we’ve always been here
From time to time we see media articles about a trend in textile crafts or surge in traditional hand-making among young people. I was recently interviewed by RNZ for a piece in its lifestyle section where I talked about my lifelong love of making things with my hands, from embroidery to knitting, sewing clothes to crocheting blankets.
The lovely reporter asked me to talk about my ‘analogue hobbies’, and even though I feel deep down that my making is more a way of life than a hobby for me, we discussed how crafts are a great counterbalance to a busy, often digital life - it’s hard to rush a knitting project and a crochet blanket tends to defy a deadline.
I explained how the online aspect of making is also important in connecting us to others, learning about our craft and other lives, and finding and sharing inspiration. For me, the digital and analogue aspects of my craft truly work together.
I see the piece has attracted quite a few comments on Facebook, where readers are questioning a perceived narrative that ‘analogue hobbies’ are trending, and so I wanted to share my own perspective on this.
My mum has been making things since her 1960s childhood and my grandmother got started in the 1940s. I’ve traced my ancestry to 1700s Shetland Island sock and shawl knitters, though admit their handwork was more necessity than hobby.
I’m no longer a ‘young’ crafter, but my hands have been busy making things since childhood, and as an older millenial, I have shared my work online and connected with other textile artists for the past 20 years. Over this period, I’ve been interviewed by media many times about the ‘revitalisation’ of traditional textile skills.
My teenage nieces are currently knitting up a storm and my own children, now in their early 20s, can knit and hand sew. These Gen Z kids don’t think it’s a trendy thing to do - they’ve just grown up with it as the norm.
Traditionally being something that mostly women did, perhaps it is still largely hidden from view. Just last week on a plane, the air steward remarked on the crochet I was working on and he said ‘Nice knitting - I’ve recently heard that it’s on the rise! I had only ever seen my grandmother doing it before!’
It’s the nature of news media to find a trend or change in something to report. And I think it’s fair to say that some digital platforms such as TikTok truly are inspiring young people to take up knitting and get started with embroidery, ceramics and making clothes. Long may young people flock to these wonderful traditions. It doesn’t matter how they find them.
Us makers have always been out here using our hands and threads to make beautiful and useful things and share them with others.
If describing this as ‘a rise in analogue hobbies’ reaches new audiences and encourages people to take up something new, connect with ancestral traditions or simply use their hands to knit a simple hat to keep toasty this winter…
Nau mai, haere mai - a warm welcome, there’s enough room for all of us in this creative community.
