Trend: Gen Z Finds Mindfulness, Enjoyment from Crochet

I explored how Gen Zers are embracing crochet as a creative and mindful outlet, speaking with founders, first-timers, and trendsetters.

Leta Lattin

Washington, D.C.

Students gathered outside on blankets, surrounded by colorful yarn. Some had been creating products with their hands for years, some had never picked up the craft, but what brought them together was their interest in crochet.

Cammi Rood, the 22-year-old founder and president of American University’s Crochet Club, sat teaching two other students how to use a needle to weave yarn into something new. This was the club’s first-ever event, and more than a dozen students (and a cat named Alex who slept in a stroller) showed up.

“Just seeing that there were a lot of people who had an interest in it was really interesting,” Rood said about crocheting. “You see the online presence of it, but you don’t really see it as much around you unless you’re asking about it or looking for it.”

At the event, several students were learning to crochet for the first time. More experienced club members, like Rood, taught them how to use the yarn to start making something — wrap the yarn over two fingers, twist it, wrap it again, pull it back over the front and tie it into a knot.

Since the coronavirus pandemic, more young people have been getting involved with various hobbies, one of them being crochet. Many of them, including Rood, started to learn after watching videos on social media.

According to data from the Association for Creative Industries, about one-third of people who crochet are between the ages of 18 and 34.

Students often said the craft gives them the opportunity to do something with their hands. Rood said she crochets during classes because it helps her focus.

“I think for anyone it can be cathartic,” Rood said. “For me, I kind of latch onto hobbies. This has just been the one that stuck for longest.”

Another student, Marly Rubin, decided she wanted to learn after seeing a Rood crochet during class.

While Rubin said she enjoys having something to do with her hands, she also likes being able to create something new. She began seeing social media trends of what people were crocheting for themselves — sweaters, scarves and other clothes — and decided to pursue that skill.

“I like to make things for myself, so I wanted to learn how to do that,” Rubin said.

For many, the pandemic presented the perfect opportunity to learn something new. A study from LendingTree reported that 76% of Generation Z said they started a hobby during COVID-19 lockdown.

One of those Gen Zers is Alli Pearson, a 21-year old audio technology major at AU. Pearson said her mom had tried to teach her how to crochet several years ago but “it did not work very well.”

Pearson then started learning from YouTube videos during the pandemic. She began making sweaters and other products, often for friends and family.

“It’s just something to do,” Pearson said. “It’s a good thing to keep my hands busy.”

There is a type of therapy devoted to the idea that crochet and other creative hobbies can help people be present in the moment. Art therapy teaches people how to show feelings they have difficulty expressing with words.

Brianna Issenberg is a 23-year-old master’s student studying art therapy and is a counselor at the George Washington University Art Therapy Clinic. According to Issenberg, art therapy is about practicing mindfulness.

“Mindfulness is all about building awareness and being present in the moment,” Issenberg said. “And so art therapy is about just that — building an awareness of oneself.”

Lauren Mattison, an AU sophomore studying justice and law, said she crochets because it helps her take breaks from daily stressors like homework.

“It forces you to be in the moment,” Mattison said. “That’s what I love the most about it.”

Mattison is the president and founder of the student club Stitches at AU, which she said teaches students to crochet or knit and provides a community for those interested in yarn art.

Stitches at AU was officially created this semester. Each week, the group hosts a meeting for interested students to come together to create something or learn to knit or crochet, according to Mattison.

“I figured there are probably a lot of really stressed out students on campus that are looking for an outlet, so I figured it would be good to provide one,” Mattison said.

Mattison said she thinks more young people are learning to crochet because of the mental health benefits. She believes more people are becoming aware of mental illness and seeking therapies that don’t involve medicine.

Mattison began learning to crochet before the COVID-19 pandemic. She saw posts on Instagram about the products that people had made themselves and decided she wanted to be able to do that.

According to Mattison, crochet has helped her become more aware of what she purchases. She said she now wonders where things came from and whether her money is going to “the right people” who put in the work to create the products she buys.

“I think it’s made me a more humble person, for sure, because it’s helped me realize just how much work goes into everything,” Mattison said.

Other students echoed Mattison’s focus on understanding the work that goes into making clothes.

Grace Hill, a sophomore anthropology major with a pre-medical focus, said she knits and crochets for the benefit of being able to make her own clothes.

For Hill, crochet is “a way that you can be a little more mindful and participate in creating your own clothes instead of constantly consuming and buying other things.”

Before Hill learned to crochet, she thought it was only something that older people, especially grandmothers, do. Now, she said she loves the hobby.

“My brain works creatively and science-y, hence the pre-med, and crocheting is just something that kind of fits those two worlds,” Hill said.

Photos by Leta Lattin