Children of the ’80s and ’90s may recall obsessing over Guess jeans and all things Benetton, and rolling their eyes at the hand-knit sweaters their grandmas sent for their birthdays. It turns out those grandmas were cooler than we knew.
Lately, the backlash against fast-fashion and the quest for authenticity have brought the fiber arts—hobbies such as knitting, quilting, crochet and embroidery—roaring back into the mainstream. Celebrities from Demi Lovato to Ryan Gosling have reportedly taken up knitting to relax, and countless others have picked up some form of needle and thread to stave off anxiety.
The homespun aesthetic has become runway fashionable, too. There are knitting cruises sponsored by Vogue. Ravelry, a web community for knitters and fiber artists, claims to have more than 9 million registered users. During the most recent election cycle, Second Gentleman Doug…
