‘Knitting is a lifeline’: young people turn to craft to cast off gloom
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A new generation of enthusiasts say they are putting down their phones and picking up needles. Eleanor Eden, 24, recently swapped a “pretty chronic social media addition” with crochet and knitting. During the Covid pandemic, it became “easy to spend all day” looking at screens, and knitting was her escape hatch.
![[Jem Bartholomew]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/uploads/2025/01/17/Jem_Bartholomew.png?width=75&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
Eden, a junior legal secretary from Manchester, is one of a new wave of young people cutting back on screen time and taking up knitting, sewing and embroidery instead. “It feels a million times more productive and better for my mental health,” she says.
![[A dog in a red sweater]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/6df3a51da0a1c5b9391e41a92907ca2a7fe133d0/0_10_763_954/master/763.jpg?width=120&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
Eden says her generation is “quite gloomy about the general state of things”, with a competitive job market and feeling “we’re probably never going to be able to buy a house”. In this context, she says, it’s crucial to counterbalance the darkness with a rewarding creative passion.
![[An orange cardigan]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/e7e5b5747d6f848021ced3c1178c8aa17fab52cd/0_95_799_479/master/799.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
Young knitters, sewers and embroiderers have shared stories with the Guardian. For Eden, it tends to be giving items to loved ones that motivates her: a hoodie she made for her boyfriend, or the cardigan knitted for her mother – while she was undergoing cancer treatment – in her favourite colour, burnt orange. Eden found solace in making her something meaningful. “She is now cancer-free! And wears the cardigan all of the time,” Eden says.
![[Jonathan Lasham in a coffee shop]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/cf7eb2e02c79f57aef00aa59cf0e13dd6314519e/21_158_1229_1536/master/1229.jpg?width=120&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
Eden also loves reworking old clothes. “I’m really big on visible mending,” she says, inspired by kintsugi, the Japanese art of joining with gold. “The environmental side is massive – you’re saving yourself money and you’re saving it from going to landfill.”.
![[Lily Starkey knitting with red wool]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/ea1ce3da23ead1059f15b3fb547ea2ecf8b64bbd/399_320_1137_1421/master/1137.jpg?width=120&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
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