Knitting has been having a resurgence since at least 2013, when "is knitting the new yoga?" seemed like the hottest question on everybody's lips. But as the weather gets chilly and people look for more and more ways to unplug while keeping warm... are they turning to books to inspire new knit creations?
While investigating, we wanted to pay particular attention to sales of knitting books as the weather gets chillier. To do this, we found the average temperature across Canada* for each week in this seasonal transition period — the 13 weeks from early August to late October, and charted the change in temperature against sales of print books in the Canadian English-language trade book market for the Crafts & Hobbies / Needlework / Knitting BISAC category in those weeks. As you might expect, when the weather dips below 15°C, knitting-book purchasing starts to climb for the season.
Sales of knitting books between August and October 2019, charted against average Canadian temperatures
It's not just that knitting has a tendency to trend up when the mercury drops overall, but also that 2019 is a stronger year for knitting books than years past. We charted the sales of knitting books over those same 13 weeks of transition season year over year, and 2019 dwarfs the previous two years.
Knitting book sales each week between August and October, 2017-2019
But what about crochet?
We can't put our needles away without at least taking a peek at how sales of crochet and other needlecrafts stack up. (Or at least I can't — I'm more of an embroiderer, personally!)
Of the Crafts & Hobbies / Needlework BISAC category book sales, titles in the Knitting subgenre make up nearly 54% of all sales. Crochet titles make up just over 26%, with Embroidery (11%) and Cross-Stitch (5%) rounding out the most popular Needlework subgenres. So, for the time being, knitting's got the category all tied up.
Bestselling Crafts & Hobbies / Needlework titles in BNC SalesData's Lifetime (October 2005 to Present)
(🇨🇦Canadian author, 🧣Knitting, 🧶Crochet)
Stitch 'n Bitch by Debbie Stoller (9780761128182) 🧣
The Happy Hooker by Debbie Stoller and Adrienne Yan (9780761139850) 🧶
Disney Princess Crochet by Jessica Ward and Jana Whitley (9781626864443) 🧶
Knitting for Dummies by Pam Allen, Tracy Barr, and Shannon Okey (0780470287477) 🧣
Saltwater Mittens from the Island of Newfoundland by Christine LeGrow and Shirley Anne Scott 🇨🇦 (9781775234586) 🧣
Knitting for Dummies by Pam Allen (9780764553950) 🧣
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer Crochet by Editors of Thunder Bay Press and Kati Galusz (9781626866577) 🧶
Knitting by Sharon Turner (9780470528327) 🧣
400 Knitting Stitches by Potter Craft (9780307462732) 🧣
Knitting by Sharon Turner (9780764596407) 🧣
Are you a publisher, retailer, or librarian who wants to see more data like this? Check out SalesData, the sales tracking service for the Canadian English-language trade book market. If you’re already a subscriber, and want to see how other categories did during certain time periods (like we did for the Knitting subgenre) check out the Market Share Report. If you want to see the top-selling titles for a specific author or in a certain category (like we did for the Needlework category), see how to run a Bestseller Report. If you still have questions, or want SalesData training, contact us!
*Averaged across provincial and territorial capitals, using the Government of Canada's Environment and Natural Resources Historical Data.
Highlights from The State of Publishing in Canada 2023.