Whether Jennifer Worick saved money by knitting herself a scarf depends on how you do the math.

"Instead of going out and shopping, which is something I enjoy, I can throw myself into my crafts," said Worick, of Seattle, who spent $120 on the hand-spun, hand-dyed yarn, and hours working on the scarf.

But "it's not just about the bottom line. I don't make things to save money primarily. The lifestyle is about being less consumptive," added Worick, author of "The Prairie Girl's Guide to Life" (Taunton, 2007) and an advocate of old-fashioned hobbies.

The satisfaction of getting back to simple pleasures - as well as the potential to save money in hard times - seems to be driving a resurgence of crafts and do-it-yourself hobbies.

Ball, the home canning company, reports sales of canning jars are up about 30 percent in the last year. Quilters and knitters celebrate being hip. As for cooking, about 45 percent of Americans say they are eating out less this year to save money, a nearly 12 percent increase from 2007, according to BIGResearch, a Worthington, Ohio-based firm that does consumer research.

TV shows like Project Runway, cable channels like HGTV and the Food Network, and the ubiquity of homemaker doyenne Martha Stewart have all helped raise the profile of do-it-yourselfing. The Internet has helped crafters connect with each other, suppliers and markets.

For many do-it-yourselfers, like Worick, saving money is a perk but not the point.

Cathy Rakers keeps chickens in her backyard in Portland, Ore., and estimates the cost of their eggs at about a third of what she might spend on eggs at the store. Likewise, when she goes to you-pick berry farms and brings home berries for jam, she figures the results are cheaper than mass-produced jam.

Yet even if the cost were the same, she would still prefer raising the chickens and canning the berries herself. Trained as a pharmacist, Rakers battled cancer with a mix of mainstream medicine and holistic treatments, including revamping her diet.

"I want to touch it every step along the way," Rakers said. "I like knowing what's going into it."

Jeff Sword of Baltimore, who buys green coffee beans and roasts them himself, estimates they cost about half what already roasted beans would. But when he considers the cost of his coffee roaster and adds bean shipping costs, he figures his hobby "would eventually pay for itself but it might take a while."

His real savings, he says, come from brewing his own coffee at home and taking it to work in a Thermos, skipping a stop at a coffee shop.

Sword also enjoys making his own beer, more because he can personalize it to his taste than because it's economical. "There is a direct correlation between the cost of the stuff you use and the quality of the results you get," he said.

Therein lies a challenge many hobbyists face: Once you start canning your own peaches, for example, your palate might learn the difference between the more expensive organic peaches lovingly put up without fillers and additives and the store-brand canned peaches.

Sarah Smith began gardening a few years ago when she bought a home in Ann Arbor, Mich., that already had a plot. She learned to make wine, yogurt, pickles and sauerkraut, among other foods.

"Ultimately, I'm not sure if we're saving money but it feels better," said Smith, who documents her projects on her blog, jandssmith.blogspot.com.

Smith said her mother knew how to sew and can - traditional homemaker activities - but found freedom in not having to do those things.

So Smith didn't pick them up as a child, and is learning now as an adult.

That experience is common these days, said Pati Palmer, a sewing teacher for decades and now president of Palmer/Pletsch Publishing, which has its own line of sewing patterns with McCall's.

"I have been in the sewing industry since 1968 and have seen the home ec classes thrive then disappear," Palmer wrote in an e-mail. "I think the women's movement in the '70s made them out of fashion but now we are realizing the good they did for children, especially those who were engaged in school through more tactile ways such as art, sewing, music, shop, etc."

Lifetime TV host and home design expert Kathy Peterson learned to sew when she was a kid, then drifted away from it. She later began making crafty projects for the home as a release from the stress of her job as a producer and director.

"Crafting got a bad rap because it was granny squares and it was very dated," said Peterson, host of "The Balancing Act." "It's become hip again."

And hopefully economical, too.

"My motto is, 'use your creativity, not your credit card,'" she said.

Ways to save money when getting started on a hobby Tips for saving money with do-it-yourself hobbies: • Take a class. It lets you try a hobby and experiment with tools before you buy them yourself. • Borrow equipment. From pressure cookers to coffee roasters, it's possible to spend a lot upfront on a hobby. Find a friend who's already got the equipment, and borrow before you go and buy your own. You can repay the favor with some of what you create. • Try working with what you already have. Sometimes specialized tools aren't necessary: Look around your kitchen, tool box or garage for close-enough equipment. • Share. Give your craft creations as presents instead of store-bought ones. Buy supplies with a friend to get bulk discounts. On the Web • http://www.jenniferworick.com/ • http://jandssmith. blogspot.com/ • www.KathyPeterson.com