Nowadays, knitting isn’t only for grandmothers, and Martha Stewart isn’t the only one who can make a shoe rack out of hangers and popsicle sticks. It’s not uncommon to see a student crocheting a beanie in between classes, or a group of friends spending their Friday night scrapbooking.

Even the Style Network has a new show dedicated to the newfound popularity of arts and crafts called, “Craft Corner Deathmatch.” The show, which promotes “home economics as an extreme sport,” has amateur craftsmen battle each other for the chance to beat the Craft Lady of Steel, and proves once and for all arts and crafts has gone pop culture.

“It’s cool to get props for something you own – especially when you made it,” said Yaminah Lunar, a 20-year-old speech and communications studies major.

Lunar said she loves to make collages, and her room is decorated with collages she made to display different stages of her life.

She uses pictures, magazine cut outs, fabric scraps, and sentimental mementos to create artwork that will always remind her of her favorite places, people, and events that took place. Collages dedicated to her high school graduation, birthday dinners with friends, and family gatherings are some of the special memories lining her wall.

In a collage she made for her relationship with her boyfriend, she included movie stubs and dried roses to remind her of past dates they’ve had.

“They’re constant reminders of how lucky I am to have experienced certain things with certain people,” said Lunar.

Although Lunar also said she enjoys using Adobe Photoshop to create collages, she admits there is something different about making things on your own without the aid of a computer.

Monica Eskridge, a long-time fan of crocheting, agrees.

“There is no mechanical equivalent to crocheting, (since) only a human being can do it,” said Eskridge.
Since she retired last September, she has been able to devote herself full time to her company, Monica, Euwa, and Olivia Handcrafts (M.E.O. Handcrafts). Eskridge named her company after herself, her mother, and grandmother, the two women who taught her how to crochet at the age of 14.

Eskridge said fashion, amongst other things, has played an integral role in the resurgence of crocheting and crocheted clothing.

“If you look at fashion right now, everything retro is really hot and people are drawn to it,” said Eskridge.

Eskridge sells her crocheted items at arts and crafts fairs all over the Bay Area. At her booths one can find Eskridge amidst handmade hats, scarves, ponchos, shawls, baby blankets, and other crocheted items.

“Things that bare the mark of human hands will always be popular,” said Scott Davey, associate director of Associated Students Performing Arts.

For members of ASPA, this do-it-yourself phenomenon couldn’t have come at a better time. From April 25-28, students gathered around the main lawn in front of the Cesar Chavez Student Center to see vendors sell items at their annual spring arts and crafts fair.

The fair usually hosts around 40 vendors with crafts ranging from jewelry to room decorations. However, Davey said the most successful sellers are the ones who carry unique items. He can tell the fair is a success when the sellers keep coming back. Eskridge entered the arts and crafts fair for the second time this spring. ASPA also holds a holiday fair in December.

“I think so much of culture in general is mass produced, and people have an attraction to things made by hand,” said Davey. “They want to feel that they’ve created something and want to have things around them that are unique and individual.”