This past week was a whirlwind. I returned from a week at Walt Disney World in Florida with my kids and grandkids (flight landed Sunday), and Monday I had a professional conference to attend. It was an all-day event, and although it started earlier than I would have wanted after a week away, it was a terrific day!

One of the presenters was an educator at Coppin University and she presented on Artificial Intelligence and its coming impact. I’m a healthcare professional so this was in the context of healthcare, but as she presented I became more and more interested in the role that my time spent crocheting, knitting and sewing played in my life as technology continues its trajectory and incursion into our lives.

I use the word “incursion” because I think that day was the first time that I really acknowledged that the emerging technology was more than added convenience in our lives, but a serious and SIGNIFICANT change.

I’m not anti-technology in any way. I was an early adopter of online learning as a college educator, an early and enthusiastic user of cell phone technology (I had a “bag phone” in the mid-1990’s), and am an instructor at our local community college where I teach technology to adults who need to retool, or learn a specific software package for work. I also participated in the industry transition to electronic health records from a number of perspectives (medical records is one area of professional expertise for me).

What I realized that day, and in particular from that session, was that technology was WAY ahead of most of our understandings of where it stood, and more importantly, well beyond our comprehension of the implications around its progression.

Now, I know that we cannot STOP the forward progress of technology. I’m not even sure that I would want that; and this is not the space where I will outline the pros and cons, or benefits and risks of technology’s advancements on humanity.

I do, however, want to address what I see as a necessary companion to an increasingly tech-centric world: retaining our connections to things we do with our hands. Yes, I am referring to crafting and creating in general, and crocheting, knitting and sewing, specifically.

Let’s begin with this (re)introduction to my blog!

• https://tavus.video/2da454b6ed

If you think I paid too much for that voice actor, or the videography; I see your point. The TRUTH of the matter? I uploaded a script that I wrote, and chose from a palette of faces and voices and clicked “Generate“, and voila!

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As I listened to the conference speaker (who introduced herself with a similar AI – generated rendition of her bio), my mind wandered to some years past, when I wanted, more than anything, to get a “knitting machine“. I ended up being gifted a Bond Knitting Machine, back when my children were babies. At that time, I wanted to be able to make sweaters and such quickly – for my kids, and for gifts. I ended up making a number of things, moving a few times, and using my “knitting machine” many times over the years. The LAST project I completed with it was a baby blanket for a classmate when I was in graduate school.

I still have it, in pieces, in my basement. I could resurrect it, certainly, but realized as I sat in that presentation, that was unlikely.

At that conference, the totality of what I have been writing about on this blog, and talking about in presentations that I have done at fiber-centric events, came into clear focus. There is SO MUCH MORE to crocheting, knitting and sewing than the final product – AND – in this increasingly technological world, being able to create with our hands and simple tools is going to become more and more important to our overall mental health and well-being.

The days of the simple Bond Knitting Machine are long gone. You can get one for a small amount of money on eBay if you desire – whether to play around with it, or for parts – but they are mere “toys” now that technology has caught up with the process.

At the bottom of this post is a link to a demo of a DIGITAL knitting machine (from 2016!) that you can program (as in using a computer programming language). It interprets and then produces the outcome of that pattern – in yarn or thread.

Pondering all of this, after allowing myself to get fully rested from the previous week, I realized that with everything going on in the world: higher prices, global tensions, military dustups and rumors of wars, threats of economic hardships and more – those of us who can create with our hands have a secret. We have the ability to create an ANALOG REFUGE right in the middle of this increasingly digital, tech-centric world.

Suggesting that “technological advancement” isn’t all that great might seem to be a bit revolutionary; but perhaps that’s just what we need right now. A small corner of refuge where we can engage in our chosen “revolutionary acts” with similar-minded people is a healing balm for the isolation that so often accompanies the digital realities of life today.

I will continue to appreciate the advances in communications, teleconferencing, computer-assisted healthcare intelligence, and other benefits that the evolution of technology has brought into the 21st century. I will ALSO stay connected to the past – to my ancestors and others – where simple time with hook or needles and yarn, or needles, thread and fabric bring a peace and solace that cannot be found online, or in the cloud.

I invite you to consider creating and maintaining your own analog refuge. I have a feeling the communities of “analog crafters” will grow, and may even become an important link in larger communities at some point.

We don’t know what tomorrow may bring, but we DO know some things about crafting, creating and making.

Let’s hold onto those things as whatever may come, comes.

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(C) 2025 Fiber Harmony