Needles at the ready

Lockdown measures have encouraged us to return to the needle and thread (or wool), with discussions of knitting and sewing increasing on social media.

Using our Consumer Research platform we found that, for 412k people posting on social, lockdown has been the perfect time to brush up on knitting and crocheting skills.

Knitting and crocheting were consistently talked about on social media before the pandemic struck. But because of stay at home orders, mentions on social media jumped in March and April, up 17% and 101% year-on-year, respectively.

Handmade baby presents were the most discussed garments (362k mentions), followed by sweaters (37k mentions). We also found 41k people in March and April sharing knitting and crocheting patterns, an increase in mentions of 32% compared to January and February.

Taking up sewing to create our own garments or to reinvigorate old ones is also on the rise.

The number of English-language posts discussing sewing and embroidery increased by 68% in March and April compared to January and February.

We found cloth face masks were the most popular creation, with 337k mentions. Masks saw the biggest increase in mentions of all garments (up 1900% in April and March compared to January and February), helping to drive sewing’s new found popularity.

In March and April, conversations around intending to create a “sewing room” were up 880% and posts about intending to upgrade or buy a sewing machine were up 148%, compared to January and February. Consumers are still willing to spend on things they care about.

Stepping outside

Ever since the start of the outbreak, people have been encouraged to take precautions to slow the spread. From washing hands to social distancing, we’ve had to take on new responsibilities when we’re out and about.

Using Qriously, we decided to find out what actions people are taking to protect themselves and others while outside their homes. To do this, we surveyed 8,005 people from Australia, China, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the UK, and the US through their smartphones and tablets.

Here’s what they told us.

We found a significant amount of people were taking precautions when going out, with social distancing the highest reported action (69%). Another 14% said they hadn’t left their home, while only 9% of people said they weren’t doing any of the actions listed.

There has been debate around the efficacy of face masks since Covid-19 began to spread, but we still found 49% of people have been wearing them when going out. Another 24% reported wearing gloves.

We’ve also broken down the data by country to see how things differ on a national basis.

People in most countries seem to have adopted more than one measure. This is particularly true in Italy where socially distancing, mask wearing, and glove wearing are all commonly reported. Otherwise, most places reported high levels of distancing and mask wearing.

There are a few exceptions to this.

While Australia and the UK have plenty of people social distancing, adoption of other measures are relatively low. With many in the UK returning to work this week, and using public transport to get there, the government’s new guidelines will hope to change this.

Spain is also noticeable. It reports some of the lowest numbers compared to other countries, particularly for social distancing (39%). This doesn’t mean people are being less cautious, though. The country also has the highest number of people not leaving their homes at 24%. This likely explains the lower number of people taking out-of-home precautions.

Overall, it’s promising to see that the vast majority of people are acting to stay safe. As the world hopes to stave off a second wave of infections, this is good news.

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Stay safe,

Brandwatch Response Team