The anti-AI hobby boom: needlepoint searches more than double

The more of our lives move onto screens, the more our hands seem to want something to do. That's the story told by new search data reported by Creative Business News on 1 October. Resparked, a platform founded by Santiago Roa, analysed searches for hobbies and found strong growth in exactly the kinds of slow, physical crafts no algorithm can do for you.

The numbers

The headline figure is for needlepoint. Searches are up 116%, to about 230,000 a month. The rest of the list reads like a craft-fair floor plan:

• Sewing: 2.3 million a month, up 20%
• Embroidery: 1.1 million, up 36%
• Pottery: 789,000, up 15%
• Crochet: 763,000, up 6%
• Knitting: 354,000, up 17%
• Woodworking: 162,000, up 14%
• Macramé: 50,000, up 22%
• Cross stitch: 37,000, up 20%
• Watercolour: 37,000, up 15%

Search data isn't the same as people actually picking up a needle, and the analysis has its limits. But the direction is consistent across every craft on the list.

Why "anti-AI"?

The framing is deliberate. These are activities where the process is the point. Generative tools can produce an image in seconds. A needlepoint cushion takes weeks, and that's the appeal. The article also notes that famous names have helped make crafting visible. Its headline points to Taylor Swift's sewing and Seth Rogen's pottery.

There are other reasons too. Hand crafts are a break from screens, a way to make something that lasts and, for many people, a gentle form of mindfulness. They're also social. Stitching groups, pottery classes and knitting circles offer company without the pressure of conversation.

Connected threads

This data fits into a wider autumn picture. Visible mending is moving onto the high street, and craft heritage was a quiet star of London Design Festival. Meanwhile, the creative software industry is racing to add AI assistants. The two trends don't cancel each other out. Many makers use both. But together they show a clear desire to keep something hand-made in our lives.

Getting started

Needlepoint is unusually beginner-friendly. The canvas is printed, the stitches are simple, and mistakes are easy to unpick. If you'd rather start with colour than technique, watercolour is the most forgiving of the painting crafts.

And if you want something hand-made-looking on your walls while your own projects are still in progress, folk florals, meadows and visible brushwork carry the same warmth.