it once was, but truly our core desire to put something beautiful into the world is still there and even though we may update it at times, hobbies and artisan crafts are definitely here to stay for the long haul.