'Grandma hobbies' are having a moment in Charlotte

A version of the following article appeared in the Saturday, October 24, 2026, edition of The Charlotte Ledger, an e-newsletter with local business-y news and insights for Charlotte, N.C.

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by Lindsey Banks

Knitting, crocheting, embroidery, baking sourdough bread — you know, the hands-on activities once associated with grandmothers and their rocking chairs — are finding a new audience. And this time, you might find the knitting circle gathered around a table at a trendy Charlotte coffee shop. 

For generations, many of these “grandma hobbies” weren’t hobbies at all. They were essential domestic skills: women sewing clothes for their families, knitting sweaters to keep warm and making bread to put food on the table. 

Today, those same skills are being rediscovered as something people can do simply because they enjoy them, especially among Gen Z and millennials looking to step away from their screens.

And across Charlotte, workshops and social clubs are increasingly popping up to give these old-school pastimes new life, with opportunities to de-stress after work, make friends and connect with different generations. 

Haley Bohon, founder of Charlotte-based SkillPop, has watched the interest in hands-on hobbies grow locally. 

SkillPop has offered workshops and classes on everything from business development and personal growth to watercolor painting and knitting for more than a decade. But lately, Bohon has noticed a shift in why people are signing up. 

“I think the difference that I see now is there's this really deep craving that people have to get away from screens and to put their phone down,” she said. 

Bohon has even noticed a new term popping up alongside grandma hobbies: “analog hobbies,” which refers to any hands-on, screen-free activity, not just the old-school ones. Watercolor painting, journaling and even reading fall into this category, and Bohon said it’s become a trend for folks to create “analog bags,” which are essentially tote bags full of analog hobby items that are easy to grab on your way out the door to the park. 

The demand is showing up in SkillPop’s classes. Bohon said the company’s sourdough workshops have been roughly 90% sold out for the past two years, and beginner crochet classes have sold out 94% since April 2025, even after increasing class sizes. Knitting and hand embroidery are consistent sellers. 

Needlepoint, another old-school embroidery-type of craft, has also become popular enough that Bohon is looking for additional instructors. 

For 27-year-old Anna Morris, crocheting isn’t exactly a new discovery. Her grandmother taught her how to crochet when she was little, but like many childhood hobbies, it eventually faded into the background. 

That changed in March, when Morris joined Close Knit Club Charlotte, a social group for people in their 20s and 30s who enjoy knitting and crocheting. 

Founded in February, the club gathers about once a week, typically at a local coffee shop. Meetups usually attract 15 to 20 people, mostly women, and the club’s Instagram page has grown to over 1,000 followers. 

Morris said most members show up alone, usually after a long workday, looking for a quiet place to decompress and recharge. 

“I think that people are pulling away from the idea of self-care being an isolated at-home event where you cancel your plans and maybe order takeout and stay in,” Morris said. “I think people are really starting to realize how important community is to live a fulfilling life.”

There’s another interesting layer to the resurgence, Morris added. Skills that previous generations of women were expected to learn as homemakers are now being embraced voluntarily as creative outlets.

“We're just seeing them as fulfilling experiences and community experiences,” she said. 

For Jennifer Szakaly of Caregiving Corner, grandma hobbies are also creating opportunities for younger and older generations to connect. She’s witnessed how hands-on hobbies can give older adults a chance to share their knowledge with family members and caregivers. 

Caregiving Corner is a Charlotte-based firm that helps older adults and their families navigate aging and caregiving decisions. 

The familiar motions of fiber arts like knitting often have staying power with older adults living with dementia, Szakaly said, offering a way for loved ones to stay connected even as memories fade. 

Szakaly also recalls a bedridden client who loved making clay creations and eagerly taught visitors how to make simple pieces. For that woman, sharing her craft offered something meaningful: the opportunity to give back to people who were caring for her. 

A simple hobby can become a bridge between generations, but younger people don’t necessarily need a grandma to learn a grandma hobby. 

Many young people turn to YouTube for tutorials, Szakaly said. Technology is helping revive the very hobbies people are using to escape their screens. 

“We call them grandma hobbies now, but if it gets to the point where there's more younger people doing this and the resurgence continues, then they're kind of not grandma hobbies anymore. They're just regular hobbies,” Szakaly said. 

Whether the grandma hobby boom is a passing trend or a lasting shift remains to be seen. Will the “grandma hobby” in 100 years be making TikTok dances? 

Until then, grab your yarn, put down your phone and pull up a chair. 

There’s a little grandma in all of us. 

Lindsey Banks is assistant editor for The Charlotte Ledger: [email protected].