Will you share your hobby, hidden talent or avocation?

11 years ago

I was visiting the Image Gallery section of the forum and realized that there are many talented people on this forum. Gardeners, woodworkers, artists, designers, glass workers, and jewelry designers to name a few. Not all are in the gallery, some I remember from past swaps or from general posts when people mentioned something they'd made or created.

My friend Kay has decided to keep me busy and out of trouble by signing us up for quilting classes. These are beginner classes, so far we have taken a yoyo making class and an English paper piecing class, both hand stitching. In March we are taking a strip quilt class which will use a sewing machine.

I got the idea for this post from seeing Teresa nc's post showing the beautiful quilts she makes.

I would love to see what every one does when they are not cooking. I am still looking for my hidden talent! lol

Wish I could link Teresa nc's post

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Comments (28)

centralcacyclist
11 years ago
I recently took up knitting and crochet again after more than 20 years of doing neither. Nothing fancy. A few market bags, some hats, some scarves. It keeps me occupied when I have to wait somewhere or have a long car or train ride.

There are other far more accomplished yarn artists here than I!

Eileen
triciae
11 years ago
I've played piano since I was four. Other than 17 years of music lessons, my education is in fine arts but I enjoy caricature drawing in pen/ink. I'm a master gardener and used to really enjoy answering questions on my State's help line. I'm also a genealogist and family historian working on my second book. Just a few weeks ago, I received my first attempt at a novel back from my editor. It's a young adult book that I really enjoyed writing. My editor was encouraging but I've got some work to do to fix some of my POV flip/flops. :)

/tricia
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This is a great thread. Karaoke Quilterswhat fun! I was about to say you can add me to the list of readers, but then I remembered the stack pile of books overflowing the coal bucket next to my bed......books I've bought but haven't yet read. So I guess you can add me to the list of book buyers. I love books and love to read, but I don't spend as much time at it as I used to. I do, however, keep an audio book, usually a mystery, in my car at all times. In winter I love old-fahioned rug hooking, the kind that uses strips of cloth cut from old woolen clothing. My current project is a table mat I started in 1997. (I took a long hiatus from hooking.) It shows the seven cats we had at the time, the ones we were always telling to "get off the table!" I grew up in my dad's darkroom, and love photography. I swore I'd never get a digital camera (silly me), but that went by the boards when I worked as a newspaper reporter/photographer and had to process my own film. When we switched to digital, that was that. I'll link to my Flickr page below. I inherited my dad's photos, negatives, and slides, and bought a sophisticated scanner with the intention of digitizing some of his work. The prospect of the learning curve has me somewhat paralyzed, though. I suppose one of these days I'll plug it in . . . When my kids were growing up we had a huge vegetable garden and I spent endless hours freezing and canning and drying and cooking. I made three meals a day from scratch every day. But I loved it. I also sewed a lot of their clothes, and some of mine, and did crafts with them all the time. I can't imagine having that much energy! Well, I know I never will again. These days I'm cooking for one, and it isn't nearly as much fun. I do have the occasional creative spurt in the kitchen, but not often. I would still love to bake, but like someone else who posted, I have to limit carbs so that's out. I enjoy blogging. I'm not skilled at genealogy, but I love to poke around the Internet looking for bits and pieces of family information. In that way, I managed to trace one line back to around 1720. Because I was so moved to see the gravestones of two of my great-great-grandparents on the Internet, and grateful to whomever took those pictures, I volunteered at Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness to photograph gravestones in my rural area. I received my first assignment last week. I've belonged to a poetry group since the late 1980s, and although these days the focus of my writing is prose, rather than poetry, I'm still active with the group. In fact, I'm organizing an event to take place this week, and the Scranton paper published a small interview with me about it this morning. Here's the online version. Amazing how many things trump housework! Here is a link that might be useful: my Flickr photos
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Holy moly you guys!!! What an amazing cornucopia of talent we have here! Maybe that's why we're all renovating our kitchens; it's at least half artistic, as opposed to strictly functional. This is such a great thread because it's a way of recognising that each of us has unique talents, and that we should feel good about that! I notice people seem more at ease talking about their anti-talents and being quite self-deprecating about their talents. It's OK to say out loud that you're good at something! cpartist, I saw your drawings up further on the thread, but missed the fact that you drew them! I thought they were photographs of "real" things. WOW!! You are amazing! The flowers are my favourite. Do you sell your art? Where would I get more info on that? I'm asking 100% totally seriously, not just trying to be polite. Do you take special orders? Do/would you frame your art? mushcreek and cpartist, I'm with you on test taking. Between my ability to retain what I read and my skill at test-taking, I'm the perfect student, and that's good because I've been back to college since 2007, with 2 1/2 years to go to get my PhD (2 1/2 years under my belt from the late 70's). It doesn't mean I'm smarter than others; it just means my natural skills align with what universities use to assess knowledge. If I had to do a car repair or paint a portrait or program a computer, I'd be the dumbest person in the room. I'm glad people are starting to realise there are different kinds of intelligences! mushcreek , I'm also an ace speller and perfect at English grammar, and I know the APA 6 handbook like the back of my hand. But I'm hopeless when it comes to crossword puzzles, sudoku, any type of puzzle. I couldn't put together a 100 piece puzzle on my table if you had a gun to my head. I always score exceptionally poorly (under 30th percentile) in any kind of mechanical perception test, like where you see a set of pullies and wheels and you have to figure out where the chain ends, or where you see a piece of paper with dotted lines on it and you have to figure out how to fold it to make the origami object they show you. I'm terrible at visualising anything 3D, which is why it's weird that I can picture interior designs for a room with perfect clarity. But I can't draw anything, especially not floor plans, which is a big reason I decided against going to college for interior design. I would have to draw, draw floor plans by hand and on the computer. I would flunk out, even if I had the best rooms! Even on these forums, when posters put their floor plan here, it is extremely difficult for me to visualise it. If they post photos of the room, I can see it instantly and know exactly what should be done. :-) Funkycamper, I'm glad you keep reading this thread! It's funny how we see things in others as talents, but see things in ourselves as just natural things that anyone could do. Believe me, your gifts in recalling numbers, finding things geographically, test taking, spelling, and multitasking (which mushcreek also has) are TALENTS!! I know they just seem natural to you, but I guarantee people would give anything to acquire those talents. I recently read an article that said multitasking isn't really a thing, except in rare circumstances. People say, especially in job interviews, that they can multitask, but usually the human brain doesn't operate that way, and people actually end up taking longer when they try to accomplish several things at once, as opposed to doing them one at a time. The article said, and I've read this before, that when people are interrupted by the phone, or in person, that it takes 15 minutes to get focus back on what they were doing. SO... what you and mushcreek have described is a rare gift!!! The article mentioned that there are people, like you, who can truly multitask. So stand up and be counted as having an amazing talent!! :-) I'm not a great multitasker; I am easily distracted--shiny!--but I am great at doing things in my head. I almost always write my papers in my head before I write a single word on my computer, and most of my papers are 20-35 pages long. I've got some good sized chunks of my dissertation in my head right now. I can also do grocery lists, lists of errands, and stuff like that in my head. My DS has the same thing. Before he went to MIT, he got a Bachelor of Music in classical piano performance. I used to see him lying on the sofa with headphones on, eyes closed, and fingers wiggling in the air. If I asked him what he was doing, he'd say practicing piano. He'd have the entire work committed to memory before he ever set fingers to the ivory. Funkycamper, may I ask the origin of your screen name? Also, your geographic memory is awesome, and I'd give anything for that talent! I bought my house in October, and before that stayed there as a houseguest of the owners, one of my best friends and her husband, for the entire month of September. I'm not moving in until June, but have occasion to go out there fairly often. I cannot find my own house without GPS, and sometimes even with it! :-) Whenever someone uses the phrase "jack of all trades, but master of none," it reminds me of an old joke in academia. As you progress through college, you become more and more narrowly focused. Your doctoral dissertation will be on something very specific. So the joke is the more education you get, you know more and more about less and less, until finally you know everything about nothing. Haha! Jillius, I LOVE the idea of "one and a half attention spans!" Brilliant! That would make an excellent study. Keeping your hands busy with physical activity you can do mindlessly with muscle memory that enables you to focus on the lecture, sermon, your spouse's long story about their day, whatever...that's a great concept! I'm a note taker too. My ex and I used to go to a lot of baseball games. I LOVE baseball! But I would get so distracted by everything else that goes on in a stadium that I'd miss important stuff like home runs, lol. I finally found the thing that allowed me to concentrate on the game: filling in the score card you always get with the program. It was a steep learning curve for me to learn all the symbols of official scoring, but it kept me super focused on the game because I couldn't miss one pitch. :-) I also put a headphone jack in one ear and listened to the live radio broadcast! My ex thought I was nuts and my friends thought it was funny, but it worked for me! I've so very much enjoyed this conversation and I hope everyone will join in as we celebrate our talents and empathise with our anti-talents! This is fun!
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So many talented people on GW/Houzz. I've enjoyed seeing everything. I don't have any pictures to share, but have done stitching (cross stitch, needlepoint, petipoint and embroidery). Several of my friends and I decided to do a holiday sale years ago, where I made a lot of rosebud topiary, rosebud picture frames and reindeer centerpieces. I've done numerous centerpieces and other floral arrangements, wreaths and topiary for our homes. Canvas art done with various pieces (coins, rings, keys, metal pieces, textured papers and cloth, etc). I've sewn curtains, tablecloths and costumes. Created several garden areas at our last home. I played the flute and piccolo in high school and was in an Army Reserve Band. I also twirled rifle in high school, and have the bad wrist to prove it! My most consist talent has been decorating/accessorizing.
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annie1992
11 years ago
I don't think I have one. I don't knit, crochet, quilt. I'm not "crafty" and don't make anything, don't draw or paint. I have no interest in geneology, although my mother is very involved with it and keeps telling me family history which I promptly forget because I don't really care who I was related to 300 years ago. I don't decorate and care little about color, except that I don't like most of it. I like white, I like wood and I like empty space.

I like to cook and I like to garden. I like to farm and I like to can. I'm not obsessive about any of it and could stop doing it and not be horribly sad.

I make cakes, but only for family because I don't really enjoy it, it's just something I'm capable of doing.

So, I don't have a hobby or a talent, hidden or otherwise. If I had an avocation it would be farming.

Annie
jojoco
11 years ago
I write. All the time. Mostly short stories and one novella. Haven't published anything but am starting to submit things to different literary publications.

I entered NPR's Three Minute Fiction contest today. Whatever the outcome, I loved what I wrote.

Jo

Here is a link that might be useful: NPR's writing contest
annie1971
11 years ago
I was a closet domestic during my corporate years (it wasn't cool to be a woman with domestic desires). Now my home is my sanctuary with dogs and hubby. I sew, cook, bake for friends and family and do needlework. Used to knit, not anymore. Used to play the piano and if there was one thing I would put on my bucket list it would be to play the piano again (or learn the violin). I love home decor colors and fabrics and I'm conflicted about what to do with them!
Annie1992 --I know who I'm related to hundreds of years ago and I don't care (although my sister does). I also don't believe for one minute you could give up all of what you love on the farm. We all know you grow your own testicles and enjoy eating them! LOL
Annie
riverrat1
11 years ago
I really want to be a crafty person but I'm not very good at it ;-) Maggie thinks I'm amazing in the craft department. That's all I care about. ;-)

I do love paper...all kinds. I love to present a beautifully wrapped gift. I have ribbon for days... This past Christmas it took 3 weeks to wrap presents. I enjoyed it.

My DH is going to publish his Geneology, next year, that he has worked on for 35 something years. It's very important to him. I'm proud of him...I think I'll just have a family reunion next year and hope that someone will write it down, somewhere...hopefully in our Geneology.

My hobbie must be my Grandkids . I think I need to get a life!
centralcacyclist
11 years ago
Karen, you have a great life!

E
doucanoe
11 years ago
I never think to look at the gallery unless someone points me there with a "heads up" post on one of the other pages!

Most here know I dabble in many things. Mainly glass and jewelry, but I do also make greeting cards, and I play in the dirt in the warmer months.

I started a website for my glass and jewelry, but it has me baffled. They changed the prcess for adding photos and I have yet to get it to work right, so I'm afraid the site hasn't changed much recently. Hopefully I'll have time soon to sit down and take whatever time is needed to get it figured out.

Linda
cloudy_christine
11 years ago
Linda, have you thought of using Etsy?
teresa_nc7
11 years ago
Thanks for the nod to my quilts!

I'm still quilting, just maybe not as much as in the past. I also have a small loom to make scarves and small projects. My Etsy shop has a few of my projects in it now. The smock in my shop has gotten quite of bit of attention lately. I've sewn clothes, home dec stuff, costumes, etc. since I was 13 years old. Learning the hammered dulcimer is going slow....will enjoy it more when I retire and have more time.

Teresa

Here is a link that might be useful: link to my shop on Etsy, Bungalowstitches
beachlily z9a
11 years ago
I love to cook, bake and garden--not in that order! I grow lots of tropical plants and many, many daylilies. Photography is my avocation. Got a bottom-line professional camera for Christmas. After my kitchen is updated (demolition will be March 1), the daylilies should be starting to put up scapes. Orchids are blooming now.
doucanoe
11 years ago
CC, yes, I do have an Etsy account, but sales have historically sluggish on that site. I just don't have the time to list and relist every couple of months and it also takes a great deal of time to find the best way to promote and drive visitors to your Etsy shop. There are so many people selling similar items on Etsy the competition there is nuts.

My own site is going to be a big time commitment too, once I master it, but at least I can list tiems and leave them as long as I like and not pay any fees.

Beachlily, I love daylilies as well. I only have about 50-55 different ones, I know some have hundreds!

Linda
KatieC
11 years ago
Wow...I didn't know there were that many kinds of daylilies...I have two, lol. Although I have been thinking of putting in more, they do well here and best of all, the deer don't eat them.

Hobbies...hmmm. I collect food.

Seriously, I packed all my artsy-craftsy stuff away when I started being room mom and Girl Scout leader. Then it was StoryTime crafts at the library. Then it was 'workus interruptus'.

I used to do etched glass, I own a small loom and an assortment of crafty tools. I crochet (thinking market bags for Christmas next year). My last thing was the wood lathe, which I hope to get back to because I bought a bunch of peppermill guts. Someday I'd like to take some painting lessons. And read something besides book reviews.

Meanwhile, I work and garden and can odd things.

This post was edited by katiec on Mon, Feb 11, 13 at 23:32
tami_ohio
11 years ago
I'm a knitter, crocheter, rubber stamper, and beginning beader. We love to take our RV out to lots of places around the country, with lots more places to see! And I love to read.
centralcacyclist
11 years ago
I just shipped this off to Alice. She chose the yarn and the colors. She requested a very long scarf with long fringe. It's 9 feet long and about 14 inches wide.

Eileen
diinohio
Original Author
11 years ago
Oh Eileen that is gorgeous, I love the colors Alice picked! Great job

I can knit and crochet but haven't for several years

My first quilting project will be a crib quilt for my new great niece Emma. Well hopefully it will be, have to see how it turns out when I take the class in March.

Di
party_music50
11 years ago
mistake -- sorry.

This post was edited by party_music50 on Mon, Feb 18, 13 at 5:42
mitchdesj
11 years ago
Eileen, that is a work of art, I love it: is that a crochet border attached to the knitted scarf ?, I am intrigued with this pattern.
centralcacyclist
11 years ago
Party Music, I came by to comment on your lovely little mini basket of waxed thread you posted and now it's gone! It was darling! I'd love to see your other baskets, too. I'm intrigued that you grow your own willow and I'd love to see more of your work. Please repost.

Mitch, yes, I added a simple crochet border on either end. This is styled after a scarf Alice found at a store. It was wide and long and made with half-fisherman's rib stitch and had some crochet at either end but as an inset. I didn't use a pattern.

Here you can see the scale of the scale as she is wearing it. It was very bulky. I think I knit it on size 11 needles. I rarely knit bulky yarn but it went quickly.

Eileen
party_music50
11 years ago
Barnmom/Eileen, I love your scarf! especially that it's 9 feet long. :) And, yes, I had posted about some of my hobbies that I take seriously (my top 3 always being listed as cooking/baking, gardening, and golf! but I have additional hobbies that come in a close 2nd. :o)

I took up basket weaving in '99.... self-taught -- and now I teach, compete in the NYS Fair, donate to charity auctions, and have sold many to raise money for my niece's Memorial Scholarship fund. You must know that I can't miss the opportunity for SOMEBODY to see some of my basket weaving. Thanks. :) Here's my jewel tray, handwoven from 4-ply waxed linen... it's still one of my favorites. It took 1st place in the Fiber Techniques competition at the NYS Fair, and was in the front display with the 'best of show'. It really is a beautiful basket.

Assuming you'd like to see, I will gladly show some of my other baskets once photobucket gets the slideshow feature working again. Thank you. (Audrey :)
triciae
11 years ago
Just wow, Eileen and party music! Both the scarf and the basket are just WOW!

Alice would be beautiful in a paper bag but the scarf's colors light up her face. How does she like Cal Poly? (did I remember the school correctly?) Must be about ready to graduate?

Party music, I love your mini-basket. So cute! How many years did it take you to develop the skill to craft such a beautiful piece of art? I love the traditional aspect of basket weaving. Congratulations on the 1st Place!

Good stuff.

/tricia
dedtired
11 years ago
Just catching up with this thread. What a multi-talented group. I feel kind of bad that I don't do anything. I enjoy gardening and I am out in the dirt whenever the weather allows. My small space doesn't allow for many beds, though.

I tried knitting and weaving and that sort of thing in the past but I never was very good at it. I tried to crochet a scarf once and it ended up in a triangular shape. Now I have Dupuytrens contracture in my right hand, so any kind of fine handwork is out.

One time I won a prize for the best written fundraising material from the National Library Association, so maybe my talent is writing brochures.
centralcacyclist
11 years ago
Audrey, I'm so glad you reposted your waxed linen basket and expanded on your skills and accomplishments. I'd love to see more of your work. Do you have a link?(Audrey is the name of the recipient of the beanie I am knitting right now. She is a long time friend of Alice and her roommate.)

I knit and crochet skillfully enough but am not very ambitious about what I do. I stick with simple projects and uncomplicated stitches. I joke that if I can't knit with a glass of wine on the table while I carry on a conversation, I shouldn't be doing it. I haven't bothered with a pattern in a while. Reading them has become a chore with failing eyesight.

Tricia, Alice is in her third year at Cal Poly. She will need an extra quarter to graduate because she changed majors after the first quarter from Agriculture Communications to Winemaking & Viticulture. She loves Cal Poly and college life in general. She doesn't just burn the candle at both ends, she snaps it in two and burns all four ends. She needs the warm things because she is on the board of the local ski club and she heads for snow every weekend.

Pam, writing for grants is a highly regarded skill from what I hear. Have you done it professionally?

Eileen
triciae
11 years ago
Pam,

I wrote a grant request for the New Hampshire Community Loan Fund back in their infancy. It was a huge amount of work and, frankly, would have been ticked if the Fund had not received the grant. :) I'm almost positive if you ever wanted a part-time something or other to "keep you busy" there are thousands of non-profits and/or not-for-profits that would hire you to write those requests. If my memory is accurate, mine was to the Ford Foundation but they go to a very large array of potential grantors. Don't make light of your skill - it's in demand and for good reason - it's hard.

/t
tami_ohio
11 years ago
I would also love to see more of your baskets, Audry. I weave with reed, tho not for a couple of years. I tend to forget about it! And it also depends on what my hands will agree to work on. That tends to take a little more than my knitting does.

Barnmom, the scarf is beautiful.

I agree that grant writing is a great talent. Not something I could do.

Tami
dedtired
11 years ago
I wrote some simple grants in the past, none of the very detailed ones that are many pages long. Something to consider!

Wow, I love Alice's scarf.
centralcacyclist
11 years ago
Jo, I clicked through to the NPR link to read about the writing contest. How fun! Please let us know the outcome.

That link lead me happily down a rabbit hole of other places to read...

Eileen
beachlily z9a
11 years ago
Katiec--this is for you.

Currently there are over 74,000 registered daylilies in the world. I only have about 90, but the list seems almost endless!

Will you share your hobby, hidden talent or avocation?

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