Lace and Labor: Lessons from the actual Luddites

Elizabeth Kauma frames a personal rescue of her great-grandmothers’ crochet to show how fiber crafts are deeply bound up with labor history and technological change. Knitting originated as a medieval trade run by male guilds and grew into the hosiery industry when socks became commercially important; Reverend William Lee’s framework knitting machine began mechanizing an existing handcraft, after which hand knitting gradually shifted from economic work to a Victorian-era feminine leisure pursuit. Crochet arrived later, worked with a hook rather than needles, and historically resisted full mechanization, becoming both an elite pastime and a cottage-industry lifeline for many makers.

The piece draws a practical line from that history to today’s market: machines can now imitate lace and “crochet” looks, so many fast-fashion items are faux. Kauma gives identification tips - true crochet shows twisted, thicker thread and consistent stitch structure; knitted pieces reveal different knit-and-purl faces when turned inside out; faux crochet often has embroidery or netting backing. She highlights ethical makers and brands that commission hand crocheters (naming R. Swaider, One Of, Old Stone Trade and Maggie Koluch) and surfaces contemporary anxieties about automation and AI after some listeners criticized an AI voice used in the related podcast, framing human-made textiles as a site of cultural and economic contestation.