Crocheted items have never been cooler than they are right now. GQ calls the granny-core cardigan “the biggest team player in menswear.” If it feels like it's suddenly everywhere, that's because it is. On Instagram, the hashtag #crochet has over 47 million mentions and on TikTok, it's gotten nearly 18 billion views. There's no doubt the free-spirited '70s style is officially enjoying a comeback.

Crocheted styles from Corridor, NN07 and Celine are definitely in demand at the moment, but they don't come cheap, either. That's because these pieces have to be made almost entirely by hand. But if you don't want to shell out the cash, you could try making one yourself. “I'm telling you, if you can count and follow directions, then you can crochet,” says Calvin Lee, the Brooklyn-based crochet artist who's amassed a serious following on TikTok. I found him when someone shared one of his videos on Instagram. Who's this young dude in the Supreme cap, methodically knotting up a storm on the subway, I wondered.

“It's going to take some time for you to master crochet, but it's not impossible,” he tells me. “You just need to be dedicated and have a little patience,” but he's been at it for a while. He first got into it as a kid. “I saw my 6th grade teacher crocheting during her lunch break and I was hypnotized,” he remembers. “I kept nagging her to teach me and she eventually did ... I just like how you can literally make anything from yarn and a hook.”

Now, he crochets so much—on his lunch break, in the park, on the subway—that he's often asked about what he's making. Or someone will ask where he got his cardigan. “Oh this? I made it.” He's now cranking out so many that he sells them online, along with knit hats, bags and blankets. Cardigans will run you anywhere from $150 to $300. Guys are definitely digging them at the moment, thanks to the fit that Lee works hard to master. “Normally when I see a crochet cardigan, it's a little too loose and baggy ... mine have more of a bomber look.” Every detail is crochet—cropped length, relaxed arms and shoulders, a ribbed collar, waistbands and cuffed sleeves. “My cardigan is made out of granny squares, but I don't make the squares the same. I switch the colors around, so every single square is a different color pattern.” He's now experimenting with lightweight cotton yarns that feel heavier in the hand, but lighter and cooler on the body for summer.

I'm sold. I want one of Lee's sweaters, of course, but I'm also curious about picking up a needle. There seems to be a meditative quality to crocheting. And Lee confirms my suspicions. “The repetitive movement, the sound of yarn as it moves through my fingers,” he says. “You can focus on this one project that has the rest of the world melting away.”