> Embroidery, pottery, basket weaving, carpentry, leatherwork and woodcarving were common skills, often with division of labor by sex.
Sounds more like work tbh. Basket weaving may be a hobby now, but unlikely it was in 16th century.
Sounds more like work tbh. Basket weaving may be a hobby now, but unlikely it was in 16th century.
Compare it to say a modern profession like software engineering. Despite it being work, there's plenty of programmers who also enjoy programming and do it for fun on their own time as well as work.
Why would it have been any different back then?
Basket weaving done in your home, with performance left to your own scruples, and a personalized schedule is leagues different than slaving away for someone else.
Subsistence farming is not leisure.