Other hobbies.

[KimW]

Hey! I resemble that sttement!
I mean, really! Are you crazy, this is way creative! It all counts!
It's all creative and you are a prize.
Who teaches us to talk to ourselves in this manner?
Sorry, I just went off because this is a pet peeve of mine.

I agree - who does teach us this? It's a pet peeve of mine as well!

 

[Kiti Williams]

I agree - who does teach us this? It's a pet peeve of mine as well!

I have always said I was not everyone's cup of tea. Meaning that I don't really care if you like me or not, there are those who do.

 

[MaryinOK]

Do you have any pictures of your lace to share?

These are a few I have made over the years. Not all are lace:

 

[KimW]

These are a few I have made over the years. Not all are lace:

Speechless.

 

[MaryinOK]

I mean, really! Are you crazy, this is way creative! It all counts!
It's all creative and you are a prize.
Who teaches us to talk to ourselves in this manner?

I am good at following patterns; I can research stuff easily so I have no problem with developing recipes for soap and body products; I can take someone else's idea and run with it. I have made shawls for others that incorporated their ideas and taken a pattern and adapted it to make it more appealing to me; BUT I do not have that spark that enables me to make the spectacular original designs I so admire in others. I am not complaining about this. It is what it is. I am pretty diversified so I can enjoy so many hobbies that those brilliant artists have made possible for me.

 

[KimW]

I am good at following patterns; I can research stuff easily so I have no problem with developing recipes for soap and body products; I can take someone else's idea and run with it. I have made shawls for others that incorporated their ideas and taken a pattern and adapted it to make it more appealing to me; BUT I do not have that spark that enables me to make the spectacular original designs I so admire in others. I am not complaining about this. It is what it is. I am pretty diversified so I can enjoy so many hobbies that those brilliant artists have made possible for me.

And there it is. You have summed me up perfectly. And, yet, my friends and family call me "creative", and I don't disagree with them. I too know that I will never be an Edison or Asawa, though I so often long to be. I wonder if you are also like me in that I am not an instigator, but I do encourage folks to go forward with ideas they've already concocted. I had the advantage of a Grandma who came up with all sorts of useful things seemingly out of the blue. Perhaps she realized my creativity was different than hers because she would give my three year-old self something and tell me to "find it better". In other words, take this and improve upon it. All grown-up and right up until my retirement, supervisors and co-workers would continually come to me to "find it better". When I retired my boss told me that besides my "ray of freakin' sunshine" (his words!) and my tenacity, my biggest asset was "[my] creativity in improving and fixing the broken, and finding better ways of doing everything" See what he said there? My creativity. I submit to you, my fellow Okie (?), that just as there are different types of jobs within any career field, there are different types of creativity within the realm of "being creative". I think, then, you might feel free to allow yourself to see yourself as creative.

 

[Misschief]

These are a few I have made over the years. Not all are lace:

Beautiful!!

 

[Misschief]

And there it is. You have summed me up perfectly. And, yet, my friends and family call me "creative", and I don't disagree with them. I too know that I will never be an Edison or Asawa, though I so often long to be. I wonder if you are also like me in that I am not an instigator, but I do encourage folks to go forward with ideas they've already concocted. I had the advantage of a Grandma who came up with all sorts of useful things seemingly out of the blue. Perhaps she realized my creativity was different than hers because she would give my three year-old self something and tell me to "find it better". In other words, take this and improve upon it. All grown-up and right up until my retirement, supervisors and co-workers would continually come to me to "find it better". When I retired my boss told me that besides my "ray of freakin' sunshine" (his words!) and my tenacity, my biggest asset was "[my] creativity in improving and fixing the broken, and finding better ways of doing everything" See what he said there? My creativity. I submit to you, my fellow Okie (?), that just as there are different types of jobs within any career field, there are different types of creativity within the realm of "being creative". I think, then, you might feel free to allow yourself to see yourself as creative.

Very well said!!

 

[Quilter99755]

I am good at following patterns; I can research stuff easily so I have no problem with developing recipes for soap and body products; I can take someone else's idea and run with it. I have made shawls for others that incorporated their ideas and taken a pattern and adapted it to make it more appealing to me; BUT I do not have that spark that enables me to make the spectacular original designs I so admire in others. I am not complaining about this. It is what it is. I am pretty diversified so I can enjoy so many hobbies that those brilliant artists have made possible for me.

You have described me to a tee! I have done all sorts of needle art through the years (sewing clothes, embroidery, needlepoint, quilting, knitting and crochet), but it has been quilting that has "stuck". At one point I described myself as a mechanic of quilting rather than an artist since for the most part I follow a pattern. I tweak the fabrics, colors, size and lots of time change the borders or switch out a block or two, but I don't have that Muse that creates my own patterns. Most of it is that it's a chore for me to create and takes a huge amount of time. Why should I waste my time creating something when I can find a dozen patterns that I love, buy them, and add my own touch to make it mine and have the quilts all made before I can finish one creation on my own. I love the process of quilting from buying a pattern to sewing on a label when the quilt is done. I don't enjoy trying to come up with something totally new...it becomes work. I've taken a couple of classes on creative processes and just don't like the process. But can take a pattern that I like, spend hours changing it around to "make it sing" for me and love that. There just is something in my brain that equates creating from scratch to work rather than the hobby I enjoy. It takes all of us to make the world and I'm happy in my part of it. And I am sure that all the quilt artists out there who sell patterns just love me, too!

 

[user 29214]

For some reason I am super hungry!

Is watching soap YouTubes considered a hobby?

I love to play the piano. And I'm a huge gardener just itching to plant. The new house we bought was on a weed patch. Last year I focused on the front yard. This year I'll focus on half of the back. Flowers and vegetables. My wife loves to can so we compete for basement space, soap vs jars.

And reading. The upside of the pandemic is we're back in our beloved book club of our former city. Currently I'm completely lost in a different world, a book full of resiliency, love, humor, pathos, tragedy, community, and the transformational power of books, literacy, and a librarian. It will be a novel that stays with me for life. Unforgettable characters -- and one of my favorite was a pack mule. The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michelle Henderson.

This book sounds interesting, I will look it up.
Have you read the Library Book? It is a nonfiction but full of the stories / mini biographies of the people involved in the fire and the history of the Los Angeles library. I liked it a lot.

 

[Sarouche]

Like others, I am a beekeeper, make other bath products in addition to soap, string necklaces with pearls and other semi-precious stones, spin fiber, garden and give away plants and rooted cuttings...

 

[Sarouche]

I regret to say the day has already come I can not spin uneven thick yarn, and my finer yarns are overtwisted here and there. But I can even produce certain lengths of evenly spun thin yarn that I ply.

Well if you ever need some unevenly spun wool, let me know since I am not there yet.

 

[Sarouche]

I can relate. I did a demo for an elementary school. The boys were more impressed than the girls.

My 7 and 10 year old male cousins were in town and were intrigued. I showed them how and they were naturals.

 

[Sarouche]

BTW, sourdough can be “conserved” by stirring/kneading in so much flour that it becomes crumbly, and then dry. Useful as a backup when the active one went bad (don't ask me how many hibernating sourdoughs I have distributed everywhere). It is also possible to ship these! I put some 30 g into a mail envelope, sent it to a friend, and she revived it, and since then she has been baking quite some wonderful (as far as I can judge from her reports) loaves of bread with it.

I use my dehydrator to dry the discard so as to not actually discard it (or make too many carbs, trying to keep the weight stable). I ground it up for ease of storage. It revives after daily feedings for a few days sufficient to float. Easy form to mail/give away.

 

[Ladka]

My 9 yo grandson likes me to show him how I make bobbin lace and the five of them (4-9 yo) like to card wool on my drum carder. It's a pity they can't visit due to covid situation.

 

[Sarouche]

I would love someone to do the carding for me. The most tedious task.

 

[Ladka]

Well if you ever need some unevenly spun wool, let me know since I am not there yet.

I would love someone to do the carding for me. The most tedious task.

I can see solid ground for our future collaboration: I'll card wool for you an you'll spin uneven yarn for me

 

[Mobjack Bay]

Wow, a lot going on in this group, I have read with interest the many posts. I am lucky to be old (?) so I am retired and have time to do the hobby things when I feel like it. Unfortunately I am even more lazy (ahem, relaxed) now than I am old, so who knows when I will feel like it.

Besides soaping for these many years, the lip balm, sunblock and body lotion I make, I take care of my home and garden or yard, which is pretty big. I devote the space mostly to cactus because I live in a desert and rely on an aquifer and don't want to be a water hog. Not many come here, so I don't share it a lot, but it is a hobby for sure. I add elements of mosaic tiles here and there to parts of the house or the surrounding walls. View attachment 54821 View attachment 54822
Others travel with their time.

There are a few fruit trees, peach, lemons and a fabulous pomegranate. I get about 100 pounds of pomegranates each season. So one of my friends taught me to dye fabrics with procion dyes and then later I got into more natural dyes.

The pomegranate skins are all saved for dyeing after I drink a whole lot of juice. The color can be a kind of yellow or dark green, then I dye cotton fabric and sew it up into kind of lounge wear (I love lounging). I do the same with indigo sometimes using banana skins in the process.

View attachment 54827View attachment 54824View attachment 54825View attachment 54826View attachment 54823

And I think photography is a hobby, too. i am def an amateur but have been doing snapshots since I was about 13 (wait, did they even have cameras in those days?) I promise to master some of the complicated settings on my new camera. One of these days.

You all shouldn't start threads like this, I could fill up the whole darned data base with my rambling. If I could make sourdough bread like some of you, I would be so heavy, the hammock would come crashing down.

I’m not sure how I missed such a cool post. (Well, actually I miss a lot of posts and threads) I love your yard, the mosaics, the dyed fabric and the dress! I keep trying to commit myself to a retirement date and feel a little more inspired to do it when see I posts like yours.

 

[AliOop]

These are a few I have made over the years. Not all are lace:

Wait, you are the "not creative" person?? Hardly! Just because you didn't create the design doesn't mean you aren't creative. You MADE (created) those shawls. And I bet you picked the colors, too. They are just stunning!

 

[GoodLuckFishing]

My other hobbies aren't anything unique. Fishing, photography, hunting and camping.