How Gen Z is keeping crochet and knit alive

Introducing the fibre artists stitching new life and meaning to the age-old hobby 

The 2020 pandemic lockdowns had households dabbling in new hobbies to pass the time, including setting up a business to earn some money. Among the home bakeries and handmade jewellery, most of these side hustles began to deteriorate into distant memories from quarantine. But one popular hobby that has been carried out of the pandemic is crocheting and knitting. 

In recent years, apps like TikTok saw endless videos of crochet tutorials, teaching people to make beginner-friendly projects as a way to spend their free time stuck at home. Even as pandemic regulations loosened and the world began to open back up again, these crochet trends continued to grace the algorithm of social media platforms.  

The best part of this hobby is how accessible it is. Supplies are extremely affordable and a simple search on the internet gave a plethora of free video tutorials, personal blogs and websites like Ravelry to learn from. 

Since its usual crowd of the elderly crocheting lace doilies and knitting blankets, young people have since overtaken the practice, extending the limitations of what can be made with hooks, needles, and yarn. 

Small crocheting businesses 

Amelie, 20, began her crocheting business on Instagram during her second year of university. Her shop, The Flower Stitch, specialises in crafting handmade flower bouquets. Equipped with a website that was set up earlier this year and an aesthetically pleasing Instagram feed currently with 207 followers, Amelie’s business has been blooming. 

“When I created The Flower Stitch, I wanted a gift to be more than just a store-bought present.” she explains. “As they are unconventional to the usual construction of a flower, I believed that the gift of flowers can come in many forms.” 

The preparation time of these crochet flowers ranges depending on the complexity, and Amelie collaborates with other crocheters in making the colourful array of yarn petals on green stems held together by wires. Judging from the videos on their Instagram, these bouquets are as gorgeous as those sold in real flower shops across the city, wrapped in paper or arranged in a glass vase. Luckily, unlike real flowers these crochet flowers are evergreen and do not require a water change or consistent sunlight.  

Amelie first learnt crocheting through a friend, who taught her to make a rose charm.

“[Then] I just stumbled upon the craft of crochet flowers.” Amelie continues. Although she wasn’t the sole inventor of yarn bouquets, she was inspired at its unique approach to crochet, which nowadays are popularly known for making clothing.  

Like many small business owners, Amelie has a lot on her plate: balancing her studies, work, and the crocheting business. 

“It’s been tough,” Amelie admits. “But I do think that it’s less about the business and more about the skills and knowledge that I’ve learnt. I’ve never put pressure on myself to make [the business] excel, I know that being a great businesswoman is about growth.”  

At first, Amelie worried about the response, or lack thereof, for The Flower Stitch when she launched her first post on Instagram. But she received positive reactions to her posts and got her very first order shortly after. Amelie was more than pleased to see her projects getting loved by her followers.  

“With more exposure, everyone can enjoy crochet flowers in their homes that last forever.” she says. 

When asked about the type of people who would pick up crochet or knitting nowadays, Amelie pictures an older generation of crocheters before the pandemic hit. 

“You would think of a grandma sitting on a rocking chair, with small reading glasses while watching her favourite soap opera.” she explains. “The demographic of crocheting has drastically diversified, and many people are enjoying it.” 

Amelie is one of the many young faces showcasing her crocheted projects on Instagram to sell. A simple click into crochet and knitting hashtags shows pages filled with accounts selling crocheted animal-themed hats to knitters sharing their sweater patterns on Etsy.  

Despite her late start to the scene, Amelie is passionate about her flowers and the art of crochet itself. As Amelie puts it, “Crocheting is more than just its hook and textiles but the ability to create anything beyond imagination.”  

Knitting for a cause 

It is a grey afternoon at Hypha Studios in Stratford. Once a big Sainsbury’s, the space now houses various art pieces and installations. And on this certain Sunday, the studio is hosting a knitting workshop. 

In the corner of the large studio room, a gathering of people comfortably sit in cushions and chairs, their loud echoes of chatter and laughs filling the spacious room. Music plays faintly in the background, but people are too occupied with their knitting projects to pay attention. Laughter erupts in a circle of friends as they learn how to cast on to their knitting needles, with lone crocheters immersed in finishing their granny squares. There is an exchange of knit and crochet supplies for newcomers, the community welcoming them with balls of vibrant yarn and a cosy seat in their circle.  

The result of the workshop is piles of vibrant yarn squares, with expertly made eccentric patterns to squares with an odd stitch or two within the rows. These squares are to be sewed together to craft a blanket, then sent to homeless shelters around London.  

This is one of the many workshops hosted by Craft Forward, a community interest company officially registered in 2021 and founded in 2020. This workshop invites volunteers to make handmade blankets for London’s homeless shelters. The founder of Craft Forward, Elena, can be seen scrambling about the place, her smile as bright as her blue knitted cardigan. She was making sure everyone was comfortable while lending a helping hand with their knit or crochet projects. 

During the peak of the pandemic in 2020, Elena had learnt knitting through her grandmother, while they were holed up at home.  

“I basically used [knitting] to connect with her and also ease my anxiety at the same time. I was in Italy, where the conditions were really bad.” She says. “I was knitting a lot, so I decided to put my knitting skills to use and to knit for people that were experiencing homelessness in my local area [in London].” 

Then Elena’s campaign #BlanketsForLambeth was formed. From what started as a one-woman project had become something bigger, with a flurry of donations and more volunteers anticipating the next group knitting meetup. 

“A lot of people decided to join me and donated wool, yarn, and [knitted] squares I’ve made into blankets. By the end of 2020, we’ve made 14 blankets.” she says.  

Since then, online Zoom meetings for the community turned into knitting clubs located in Brixton and Stratford. According to the website’s impact report, Craft Forward made and delivered 36 adult-sized blankets in 2022. Amidst the cost of living crisis, an additional 8 baby blankets were made to support families. As of late, Elena says they have assembled about 77 blankets in total. 

Since its creation, Craft Forward’s community has grown as well as their online presence on Instagram. Elena was also thrilled about going viral on TikTok, which was a pleasant surprise she wasn’t expecting at all. “Social media has been really helpful in finding and connecting people.” She says.

Elena wants Craft Forward to be one of many free resources of community and knowledge of knitting. She concludes, “I would just like for it to grow and offer more free spaces, more blankets, more crafts, and really utilise all of my skills to share more creative knowledge.”

Prior to Craft Forward, Elena would struggle with finding any community knitting clubs or crochet meetups around London. “When I started [knitting], there were literally no events. I’m not kidding!” she exclaims. Now, since its rising trends online, Elena says “knitting and crocheting have become quite cool.”  

For many people, like Elena, crochet and knitting serve as a therapeutic tool for their mental wellbeing. It even helped Olympic diver Tom Daley win his gold medal in Tokyo’s Olympics in 2022.  

“The fact you only get one opportunity every four years is super intense, which is why knitting really helped. It took the stress out of it,” he said in an Insider interview.  

According to the UK Hand Knitting Association, about 1 million people have picked up knitting since the pandemic. With Daley’s Instagram account dedicated to his projects, he and many others have since inspired more men and women to take up knitting and learn the craft.

But would crochet and knitting be this popular among the youth if it wasn’t for the pandemic? Elena explains that she at first struggled with re-learning knitting before gaining a love for it during quarantine.  

“I feel like if it hadn’t been for the pandemic, [knitting] wouldn’t have lived for such an extended period of time.” she says.  

“I started knitting to connect with my grandma,” Elena adds. “I think that knitting is its own language and I see that during our workshops: a lot of beautiful connections are formed, and there is a sort of magic around it, that it’s a social glue and I love [knitting] for that.” 

Feature image by Tobias Gumbrill.