Hobbies/Crafts and MoneySaving ...

Rage_in_Eden

jlh wrote:

Bell Ringing - just turn up at your local church when you next hear the bells ringing on their practice night, and ask if you can have lessons with them. There's no charge, its good fun and completely takes your mind off anything else - its not as easy as it looks and can take quite a few months before your accomplished at it, but its a lovely thing to learn .... for nothing. Go on, give it a go. :j Forgot to say, if you ring at a wedding you get paid!!!!

I did my campanology badge in guides - it was fab and as i was the only person i ever saw with it i felt very superior!!! i once amazed OH by muttering about a certain change when we were walking to church one morning - he was stunned i knew that (I always like to suprise people then they're extra careful with you - after all, you could work for MI5! )

Rage_in_Eden

lowra wrote:

Hi all. hope this is right, i'm a posting virgin as it were!
i was bored a few months back and vowed to build myself some hobbies. i walked round the craft section of my local library and picked 10 books which looked vaguely interesting. from that it escalated, and i now knit regularly for the family, cross stitch, belly dance, ballroom dance, make my own greetings cards, and bake cakes and biscuits! there was an initial financial implication, but you can easily make that money back, and more besides! i'll never complain of being bored again! xx :T

Hello!!!

One of the GPs at work was moaning that her hubby gets annoyed if she sits there stiching at night (she's diong a tapestry rug at the moment) and wants her to talk to him whilst they're watching the telly. I told her she should hit him if he complains again - that'd shout him up (and this from the man who collects wine and spends hours with his wine cronies talking "blah blah blah boquet blah blah"......)

Suziebabe

Hello! I'm a 'once-in-a-blue-moon' poster, basically, whenever the other half goes to the pub and I can get on the internet ...

Brilliant thread, I'm so relieved to hear of so many others with the same hobbies! I'm under 40 (just) but have always had 'old-fashioned' hobbies.

Knitting - look out for the pet charity shops, loads of donations from old ladies who can't knit anymore. Also our Co-op department store has lots - John Lewis is a nightmare on price. I'd recommend getting a few balls of any sort of wool and practising on baby knits or shawls - even if you don't know anyone who's having a baby, they sell like hotcakes if you do a car boot. Mind you, if you do know anyone who's having a baby, they absolutely love handknits! For the shawls, they're a really good way to practise if you do a different pattern on each square, plus you can use up remnants, then piece them together. A few good sites I recently found for free
patterns are:
http://www.knitting-and.com/knitting/allpatterns.html - loads of free patterns
http://www.knittingknonsense.com/index2.html - really good on squares
Not sure how to learn, I'd recommend befriending someone who knows, I learnt from my sister-in-law when I was about 10, so I can't imagine not knowing.

On sewing - I say the best way to learn is to give it a try, but not on clothes. I think my first attempt was on cushions, not too expensive if you mess up, but really rewarding if you don't. Many years later, (and lots of mistakes too) I've now made curtains for nearly every room of our house, plus some for family.

Watch out for the gardening - I'm a complete addict now, regular viewer of Gardener's World. However, we recently took on an allotment, and I found myself totally stressed out trying to do the garden and the allotment! Am now reconsidering the allotment, but not quite ready to give it up, as out garden soil is rubbish for root crops.

Also, if there are any self-study courses offered by work, they're worth doing. Having toyed with the idea of doing exams through work, a recent redundancy round convinced me that I should start studying FPC, if only as a back-up for the next round. Surprise - I'm enjoying it! And best of all work are paying for it.

That's my lot!

nightsong

For all you knitters can I just mention this -

http://www.lidl.co.uk/gb/index.nsf/pages/c.o.oow.20050728.p.Knitting_Yarn_Pack_of_3


(hope the link works, anyway it's cheap knitting yarn at Lidl this week)

megsykins

Sweet_Pea wrote:

I like sewing (by machine or hand) cross stitching and knitting, and I've usually got my nose in a book too.
Ive promised my DD1 (aged 9) that I will give her some cooking lessons over the school holidays, and my DD2 (aged 6) got an award at school on the last day of term for her excellent sampler she made, so I think I'll do a bit of sewing with them both too. It amazes me how many people say that they cant cook and sew, but they have never tried. Id like to teach my two the basics whilst they are interested as I think they are dying skills in this day and age but very valuable ones.

I learnt sewing at home and at school and my mums had me in the kitchen for years! However, when I came to Uni a couple of years ago, I was amazed by how many people - male and female - couldn't a) boil an egg or b) sew a button! I was the official 'sewing expert' for my halls corridor in first year! (mainly cos I was the only one who thought to bring a sewing kit... :rotfl: )
One thing is, I had to do a 'Technology' to GCSE level (I did Textiles and got an A in coursework , most of my friends did Food but some did Electronics which they said was v useful) but they removed this compulsion the year I left.

Re hobbies, I don't seem to have any unless the pub counts :beer: I do like doing Sudokus though and print them off the internet so I don't even have to buy a newspaper! :cool:

jbn1968

Golf as a hobby can be incredibly expensive-unless you're talking about joining your children. Clubs in hampshire that would cost an adult close to 3000 would cost children close to £100. For parents wondering what to do during the summer holidays- why not stick them on a golf course with a friend, a sandwich and a pound for a coke in the clubhouse and pick them up in 5 hours time? They'll almost certainly be safe,will probably enjoy it and in addition can also spend some of their time searching for golf balls- some of which are now in excess of £10 for 3. Pick up clubs via free ads or something similar- a perfectly adequate set for a junior can be picked up for £25 if you look. As a final big bonus, last time i researched it, some clubs also take into consideration the fact that juniors have been paying a subscription and knock this off their adult joining fee, meaning a massive saving- joining fees are a real pain as an adult because you don't get it back.

Rage_in_Eden

jbn1968: I agree about golf. OH and I went and hit a few balls at the local range and it as £10!!!! this was a while ago (i astounded OH by him saying "now just ytry and hit that ball" and he lost sight og it - i had neglected to tell him that my Dad was a BIG golfer and used to teach me and also I'd been out with a semi-pro before him - well, he was talking down to me and he didn't ask! ) Luckily we have a public course near us but it's still not cheap. OH comes from Scotland so he can't understand the expense round golf...........

nabowla

I think I've just acquired another OS hobby......although I didn't mean to! Earlier this week my friends and I went to a reception to mark the start of a charity appeal. We had a few drinks and someone said 'why don't we do a sponsored bike ride from London to xxx' (the place where the charity is located). For reasons that I still haven't fully understood I heard myself saying 'what a brilliant idea, count me in'. Two slight problems: a) the ride is 130 miles over 3 days and b) I can't walk up a couple of flights of stairs without getting out of breath. Somehow I think I shall be spending the next couple of months cycling absolutely everywhere in a bid to get fit :-)

toozie_2

Just think how fit you'll be, as well as raising money for a good cause. Well done!

Sujamjen

Rage_in_Eden wrote:

I also forgot to say I am a big Radio 4 addict - OH doesn't really like it in the morning but he won't have anything classical on and I refuse to have anything loud forced on me in the morning!! I have tried to convert people at work but they don't seem to have the same fascination for "Veg Talk" as I have i just don't understand some people...............

I love Radio 4 too and I like a lot of Radio 7 especially when I'm making Xmas and birthday cards (a hobby that I adore but I have to ration my time otherwise I would spend every single spare minute on them :rotfl: ) I love cross stitch and long stitch too and in the winter I make patchwork quilts and crotchet (spelling?) blankets/throws for the PDSA. I like to read too but usually only in bed just before I nod off!
Lovely to hear about everyone elses hobbies - I'd like to do evening courses on wedding flowers and sugar paste flowers. Maybe this will be the year I fit them in