Getting Through a Pandemic With Old-Fashioned Crafts

Handicrafts such as crochet, knitting, and embroidery—traditionally practiced by women and by the elderly—carry passive associations.

Counting the movements of hooks and needles, row after row, requires patience, focus, and persistence. This, combined with the mental health benefits of crafting, is needed to weather a disaster that's defined by waiting.

• In Ireland, during the famine of the 1840s, crochet schools were established to train impoverished farming families to make lace for export that grew into an art form.
• During World War I, French peasant women cross-stitched military scenes that were sold to raise funds.
• After the war, shell-shocked soldiers were prescribed embroidery therapy.
• In London, people sheltering from the blitz were encouraged to pass the time by knitting.