Lubię to rękodzieło.

Polish often leaves out subject pronouns because the verb ending already tells you who is doing the action.

So lubię already means I like, and ja is not necessary.

You can add ja if you want emphasis or contrast: Ja lubię to rękodzieło, ale on nie.
= I like this handicraft, but he doesn’t.

Lubię is the 1st person singular present tense form of lubić.

• lubić = to like
• lubię = I like

The ending -ę is a common ending for I-forms in Polish present tense.

Because rękodzieło is a neuter noun.

In Polish, this changes depending on gender:

• ten for masculine
• ta for feminine
• to for neuter

Since rękodzieło is neuter, the correct form is to rękodzieło.

A useful rule: many Polish nouns ending in -o are neuter, and rękodzieło is one of them.

It is in the accusative case, because lubić normally takes a direct object in the accusative.

So in Lubię to rękodzieło, the thing being liked is the object, so it should be accusative.

However, for many neuter singular nouns, the accusative looks the same as the nominative. That is why you see rękodzieło unchanged.

The same is true for to here: it matches the noun in gender, number, and case.

Yes.

• Lubię rękodzieło = I like handicraft / handmade work in a more general sense
• Lubię to rękodzieło = I like this handicraft / this piece of handmade work

So to makes it more specific. It points to a particular item or example.

No, Polish word order is more flexible than English, but different orders can change the emphasis.

The most neutral version is: Lubię to rękodzieło.

You could also say: To rękodzieło lubię.

That sounds more like: This handicraft, I like
with extra focus or contrast, as if comparing it with something else.

So the original order is the most natural if you are just making a simple statement.

A rough English-style approximation is:

loo-BYEH toh ren-koh-JEH-wo

A few important pronunciation notes:

• lubię: the final ę is often pronounced only weakly nasal in everyday speech, so it can sound close to -eh
• rę before k sounds roughly like ren or reng
• dzie sounds like a soft je sound, not like English dee-zee
• ł is pronounced like English w
• the stress is on the second-to-last syllable:
  rękoDZIEło

Here, to means this and goes together with rękodzieło.

So to rękodzieło is a noun phrase meaning this handicraft.

This is different from the other common Polish to used in sentences like: To jest piękne.
= This/It is beautiful.

In your sentence, to is simply pointing to the noun.

Both can often be translated as I like, but they are not exactly the same.

• lubię = I like / I am fond of
• podoba mi się = it pleases me / I find it appealing

With rękodzieło:

• Lubię to rękodzieło suggests a general liking for it
• Podoba mi się to rękodzieło focuses more on your positive reaction to how it looks or seems

So lubię is perfectly natural, but podoba mi się would also be possible in many contexts, with a slightly different nuance.